The ominous trend for the day was set in the very first race of the third day of the Mumbai Season Christened the Super Sunday! On a day when the country’s best thoroughbreds were expected to bring the race track alive once before setting sights on foreign turf, the racing public was stunned by the lacklustre performance of all the big stars, save Bourbon King.
Tantrik (SP Ranjane) bolted to a massive lead and reduced the race to a ‘no contest’ as early as the home turn. By the time the others straightened up, Tantrik was beyond reach and held on comfortably form Hot Talent and Hitz. Phoenix Rising, who was in the rear covered considerable ground to run in fourth position, but was all out. Star Flight put up no show as did others in the bunch. As it happens more often than not in real life, Tantrik ‘hoodwinked’ the rest!
The punters had barely recovered from the first race jolt, when Hormuz Antia dished out his second missile - Queen Of The Turf. Mountain Bear was assumed a safe bet after his decent run in the Pune Derby and considering the present small field of 5 runners. Mountain Bear settled into the third position behind Somethingabouther and Queen Of The Turf; Strawberry Fields and Cosmopolitan followed close behind. At the 400 metre mark, Queen Of The Turf started to challenge Smethingabouther and Mountain Bear, when asked for an effort, simply refused to raise a gallop. That even prompted the Race Caller to remark “You can forget about Mountain Bear” with still 100 metres to go! Strawberry Fields switched on the outside and attempted a late challenge but the winning post came a wee bit too soon. She is one to watch next time out.
It was just not the day for the Dr. MAM Ramaswamy camp. Secret Memory was the first Champion on show. Racing second behind Beyond Belief with Diego Rivera and Premier Star following him, Secret Memory succumbed to the heavy weight he was carrying and never looked like making it. In fact, Beyond Belief looked good till the final 150 m or so. However, Diego Rivera (C. Ruzaan) was the fastest moving horse in the last furlong and got the measure of Beyond Belief in the last couple of strides. The 12.5 kg difference was clearly too much for Secret Memory to overcome.
Blue Vision brought some sanity back as the punters were taking a severe beating. Sitting well up with the pace, Blue Vision was switched on at 400 m and the filly responded readily to sail ahead and jockey YS Srinath had to only wheedle her all the way without much use of the whalebone. World War Three did well to retain the second spot and this run will get her ‘battle ready’ for next race. Montalvo and Dominatrix need to improve.
Pacemaker dictated his own pace and won form end-to-end. Sharing the lead with Rave on till the home turn, Pacemaker changed gear and sped ahead and sustained till the very end. Vijayi Bhava improved in the last 300 m and was only good enough to claim the runner’s up berth. Rave On kicked on to land the place money. Beyonce had an educative outing, running with bandages on; the first timer covered a lot of ground to run just off the frame close behind Lady Trooper.
Haunting Memories was the next Star in line and a lot was expected of her. As the horses jumped out, Escravos (KPG Appu) snatched the initiative and led a closely huddled group of ten, and set a scorching pace. Giacosa, Evatina Dancing Diva, Enaski were close to each other and Haunting Memories was sixth till turn and notable runners Oyster Cove and Atmosphere were in the rear. On straightening up, Escravos continued to lead them in and accelerated well with Evatina chasing him. Giacosa and Enaski were all out; Atmosphere closed in, and Oyster Cove moved all over the breadth of the track under the whip. Haunting Memories just couldn’t produce her best and faded out without a whimper. Escravos won well stopping the clock one hundredth of a second shy of the Course record of 1 min 10.54 seconds! Oyster Cove, despite running all over the place, ended a close fourth and is the one to follow.
Bourbon King reigned supreme in the Mystical Super Mile. The field was reduced to four runners as Alvida was very fractious and had to be withdrawn. Bourbon King easily sailed past Nitrous at the 400-metre mark and jockey B Prakash, smarting from his earlier losses, took no chances this time and even handed a couple of precautionary cracks at the distance post to ensure that he steered Bourbon King to an easy victory. Perpetuity was a tame second. Bourbon King justified the belief that he is the top youngster in the country and enhanced the confidence he has garnered as the first choice for the forthcoming Indian Classics. It would take a really great horse to upset Bourbon King this Season.
Southern Empire’s loss in the Mystical International Stayers’ Trophy was perhaps the biggest upset of the day. The Multi-Classic winner was right up there in the thick of action but was outraced in the last 100 metres. At one point it looked that he had the measure of the front-running Gruezi and some might argue that he even headed her, but, he just couldn’t keep up the momentum as Gruezi sprang forward in the last 50 metres. Dream Destiny (C Ruzaan) came with a forceful effort to peg back Southern Empire for the second spot. Gruezi was given a peach of a ride by Neeraj Rawal and the lad needs to be commended for holding his cool and coming on top in this hard-fought race. Spinoza too was right up there and it would be wise to make a note of this effort.
The last race of the day saw hectic activity in the betting ring. Heavy support came for See The Truth (SP Ranjane). Kingdom Of Love (Harish), however, was the firm favourite. As the race started, the favourite didn’t get the ideal of starts but soon settled well in the mid bunch. In the straight, Kingdom Of Love was prominent but See The Truth was ready to challenge. The duo fought all the way and Kingdom Of Truth shifted out under pressure. It was only in the final 100 metres or so, that Kingdom Of Love took control and posted a comfortable victory. See the Truth finished second and will live to fight another day, while Queen’s Court ran on a laboured third.
