Sent to trainer Padmanabhan
before the start of the season, Great Investment who has a
ligament and hoof problem was nursed to peak fitness by the
trainer. But with the season turning out to be nightmarish after
beginning well with the success of Royal Gladiator in the Grade
I Kingfisher Colts Trial Stakes, the trainer hadn’t led in a
winner for more than six weeks and he was in danger of ending
the season in frustration. Great Investment was not a strongly
fancied runner as Alameda who had run a blinder of a race in the
Maharaja’s Cup enjoyed public confidence and trust. But lady
luck, which had deserted the trainer, finally smiled on
Padmanabhan in the form of a win in a big race, which made up
for earlier disappointments and came as a big boost to his
sagging morale. The Libor progeny who perhaps relished the soft
underfoot conditions, produced a striking acceleration in the
run in for home to floor the front-running favourite Alameda to
win decisively.
The final week’s programme
was too big for comfort. A total of 26 races were gone through
during the two day’s of programme, in conditions, which were
far from ideal due to continuous rains. The authorities showed
some ingenuity when they saved ground on the inside by having
false rails, at a width of about eight metres for the first
seven races of the final day and removed the same for the last
six. This ensured that the ground was not too cut up and this
perhaps explains why the timing of two minutes 40.49 came about
for the 2400 metres trip despite the going been heavy. With well
over 50 races over the week including off-course betting
operations, punters are bound to be hit hard by such mindless
programming and it is time sense is drilled into the authorities
to restrict their programming in a manner that one doesn’t
have to leave all activity and spend all the time at the race
courses. Sometime ago, there was a government stipulation that
there should not be more than 180 days of on-course and
off-course betting days but with no one to rein in the turf
club, there is blatant attempt to milk the racing patrons dry.
To what end? Such methods are bound to misfire in the long run.
Be that as it may, Darius
Byramji trained Alameda who had won the Stayers Cup at Chennai
and had the right credentials to win, was backed to the
exclusion of his rivals, with only a handful fancying Great
Investment’s chances. Elusive Emperor showed the way till the
1000 metres marker at which point Aslam Kader pushed Alameda to
take over the running and opened up a gap of more than five
lengths on his rivals. The jockeys of Great Investment and
Aerobee too quickly reacted and began to move up. Though Alameda
had a useful led, the front-running effort told on the Steinbeck
progeny as Great Investment came through with a lightning run
along the rails to settle the issue inside the distance post.
Aerobee too finished full of running but narrowly missed the
runner-up berth as Alameda managed to stave off that threat. In
hindsight, Aslam could be ruing his decision to hit the front so
early in the race though Alameda enjoys running freely in front.
The Governor’s Cup has
indeed been a lucky one for trainer Padmanabhan who had earlier
recorded back-to-back victory in this event through Diamantaire.
And in the fitness of things, the same race has given him the
much-needed booster dose.
With the majority of the
runners having no business to be running as they were only
completing the formalities of two runs in order to get the
subsidy, the concluding day’s races did not run kindly for the
punters. Form went topsy-turvy.
As if to oblige the
bookmakers, the race named after them, namely the Leading
Bookmakers Trophy, run in two divisions, saw favourites bite the
dust, with lesser fancied Aerobatic and Astrid landing a quiet
touch. But the Leading Tipsters Cup (Div I) went the way of the
heavily supported Air Tel who won at the expense of Mohan Valavi’s
Indigenous whose wards were seen in different light in the final
week. The lower division of the race went the way of the
unpredictable Star Blitz.
Darius Byramji’s Appleby has
been in blazing form. The Razeen progeny who won his last outing
in taking style, swamped the opposition in the 2200 metres
Leading Stud Cup, a race for horses rated 30 to 45. Star of
Gaiety who had run less than three lengths behind the Derby
winner Snow Dew, appeared a cinch but jockey Prakash made the
mistake of keeping him too far behind. The Serious Spender
progeny performed poorly and finished in the rut. Ma Baker edged
out Argolis for the second spot.
Fittingly the Champion
Trainers Cup, run in two divisions, saw well-backed horses
landing the spoils. In the upper division, there was a quiet
touch on Shoorveer who hammered the opposition, with favourite
Count My Stride not sighted. In the lower division, trainer
Lokanth Gowda kept his supporters happy with a bloodless win on
Starjo who was backed to the exclusion of his rivals. The
Leading Owner Cup, again run in two divisions, turned cruel for
the punters, with Earl Grey and Crown Witness overturning their
previous form to win at fancy odds.
With champion jockey Pesi
Shroff in the saddle, it was no surprise that the Champion
Jockey Cup went the way of favourite Furia Rossa to a smart win
over a late-finishing Ivory Wings. However, rank outsider
Crystal Delight dealt a severe blow to the beleaguered punters
in the lower division.
The Stipes overall did well
during the season though they continued to be ineffective as far
as drilling fear in the minds of the professionals regarding the
in and out running of their wards. Some of the professionals
have made this a fine art, taking shelter in one excuse or the
other, much to the chagrin of students of farm and the hapless
punters.