Tide of Fortune is without doubt the best sprinter in Bangalore though the pride of place has to be given to Gr 1 Sprinters Cup winner Bryce Canyon. Tide of Fortune has not put a foot wrong in Bangalore and her unbeaten run shows no signs of abating. The small made but lion-hearted daughter of Diffident, Tide of Fortune treated a modest opposition with disdain when winning without having to be fully stretched out. It was a mystery as to how the bookmakers quoted her at generous odds when the same set of people had placed her at very cramped odds when she was facing stiff competition. This time out, Tide of Fortune had no worthwhile opposition to contend with. Trainer Ganapathy deserves praise for keeping Tide of Fortune in top form. 

Jockey Prakash, who has struck a fine partnership with Tide of Fortune, took the favourite on a start to finish mission and the habitual front-runner Winelight failed in his mission to head the field even for a brief while. Tide of Fortune came into the straight a few lengths clear of the rest and kept going without slackening. Prakash was not required to alert the filly to the task by any forceful means. Soviet Bay moved up well to take the second spot but he was in no way capable of overhauling the front-runner. Almond ran to take the third spot while Brunswick who seems to have dropped form finished down the field. Imperial Legend, who was being tried ambitiously over a sprint, was clearly out sprinted.

Tide Of Fortune (B Prakash up) winning The H B Gundappa Gowda Memorial Cup from Soviet Bay (Ms Silva Storai)

Justice, Mr. H. G. Balakrishna presenting The H B Gundappa Gowda Memorial Cup to trainer S Ganapathy

The day’s proceedings did not run kindly for punters. This was so because, every day’s racing features a number of races for three-year olds and form often goes haywire as horses keeping improving with each run and if this happens to be much more than anticipated, then the direction of money would have gone astray. Often horses have run to their potential but yet failed to deliver the goods simply because some other horse would have shown dramatic improvement. This has been a regular feature of the Summer season which has sent the punters searching for cover. There are plenty of pitfalls in identifying a winner in a race meant for three-year olds, as form is not static.

Padmanabhan trained Rubik had the credentials to win the Camino Plate, a mile race for three-year olds. But the son of Placerville was off colour and ran below par. The Big Fight showed appreciable improvement over her previous essay and floored the opposition. Second favourite Revendell was not exactly given a smooth ride by jockey Rajendra and by the time of daughter of Razeen was in full flow, the front-runner had reached the safety of the winning post. Astor who had failed to live up to expectations last time out reportedly due to the nose band hampering her progress, showed good improvement to be a good third. 

Torodoro had run an eye-catching second in his last run and predictably he started as a favourite. But with Water Brook coming in for inspired support and displacing Torodoro from that position, the punters were thrown into a state of confusion because the former did not warrant such a support as he hadn’t done anything worthwhile thus far. In the event, Torodoro who raced a handy second behind the pacemaker, assumed charge on turning for home and won with a great deal of comfort. Red First Point was a surprise second ahead of Amazing Ability. Water Brook was not sighted.

The Kumarajah M A M Muthaiah Cup produced a three-horse finish, with Indian Native being the surprise winner. The Soothsayer had finished way ahead of Indian Native when these two had clashed last time out but the latter showed appreciable improvement in winning while the former showed deterioration of form. The Complete Man, who moved up from behind on turning for home, shaped like a winner as he had the measure of favourite Trajan but he drifted out and lost his chances. Indian Native came through the middle, surged past Trajan and held off the challenge of The Complete Man who was picking up momentum once again close home.

The Big Fight (David Badel up) winning the Camino Plate from Rivendell (C. Rajendra up)

Indian Native (M Poirier up), winning The Kumararajah M A M Muthiah Cup from The Complete Man (J H Christopher up)

Hamilton was one of the few favourite to be seen in true colours. Hamilton won the Royal Tern Plate (Div I) at the expense of Astigmatic and Combat Way with a great deal of comfort. The lower division of the race had a shock in store for the punters. Market fancies Galaxy Dust and Springtide were not sighted as Diamonds Galore, with no worthwhile form to go by, floored the opposition, bolting from the gates and staying at a safe distance from her pursuers. St Lucinda once again finished second best. 

Darashah trained Auchterarder had been running poor races but suddenly he decided to put his best foot forward and edged out favourite Towering Success, much to the chagrin of racegoers who had put blind faith in the ability of the daughter of Libor. Towering Success was backed to the exclusion of her rivals and she shaped like a winner till turning for home as she appeared to be cruising. But under pressure, she did not quicken the way she was expected to do and was flat-footed and surrendered meekly when Auchterarder swooped on her.

Hamilton (David Badel) winning the Royal Tern Plate Div I