Name And Fame bounces back
By Sharan Kumar

Ganapathy trained Name And Fame is a horse for the Bangalore course. The son of Steinbeck has proved to be invincible here and the only time that Name And Fame raced outside his home centre was in the Gr 1 Super Mile at Hyderabad during the last winter season where he finished in the rut. After that miserable performance, there were many who believed that Name And Fame, who has soundness problems, might have gone over the hill. However, Name And Fame put to rest all speculation by smashing the opposition, by coming from the rear, in splendid fashion. Name And Fame has always proved superior to Just Brave and the only worthy opponent in the fray belonged to the stable. With jockey Prakash being declared to ride Name And Fame, Tide of Fortune who was well placed in scales, was not going to be a serious challenger to the favourite and the four-year old filly ran a game race when finishing an unexpended second behind the winner. Tide of Fortune is too good to miss when the terms favour her.

Name And Fame was a little rusty in the early part as he was found lacking in the initial speed and fell behind to the rear of the field, causing his supporters to lose their momentum for a brief while. Tide of Fortune did the front running, with Just Brave handily placed. Prakash had to work his way along the rails and got an excellent opening along the rails. Once Prakash pushed the favourite through the gap, there was no looking back as Name And Fame spread-eagled the field with his patented burst of speed. Jockey D Patel on Tide of Fortune was only too eager to open a widish gap along the rails for the favourite to shoot through. Tide of Fortune battled on to take the second spot ahead of Just Brave. Just Brave is bound to improve after this run because he was from fully tuned up. Name And Fame looked a picture of fitness at the paddock.

Name And Fame (B Prakash up) winner of  the Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Cup (Grade III).




Mr. B K Das Stewards of BTC presenting Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Cup to Dr. M A M Ramaswamy, owner of Name and Fame

Ganapathy had reason to smile on Sunday as three-year old Smart Supreme recorded an impressive win in the Mount Everest Plate (Div I). Padmanabhan trained Rubik was the public rage but the grey son of Placerville did not find his bearings and was a tame fourth. Smart Supreme tracked leader Essex into the straight and then assumed command on turning for home to retire a facile winner. The big made Smart Supreme in course of time can prove to be a serious contender in classics. Rubik is a difficult horse to handle, as the jockey has to be hard at work from the word `go'. Jockey Kamlesh, who replaced Srinath in the saddle as the latter had a fall earlier in the day, found it hard to extract response and Rubik was a beaten horse once Smart Supreme quickened nicely on entering the home stretch. In the lower division of the race, which was contested by a poor lot of runners, Exalted just about managed to get the better of front-running Astor close home. The fact that jockey Malesh Narredu carried overweight, compounded further by the unsteady saddle, put paid to the hopes of the front-runner. Favourite Demanding was not up to it.

Smart Supreme (B Prakash up) winner of  the Mount  Everest Plate Div I being led by trainer S. Ganapathy and owner Dr. M A M Ramaswamy

Jockey Kamlesh is yet to get used to the tricky Bangalore track. He failed to get an advantageous position on favourite Southern Goddess from the outside draw and to compound his problems, he chose to race on the wide outside instead of dropping her inside and gradually working his way. Instead, he pushed the filly on the uphill by going the widest to gain ground on the front-runners. The Padmanabhan trainee, Southern Goddess, had to win the hard way. However, she proved too good for the likes of Nimitz. 

Jockey Srinath has proved to be increasingly accident-prone. Astride Barracudda, Srinath had a fall soon after crossing the winning post as his stirrup broke. Srinath escaped without any major worry though his old injury around his neck might have been hurting because of the fall. Chilli Girl proved to be too speedy and readily justified the big volume of money she attracted. The well-bred Calescent found foot late to be an impressive second ahead of Samyukta.

In an exciting four-horse finish, favourite Florale just about lasted out to win from Dare You Say, Allespagne and Fly For Fame. Florale led from the word `go' and despite coming under strong pressure from her opponents, she hung on gustily. Dare You Say was the medium of a big gamble which failed to come off narrowly. Fly For Fame which was finishing the fastest at the finish, found the early pace to be her undoing. In the lower division of the same race, Slanka readily justified a quiet touch despite being none too well placed rounding the final bend. Slanka easily collared the front-runners to win as he pleased from a late-finishing So Supreme. Tribal Dance, who came in for inspired support, showed up prominently but failed to sustain and was a faraway third.

Visiting French jockey M Poirier got his first success at this centre when guiding Hoorpari to victory over Ithica. Hoorpari failed to maintain a straight course in the early part of the race and went on to Win Ameen who dropped out of contention. This came about because Appu on Ithica cut across from the wide outside draw, tightening the field on the inside. He was suspended for two race days for careless riding. In the day's other action, Kuts trained Princess Gabriella proved too speedy for her opponents, with a start to finish dash, which had the opponents flat-footed.

 

Southern Goddess (P Kamlesh up)winner of the Kunigal Stud Plate being led in by trainer S Padmanabhan and Owner Mrs. Sharmila Padmanabhan.

Florale (J H Christopher) winner of the Khodayar Memorial Plate Div I being led in by trainer M Eshwer and Owner Dr.K.W. Gopinath.


Hoorpari (Michel Poirier up) winner of the Malenahalli Plate being led in by owner A K S Brar & Tegbir Brar.