S. Ganapathy schooled Smart Supreme garnered a lot of support, but failed to impress, only managing to take a lot of
money down the drain. Adrian finished a suggestive fourth and is the one to watch. Alphonso and Khalsa were the two other winners of the supporting events, the Sir M. Visvesvaraya Memorial Cup, split into two divisions. Back, after a long lay off, Alphonso won the upper division, while Khalsa came good in the lower division. Khalsa in fact, was a little lucky to score and should thank apprentice jockey Babulal Paswan, the rider of Torodoro, more for his victory. The inept handling of Torodoro by Paswan saw trainer Irfan Ghatala lose a winning race. Ghatala contends that this apprentice from his stable is improving. But the fact is that followers of form end up losing each time they fancy a horse based on its performance.
Trainer, M.A. Abbas pulled off a good gamble on Hello Hero in the opening event. Hello Hero, who was demoted after his
dismal effort in the higher class, proved too good for his eight rivals in the Melbourne Plate. Mumbai based jockey S. Sunil rode a confident race on the winner. In this event too, Paswan astride Candragupta failed to really pack a punch and his mount, after being favourably placed till the final furlong , only managed to finish a poor fourth. Kolkata-based trainer Vijay Singh recorded a popular double through Bountiful Pleasure and Arakawa. Both the winners are owned by Deepak Khaitan. Bountiful Pleasure won a close contest with the Ganapathy trained Pas De Surprise who shared the
fancied tag in the race. Arakawa, on the other hand, spread-eagled her rivals in the Fire Haven Plate. Arakawa on the strength of this performance will win again when next saddled. Power Of Dreams continues to play second fiddle and taking her consistency into account, she should score soon too.
The C.A. Kuts trained Emerald Ocean dropped a bombshell in the concluding event, the Mamma’s Mink Plate run over a mile. The connections of Emerald Ocean fancied the chances of the four-year old after his promising effort on the opening day. The winner, it was certain, had improved a great deal and despite apprentice jockey Sk Farookh’s urgency to head the field early into the straight, the Kuts’ ward stormed through and gained control. The on-money favourite Charleston failed to produce his best for more reasons than one.
So too was the case with the other Darius Byramji runner Devil’s Own. The price on Devil’s Own and Charleston almost doubled in no time and that was indication enough that not everything was quite right with the duo.
