Flashing Star was the
overwhelming favourite to win on the basis of his two smashing wins at
Mumbai. Flashing Star is a horse who takes time to get into his
momentum. When he won the Breeders Produce Stakes, he was in the 10th
position till the final two furlong but he picked up speed in a trice
when he was pulled on the wide outside. In the mile long Shapoorji
Pallonji Juvenile Colts Championship, he got going only inside the final 100 metres. As
such, the short Bangalore straight was expected to go against him but
race-goers harbored no such doubts as they made him an on-money favourite. In the event, he was gaining momentum well after the race was
in the safe keeping of Yes Es Yess Ses who quickened nicely in the final
furlong. May be he will be seen in different light over the mile long
Colts Trial Stakes but at the
moment, Holding Court definitely enjoys the edge.
It poured before the start of the 'Million' and the underfoot conditions
changed dramatically and timings in the rest of the races were slower by
nearly five seconds. Admiral’s Force hit the front followed by Caprese,
Yes Es Yes Ses, Aleski, Flashing Star and the rest, with Democraticus
completely out of the race following a dismal start from the gates.
Admiral’s Force came into the straight a few lengths ahead of the field
with Caprese in hot pursuit but it was evident that an upset was on
cards when Yes Es Yes Ses moved up with a flourish and took charge
inside the distance post with Flashing Star making a belated effort
which was good enough to edge out Aleksi and Caprese from the runner-up
spot.
For the second week running, a Hyderabad based horse has won the Graded
race in Bangalore. Last week Coral Gables placed himself as the highest
rated horse in the country by winning the Gr.3 Jayamacharaja
Wadiyar Cup.
There was a concerted effort to restrict the number of horses from
Hyderabad participating in the Bangalore Summer Season on the ground
that they were coming here for summering and were not contributing to
racing forgetting that horses from the other neighboring centre were
worse off in comparison. Most of Hyderabad horses make an honest attempt
though they are often beaten by better set of horses. But in the last
one year, horses from Hyderabad have made significant strides and it is
a pity that some officials and the powers that be could have pursued
their intention to prevent more horses from this centre taking part in
the summer racing. Interestingly, about 30 horses from the other
neighboring centre were seen in action in the last two weeks and ran
detached from the field. So much for their contribution to racing in
Bangalore and the mindset of the officialdom!
Be that as it may, jockey Appu was in the limelight booting home four
winners to start off the season on a bright note. Barring the Juvenile
Million, seven of the eight races went the way of favourites. Appu’s
winners came through Big B who held on to win from a late-finishing
Perfect Mover, Rafaga, Indian Shining and Estrella who all had an easy
passage to victory. India Shining staved off the challenge of
front-running Witch Doctor quite capably. Confluence, half-sister to the
well performed Holding Court, ran on well to finish third in this
educative run and should be hard to down next time out.
Darius Byramji continues to enjoy a good run, with a brace of winners
through Arturo and Estrella. Darius thus had the distinction of saddling
five on-money favourites to victory in two days. Arturo who had let down
twice at Mumbai, turned out to be a different proposition after being
gelded. Arturo hit the front from the start and held on comfortably to
win from an inexperienced Risada who took time to get into her momentum.
Arturo clocked a smart time of one minute 25.7 seconds but one cannot
get too excited about the timing and rank him straightaway as classic
material. Risada’s coat was dry but there is tremendous scope for this
well bred filly to turn out into a top class contender.
In the day’s other action, Cascabel had it easy against heavily
supported Princess Emily who was left stranded while Penny Tweedy held
on to win from a late-finishing Diamond Tops.
