Only Hyderabad’s stoutstayer Gentlemans Deal made his presence worthwhile by clinching
the second spot ahead of Star Luminary.
The Leger which comes at the fag end of the season has rarely attracted
top quality opposition if only for the fact that the form of the horses
would be so well known that unless those wishing to earn some stake money
and have a horse to go the distance would run their wards. Added to that,
it was an extraordinary year for trainer Ganapathy where the top 10
belonged to him and as such, the stable brooked no opposition in most of
the classics.
Storm Regent took over the job of setting a modest pace as the starter
dispatched the field of six for the 2800 metres trip, with Fiddlers
Ferry, Gentlemans Deal, Southern Empire, Guest Connections and Star
Luminary racing in single file. Approaching the final bend, Fiddlers
Ferry ran out of gas to dropped back even as Southern Empire accelerated
smoothly to come alongside of Gentlemans Deal. The moment Southern
Empire was asked for a response, the champion just left his only pursuer
way behind to win by a widening margin of over a distance. Gentlemans
Deal held on grimly for the second spot ahead of Star Luminary.
Padmanabhan trained Upper Crust was head and shoulders above her
opponents in the 1200 metres Chettinad Stud Plat. Since Ranjit Singh
replaced Aadesh Kumar who had a fall on Saturday, the odds went up and
the filly ended up at a generous quote of evens. In the event, Upper
Crust who moved up smoothly from the outside draw to be in touch with
the front-running Feel Freeand then spurted clear of the field on
turning for home to win as she pleased in an excellent timing of one
minute 12.5 seconds. Chagall held on resolutely to take the second spot
ahead of Three of Arts.
Karthik Ganapathy’s Mountain Bear recorded an encore when winning the
1600 metres V G Saravanam Memorial Cup. The well bred son of Razeen, who
appears to be a good quality youngster, toyed with the opposition and
won in splendid fashion. Mountain Bear left the field stranded inside the
final 250 metres. Favourite Royal Alchemist found foot late and he was
left to cover too much ground on the eventual winner. Though he finished
on well, Angelique edged him out for the second spot. Elusive Study, who
was expected to run prominently, an a poor race after leading the field
into the straight.
Andronicus just about lasted out to win the Esquire Trophy (Div I) from
Enforcer who has this habit of finishing second best. This was the sixth
straight occasion that Enforcer took the runner up spot. Andronicus had
the first run on his opponents and by the time Enforcer came up with a
big run as is his wont, the front-runner had reached the safety of the
winning post. Favourite Associator, who reared up at the start, ran
poorly and thus let down for the third time in a row. Associator surely
needs more ground than the six furlongs that he has been repeatedly
asked to tackle. The lower division of the race saw full sister to Indian
Oaks winner Blue Ribbon, being backed to the exclusion of her rivals
despite the trip being too sharp for comfort. In the event, Blue Vision
struggled for speed from the beginning and could not gain any place on
the two horses that were ahead of her from the start. Apertini led the
field from the start and won quite comfortably from Crackerjack.
Ruby Rocket took charge of the field from the wide outside draw and won
the Astronomic Plate (Div I) in emphatic fashion. Sarazen was expected
to put up a stiff resistance but the son of Burden of Proof appeared to
be in distress and pulled up lame to finish down the field. Kandiate had
gone down narrowly in his last essay as the jockey had unwisely gone
into a big lead and used up the horse in the process but this time out,
he looked invincible in the lower division of the Astronomic Plate, as
the opposition he was taking on was pretty run of the mill. Jockey Appu
had no problem in steering Kandiate to victory as the son of Glory of
Dancer won with great deal of comfort from Footstepsinthesky.
There was inspired support for Final Deposit in the 1200 metres Parsiana
Plate despite top-weighted Renascent too being strongly fancied to win.
Final Deposit, who had the weights in her favour, was not hard-pressed
to win as the daughter of Black Deposit went sailing clear in the final
furlong. Renascent faded out under pressure and Top Of The Class who
showed up on the wide outside, covered a lot of ground, to end up second
best. In the day’s other action, Mac obliged at long odds even as market
fancies Simply Dangerous and Strong Minded put up a poor show. Mac made
a successful foray from the front and kept increasing the lead to win
quite capably.
