On this score alone, Golden
Edition and Woman On Top had the best chance but the latter who was
shown daylight too soon, weakened close home, allowing the former to
have a say at the finish. Splendid Surprise had to work his way from
behind and though he was finishing the fastest, the winning post had
already been sighted.
The Usha Stud Million has always been contested by top quality
performers and some of the winners have gone on to achieve great fame.
This year too, there was a quality field as those who had missed the
action in the classics were in the line up. The Bangalore race track is
a narrow one and things became worse with about nine metres of false rails
restricting it further. Though the back stretch and the approach to the
final bend needed to be protected because of the wetness in the track
and the severe pounding that it had received in the nearly three months
of action, it would have helped if the false rails in the straight was
considerably reduced. The wide false rails was definitely going to play
a premium on horses with greater speed and ability to race up with the
field and this, to a large extent had a say in the results that obtained
on Monday.
Perpetuity was highly thought off and since he had won his debut outing
in impressive timing, the son of China Visit was considered to be a cut
above the rest and he was backed to the exclusion of his rivals. There
were better achievers in the field especially Woman On Top who had a win
in a Million race to her credit and Splendid Surprise who had run game
races in graded races. There was a question mark on Golden Edition as to
the reason why it took so much time for him to run in a race. Passion To
Perform who was running in a week after her impressive performance was
also fancied to run well but the daughter of Bertoloni who played up at
the gates and got entangled, did not appreciate the ground as well as
the trauma and never found foot at any stage of the race to finish
dismally.
Ocean Crest hit the front as the field set out to traverse the mile long
trip in difficult going, with Woman On top, Perpetuity, Golden Edition
racing in handy positions while Splendid Surprise did not get a clear
run in a tightly packed field. Rounding the final turn, it was Golden
Edition who came up with a strong run, with Woman On Top close on his
haunches. Perpetuity gave up too easily for comfort. At one stage, it
looked as though Woman On Top would overhaul Golden Edition but she
weakened and the front-runner was home and dry. Splendid Surprise was
set alight by jockey Appu but he had plenty of ground to cover on the
front-runners and though the progeny of Steinbeck was finishing the
fastest, luck of the race was against him. A better quality ride could
have made a difference to the outcome of the race.
Though Golden Edition is a good quality horse, he may relish longer
trips to make his mark in the classics. Splendid Surprise has shown out
to be a good horse as he has placed in all the three graded races that
he has run in. Woman On Top did well in the mile long trip but the
daughter of Burden of Proof who is all about speed, had her
effectiveness possibly blunted by the mile long trip and the difficult
going which put a premium on fitness.
