Bourbon King had done everything right and had even beaten Alvarita in
the Poonawalla Breeders Million. However, Alvarita who had impressed
most during her fluent in the Fillies Trial Stakes was expected to
improve further and get the measure of Bourbon King over the extended
trip of mile and a quarter. Western Command and Noble Prince were
considered as only pretenders to the throne and in the end, the King
conclusively proved that his reign will continue at least till the time
`the Prince’ grows up.
In a fast run race, jockey Rajendra was unable to settle Western Command
as the colt bolted to the front, forcing Srinath to work hard on
Confident Victory to take up his pacemaking duties. However, Rajendra
continued to err on the fancied runner by racing the son of Alnasr
Alwasheek on the outside of the pacemaker instead of tucking him in. The
use of blinkers got the horse too keen for comfort so much so that
Western Command, who was expected to figure on board, ran out of
reserves and by the time the race came to a boil he was a spent force.
Confident Victory went at a good clip along with Western Command, with
Noble Prince, Bourbon King and Alvarita spaced out a few lengths adrift
of these two horses. Approaching the final bend, Prakash on Bourbon King
made his move on the outside to be in striking position of the
front-runners along with Alvarita while Noble Prince who was in the
fourth position continued to stay put though jockey Mark Zahra had to
work on him to stay in position.
Rounding the final turn, Bourbon King breezed into the lead with his
customary turn of foot even as Alvarita was charging into contention on
his outside. Noble Prince took a while to quicken as the big made colt
hesitated for a while till given a clear run on the wide outside. In the
meanwhile, Bourbon King had gone away from the field and had a break of
over four lengths. Alvarita flattered to deceive after raising visions
of engaging Bourbon King in a keen tussle. Noble Prince picked up
momentum in the final stages of the race and was full of running at the
finish but by then Bourbon King was home comfortably.
This was the sixth straight win for Bourbon King who hasn’t put a foot
wrong. The well built son of Diffident is blessed with blistering speed
as also the ability to stay and has a wonderful temperament to boot.
Noble Prince is an improving type and there is plenty of scope as he is
still to mature. He has made a quantum leap from winning against run of
the mill Vanquish in his last outing in a lower handicap race and he can
be expected to only improve after this effort. Western Command’s run
needs to be discounted while Imperial View who finished fourth can make
his mark in less exalted company when he gets shifted to less
competitive centres in the monsoon.
Dancing Highness showed amazing improvement when defying a steep penalty
for her runaway win by recording a stupendous win in the 1400 metres
Mumbai Cup in an excellent timing of 1 minute 25.59 seconds. Many were
skeptical about the chances of the daughter of Glory of Dancer as she
was taking on horses who had more wins to their credit. Regal Connection
who had won twice back home at Kolkata, led the field as Dancing
Highness was settled in third position, with Ocean Crest racing
alongside. Regal Connection did not give up easily even as jockey Aadesh
Kumar had to work to get Dancing Highness to quicken his way past Ocean
Crest. Once she did so, Dancing Highness went clear and won drawing away
from the field. Regal Connection held on to finish second ahead of Ocean
Crest. Dancing Highness certainly belongs to the highest class and can
be in contention for bigger plums if campaigned in monsoon. Livorno who
showed good promise when beating Hotstepper in the early part of the
season, hasn’t progressed.
Fairytaleending recorded a hat-trick of wins to vindicate the faith of
her trainer Arjun Mangalorkar who had high hopes on her and was quite
enthusiastic about winning a classic win the daughter of Inner City
during the last winter season. The four-year old filly has thus
justified the faith of her trainer though she turned out to be a late
bloomer. The Kolkata Cup, run over 2000 metres, had a good field in the
fray, with last Bangalore Winter Derby winner Star Luminary being in the
fray. However, Star Luminary struggled first to get past the
front-running Chiquitita and then had no answer when Fairytaleending
charged home with a big run on the wide outside. Fairytaleending was
traveling the best at the finish. Bravissima, who was a rousing
performer during the Mumbai season, hasn’t shown any zest and has been
performing poorly on the Bangalore track.
Blink was expected to have it easy in the 1200 metres Hyderabad Cup, a
race for maiden three-year olds only, considering his performance
against better quality horses in his earlier runs. However, the son of
Black Cash had to be driven out and just about managed to edge out the
front-running Quantico virtually in the shadow of the post to justify
the short odds laid on him. Blink no doubt found the trip sharp but
somehow, the progeny of Black Cash haven’t been doing well on the
Bangalore track where there is cut in the ground. Busaba ran on to
finish third while Loughborough bled during the race.
Allonia was one of the fancied horses to win the Mysore Cup (Div I) but
the daughter of Local Talent did not take a good jump and even after
coming out of the gates, was inclined to run out but once she settled
down, made up the leeway and was in striking position in the final
furlong which only indicated that if apprentice Selvaraj had maneuvered
a good jump from the gates, she could have landed the spoils. It was
rank outsider South Paradise who barely held on to the advantage as
Alcohology and favourite Regents Park came charging home. Regents Park
did not quicken decisively despite all out efforts by his jockey and he
perhaps will be better off tackling longer trips. The lower division of
the race went the way of favourite Hypnotiq who was backed to the
exclusion of his rivals and he readily obliged as he had solid racing
form to support his credentials. Mystified continued to be dismal.
South Star had every chance to win the 2200 metres Chennai Cup but the
son of Razeen failed to collar the front-running Cherika who held on to
the advantage. To give credit to apprentice jockey Vijay Kadam, he went
to the front and slowed down the pace and the more seasoned jockeys in
the fray did not read the pace well and allowed the front-runner to
spurt away with the race.
Royal Heir was the surprise favourite in the 1600 metres Delhi Cup (Div
I) though the son of Stavros did not merit such strong support. But in a
field contested by poor quality of horses, he was thought to be better
than the rest but he finished down the field, highlighting the folly of
backing every horse that the stable’s first jockey sits on. Prakash is a
jockey who is unmindful of public expectations and quite often he is on
duds. Nalwa who was ridden in restraint this time by jockey Appu, wore
out the challenge of Pret A Porte who had all the chances but lacked the
ability to land the spoils. Hakuna Matata was expected to oblige in the
lower division but the four-year old who fought for his head till
half-way through the journey, did not show any zest in the straight and
was a poor third. Soldier Blue came through the middle to get the better
of front-running Cindy Girl who found one better for the second timing
running.
