Shyboy who showed out strongly on
the wide outside, sped away from the opposition in the final furlong, to
win as he pleased from Dinesa and Indrajit. Dinesa who is a speedy
customer showed the way to the field till beaten.
The opening day’s action did not run kindly for the chasers of
favourites. Classic Sky who had two wins to her credit was backed to the
exclusion of her rivals in the 1400 metres Mayor's Cup, a race for horses
rated 40 to 70. Hat-tricker Noble Guest shaped to cause an upset but
Perfect Tribute, despite drifting out, was well controlled by Australian
jockey Aaron Spiteri, and the got-abroad filly got stronger close home
to win from Classic Sky who did not respond positively to the all out
effort put in by Prakash, the 6.5 kilos extra weight carried by the
Ramaswamy filly probably being her undoing. The Australian jockey, who is famous for his
flying dismounts, took everyone by surprise when he did a back flip
while being led in and he repeated the act while dismounting at the
paddock. This had the punters excited as they are used to the
run-of-the-mill action. Perfect Tribute has the breeding to make her
mark in the Fillies Trial Stakes, her dam being a half-sister to
leading sire Burden of Proof.
The Welcome Plate, a sprint race for maiden three-year olds, went off
well for the punters as the well-backed Living Free was not hard pressed
to win from Enforcer who gained places in the end. Allonia ran a forward
race but packed up under pressure. The other race meant for maiden three
year olds also went the way of heavily supported My Friend Paul who
burst away from the pack in the final furlong to win with great comfort
from Lord of Illusion who made up good ground after being tardy at the
gates. Mystified, a full brother to the celebrated Mystical,
is no patch on his illustrious brother and he was a poor third.
Korporate, who was trifle unlucky during the winter, got a poor
set and the four-year old gelding won drawing away from the field
to provide jockey Appu a back-to-back double. Appu had won the opening
event of the season on Living Free. Onegina led the field but she could
not sustain while Char Chand never raised hope at any stage
of the race.
The biggest shock of the day was reserved for the concluding race of the
day where Royal Retort upset the expectations of all to win at fancy
odds. A Run to Remember, Oro Neiro and Free Glider who were the fancied
runners made no show while it was another outsider She’s Big who ended
up a surprise second.
