Venus Arising enjoys pride of place
By Sharan Kumar
brsharan@yahoo.com

Bangalore
Nov 03, 2004

With the eclipse of Fantabulous King due to an operation for wind problem, the pride of place as the best three year old in the country goes to Pune Derby heroine Venus Arising. Full Speed, Berlioz, Star Admiral, Spectacular Quest, Blurr, Elite Zone, Southern Regent, Camarioca, Adesina and Romantic Fire, the best performed among the rest of the three-year olds are all closely matched. Apart from these horses, there are some exciting prospects like Soul Mountain, Raphaela, Waves of Glory, Live Legend, Radiate and Petronius Maximus. Secret Warrior appears to be under cloud. It is also possible that during the winter season some horse, hitherto unknown, could emerge on the horizon as a champion. But till such time, Venus Arising will enjoy the pride of place followed by the rest. How well these horses train on and what condition they present themselves on the `D’ day will determine the outcome of the classics in winter.

Venus Arising was a smashing winner of the Pune Derby. The daughter of Steinbeck out of a Razeen mare Lei, Venus Arising showed amazing quality in both her wins during the just concluded Pune season. She won the Pune Derby quite comprehensively, her turn of foot at the top of the straight leaving the battling duo of Southern Regent and Elite Zone stranded. The last named had won the Gr 1 Deccan Derby. The nature of her win and the improvement that she is expected to make, marks her out as an outstanding three-year old in the country.

Full Speed, by virtue of his win in the Mysore Derby, has moved a couple of notches on the ladder. The son of Burden of Proof beat Berlioz capably and appeared to be traveling well at the finish. This may give rise to hope that the Irfan Ghatala trainee may well enjoy another two furlongs which is what the Derby distance in winter is going to be. He has scope to improve and the fact that he has always acquitted well in best company, speaks well of his caliber. He was second behind Spectacular Quest in the Gr 1 Colts Trial Stakes and could have finished behind Fantabulous King and ahead of Star Admiral with better luck of the race in the Kingfisher Derby. 

Ganapathy trained Star Admiral is a horse of great potential but this has not been translated into a bagful of wins thus far. He is the winner of just one race but has done well in all the graded races that he took part in. He has been well rested. Though he is expected to be a force to reckon with over longer trips, it remains to be seen how he will shape up. Till such time, Star Admiral will only be a horse which carries a lot of hype.

The got-abroad son of Sri Pekan, Berlioz has made tremendous progress during the monsoon season; winning a Graded race and then losing close home to Full Speed in the Mysore Derby. There is no doubt that he will be the horse to beat in the Gr 2 Bangalore 2000 Guineas and it is also possible that he may well have a go at the Indian 2000 Guineas. He is endowed with a great deal of speed and has a fine temperament. He settles down well in a race and can make his mark even over longer trips if he is allowed to do so. His owners firmly believe that his optimum trip is mile but nothing is lost by testing him even over the winter Derby trip. Padmanabhan can handle things well. Southern Regent and Elite Zone are all seasoned performers and they could make their mark at one centre or the other.

The Bangalore Winter Season beginning from Novemer 6 promises some exciting fare. Trainer Michael Eshwer has quite a few of his juveniles in pink of condition and he is expected to make a mark early in the season. Blurr, the winner of Gr 1 Poonawalla Breeders’ Million, is in ship shape and she is hard to toss in the Bangalore 1000 Guineas. Ironically, the talented daughter of Glory of Dancer is yet to win a race in Bangalore and her exploits have all come at Mumbai where surely she will make her mark in the Indian classics. 

Trainer Ganapathy has quite a few aces up his sleeve. He has maintained his stranglehold on the trainers’ championship stakes and he can be expected to be at the helm of things all over again.

Padmanabhan is another trainer who should be in the limelight. He has always made his mark even from the limited stock that he has at his disposal. The Byramjis appear to have lost their way as their strike rate has diminished substantially. Irfan Ghatala who saddled the Mysore Derby winner is another trainer who bears watching.