Lancaster is a good type of a juvenile
By Sharan Kumar

Lancaster carries a lot of hope of the Kehelan Stud Farm, as he is from the first crop of their new stallion Glory of Dancer. The three-year old son of Glory of Dancer, trained by Michael Eshwer, made an impressive debut, making light of the opposition in the KROA Cup, a rich terms race for three-year olds bred in Karnataka or sold in the BTC Auction Sales which featured Saturday’s race. Owned and bred by Mr Farouq Ratonsey, Lancaster swept past the front-running Brown Sugar inside the final furlong to win as he pleased.

The Karnataka Racehorse Owners Association, has been doing a commendable job and on the occasion of their sponsoring the race, they hosted a lunch to the race horse owners and organized a couple of a prizes for the race goers. They had prizes of the best-turned horse, trainer and the owner of the winning horse. In short, everybody involved was taken care of. Brown Sugar’s trainer Irfan Ghatala got the prize for the best-turned horse.

Jockey Paul Eddery rode a cocky race, looking back on his adversary Brown Sugar even as Lancaster was cruising past the front-running Brown Sugar and not extending the favourite. Lancaster is a good type of a juvenile and his progress will be of decisive interest to the Khelan Stud Farm who is looking for a turnaround in its fortunes.

After letting down a few times this season, Cape Martin was ideally placed to strike in the 1200 metres F K Irani Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 40 and above. After being held back in the third or fourth position, Cape Martin came up with a powerful stretch run to easily overhaul the front-running Soviet Bay to win with ease. Spark of Life played up at the gates, got entangled in the next gate, broke his leg and was put down on humanitarian grounds. It was a sad sight. Spark of Life had always been a game performer.

M H Mahaesh trained Butter Sponge had gone down narrowly last time out as jockey Rajesh Singh got into a mess. Though the jockey far from excelled in the saddle, Butter Sponge managed to get up in time to edge out Street Smart in virtually the last stride. Top-weighted Judge Jules finished with a rattle and narrowly missed the spoils. The well-bred Street Smart could have gone places if it had the services of an enterprising trainer.

Dilmaangemore was running over a favourable distance of seven furlongs and as such, he had the best credentials to win the 1400 metres R Prithviraj Urs Memorial Plate. Forest Prince who had the first run on his adversaries nearly pulled it off but Ryan Marshall was able to get the right response in the nick of time from the favourite to get the nod in the shadow of the winning post.

Dark Knight provided trainer Miachel Eshwer an auspicious start for the day. The son of Don’t Forget Me had let down his supporters as a favourite last time out but was now neglected in the ring over the extended trip of a mile and quarter. Saddle Star and Mystic Heights, both without any decent racing form to their credentials, enjoyed all the support. Dark Knight led the field from the word `go’ and had something in reserve when containing the challenge of Mystic Heights who ran a good forward race for the first time in his career. Saddle Star faded out of contention rounding the final bend. This half sister to Saddle Up carries nothing more than hype.

Jockey Prakash last time out had given Bourbon Girl a questionable ride. Now backed to the exclusion of her rivals, Bourbon Girl easily sailed past the opposition to win in great style confirming the belief that the Stipes were found wanting in their reading of the race. Jockey Rakesh, who is back after a year’s suspension, has to be admired for his courage when riding an unperturbed race on `fancied’ Golden Fortune in the concluding race of the day. Argento had it easy in the end against a lackluster opposition. The day’s opener saw rank outsider Quest For Peace lead the field from the word `go’ and then thwarted the Fifty Fifty challenge of the Loknath ward to provide apprentice Afsar Khan, the first win of his career.