Priceless Memories wins a thriller
By Sharan Kumar

Bangalore
Mar 04, 2007

Priceless Memories who has the distinction of having had the measure of the all conquering Diabolical earlier in the season when the son of Major Impact suffered a rare defeat, had to stretch to the maximum to edge out the unlucky Game Fighter in the 1400 metres Hyderabad Silver Vase, a race for horses rated 80 and above, which highlighted the card of nine events held on Saturday. Diabolical hadn't suffered a defeat since moving to Bangalore before the Summer Season but he suffered an unexpected reverse at the hands of Priceless Memories before going on to beat the seemingly invincible Southern Empire in the all important Indian Derby. That Diabolical could lose to Priceless Memories is one of the diabolical happenings of present day Indian racing.

Be that as it may, Game Fighter who had gone down narrowly to Lionheart in his last outing was the firm favourite while the moody Priceless Memories was a close second favourite. Appu took Game Fighter on a start to finish mission and despite a splendid piece of riding by the ever reliable professional, Priceless Memories proved the better of the two by a whisker. Though Priceless Memories appeared to be traveling the better of the two in the final 100 metres, jockey Appu's dogged persistence ensured that the battle was taken to the wire. Big B has lost his sparkle and ran on to be third.

Fantabulous Prince and Sloane Square appeared to be closely matched and the perception was shared by most race goers as evidenced by both these horses receiving equal support in the ring. Sloane Square's undoing in the past was the way she was ridden in front which had seen her slacken close home. But this time out, apprentice Ashwin Rao had the daughter of Glory of Dancer settled behind though too far behind for the comfort of her backers as Bee For You led the field. Fantabulous Prince raced a handy second. Rounding the final bend, Fantabulous Prince surged ahead but once Sloane Square extricated herself from a tight passage, the race ceased to be a contest. Sloane Square surged ahead with ease and won quite competently. Bee For You was third.

Living Luxury looked outstanding in the 1200 metres Glass House Cup if only because her racing form was indeed ormidable. She had the measure of Upper Crust when coming out of the maidens' ranks and the latter had gone on to win the Winter Million. But the full sister to Balthazar did not shown any appreciable improvement over her previous run though doing enough to get the better of Lush Foliage. The latter could have run the winner close but for shifting course but nevertheless, the daughter of Pennine Ridge can turn out to be a pretty useful handicapper. River Blush did not run to expectations.

The Contender had lost in the shadow of post to River Island in his last outing and he looked outstanding in the 1100 metres Katil Plate (Div I). The Contender bolted to the front from the word `go' and won with a great deal of ease. Passion To Perform who came in for some support in the ring, lacked the early speed and judging by the manner in which she was finishing in the end, she may be more at home over a slightly longer trip. The lower division of the race was claimed by another odds-on favourite Aelenia who is a full sister to the well performed Lancaster though the timing was comparatively poorer than the one clocked by The Contender.

Indian Arcelor was fancied strongly against Lady One who turned to be an exceptionally good horse. Now taking on a modest opposition, Indian Arcelor had the race well sewn up long way from home. Apprentice S John brought Surreale to the second position with some vigorous effort but his action was not synchronizing with the strides of the horse and as a result, he was unbalanced passing the post and had a fall. However,he was lucky to escape without any injury.

Jockey Appu had to stretch himself completely on Senna to get the better of Oro Neiro who lost by a whisker. Apprentice Selva who had ridden two winners on Friday, was unlucky not have added to his tally as Oro Neiro failed to collar the favourite.

Go Go Boy showed good early speed to take a firm control of the race at the final turn and then held on to win from Kanteerava who was left to cover a lot of leeway in the final furlong. In the day's other action, jockey Narasimha recorded a win after a very long time. Regal Royale found herself in the front and despite no apparent effort on the part of the jockey, carried him home ahead of favourite Jedi Knight.