That Athlone has the class to win in this bunch is doubtless. But factors such his going lame in her
last start early in the Monsoon Season; the subsequent sabbatical she took from racing; the
intermittent change of stables; and then the jockey declared to partner her (apprentice NM
Sequeira), have prompted punters to consider Athlone a non-hoper. The surprise element, however, was that despite all these negative
factors, the horse was backed to 8-1. Few took note of this as odds have seldom been an indication of the
prospects of runners at this centre.
As normal with most horses returning after a prolonged lay-off, Athlone sprung out of her gate readily and
headed straight for the rails. After pushing Riddhi and Royal Sign for some time, he dropped back to
fourth-fifth positions much to the relief of Riddhi’s backers. Chased hotly by Royal Sign, Riddhi set a
scorching pace, but on entering the straight she began to shorten her strides.
At that stage, another upset appeared on the cards close on the heels of the blow dealt by Leo D’Silva’s
Magician. Royal Sign, under apprentice S Sreekant, kicked on well. If Athlone had not started her run at
this stage, perhaps Sreekant would have persevered with Royal Sign, but on seeing Athlone producing a
brilliant turn of foot, Sreekant pulled his mount back. A late finishing Maid Of The Mist too got the
better of Royal Sign.
Trainer Faisal Hassan thus successfully converted another opportunity to advertise his capabilities to
owners who are already flocking to him.
Otherwise it was the day of young French jockey Samuel Fargeat who rode three winners. While Adrian and Maid
For Eachother were simple rides, he showed what opportunistic riding is all about when he snatched
victory from the jaws of defeat on Plumage in the day’s last event.
Deshmukh’s Adrian won without much ado. The son of Glory Of Dancer showed that the field was totally out
of depth for his talent when he took over the running from 1000 metres and won by six lengths despite not
fully stretching out. In fact, in the absence of any worthwhile opposition, he appeared like a one-paced
horse until seven furlongs when he picked up speed and went pounding away past the finish line.
Adrian’s run reflects that he is bred to stay and could show himself in better light if he goes over
distances above 2000 metres. Rafaat Hussain’s Miraculous Ruler is also shaping up well to tackle
distances above a mile. With this run, he too should be ready to score over 2,000 metres.
The race for youngsters, The Ballo Plate, threw up a surprise winner in Shamsuddin-trained Great Society.
Bred well by Young Senor out of Aberlady, Great Society was a medium of a gamble. In her very first
run, Great Society gave a glimpse of her prowess with a fine stretch run after gracing the tail end for
better part of the race. She caught up with Cosmic Run, the most experienced horse in the bunch, in the
final 100 metres, while false favourite Damanaka filled up the third spot.
Leo D’Silva’s Magician produced a magical run to catch Jackpot hunters on the wrong foot in the very first
leg, Flirting Vision Plate Division I. Known to run from the front, Magician has the
reputation of being a six-furlong horse, but on the day he gained a substantial lead by the bend and scored over 1400
metres. Apprentice Deep Shanker had absolutely no trouble at all in keeping Magician ahead of a bunch.
This is not the first time that races for four-year-old and up in Category II are throwing up
upsets. In similar conditions and weight marks, Steal Away and Consulate had pulled off upset wins earlier
in the season and perhaps this is an indication that four-year-olds moving up from Category III should be
paid due respect.
The lower division of the race produced an interesting finish with three horses -- favourite Plumage, Great
Image and Aware -- finishing in a line. The judges’ verdict went in favour of Plumage who clinched the
issue on the last stride, but a majority of punters felt, after watching the freeze on CCTV replays, that
the verdict should have gone in favour of Great Image.
What eventually clinched the issue for Plumage was the bad riding by apprentice Shaik Farokh on Great Image.
The lad, still not used to wielding the whip, unbalanced his mount several times in the last furlong
while using the whalebone. That was one race which Fargeat got thanks to another jockey!
It appears that Maltese Star is gradually coming into the striking zone.
Blue Bells and Simply Fabulous scored popular wins in the two divisions of the Olympic Flame Plate. In the
Cordon Rouge Plate for horses in Category IV, Maid Of Eachother got it right with Fargeat in the saddle.
