Stroke Of Genius matures with age!
By Diablo

Hyderabad
Nov 29, 2003

Trainer Shaik Kassam announced his return from suspension quite loudly with a double, including Stroke Of Genius’ victory in the main event, The Delhi Race Club Trophy at Malakpet on Saturday (29.11.2003).

With just a month to go before he departs from this centre, Stroke Of Genius picked up his second race in a row to the utter surprise of the weekend crowd. Not that he hasn’t got the class to beat this set, but the form that a couple of four-year-olds in the field are in, they were not expected to capitulate in the manner they did.

Frankly, everything about the main race was a bit intriguing. Okati Okati Okati was lodged the favourite despite the mare sending out enough signals that she no longer has the form that had seen her win three races during monsoon. She was a pale shadow of herself while losing to the very Stroke Of Genius on the opening day of the current season. Then, Bon Vivant, who hadn’t been in the best of condition, was next in demand, ahead of Bruno Magli and Fabulous Gem. The last two have been on the rise for some time and their runs in Picture Me race were quite eye-catching.
The fact that they were not fancied by their respective stables was quite surprising.

A habitual front-runner, Stroke Of Genius went forward and did not look back for the second time this season. The way Bruno Magli and Fabulous Gem tracked him, it appeared as though it was a matter of time before one of them swooped down on the leader. At one stage in the straight even Bar-At-Lawn joined them. Kamlesh, meanwhile, was looking for space on the rail side to take Bon Vivant through. Luckily for him, Bruno Magli drifted away a bit leaving a gap just enough for Bon
Vivant to squeeze through. But Kamlesh timed the finish a stride too late, for he was just a nose
adrift of the winner at the wire.

Trainer Silvester continued to reap the benefits accruing out of having the gold-brown string at his
stables. He began the day straightaway with a double through Cool Deal and Regal Revolution. 

Cool Deal, by far the best first seasoner this year, did a cool job of his three rivals. Of course, his
detractors might say that Cannon Glow’s withdrawal made things easy for him, but in reality it was Cool Deal who suffered due to lack of opposition. Kariappa did not need to push him at all. Had there been someone to challenge him, Cool Deal would have come up with more spectacular run. As it is he appears like a locomotive as he approaches the finish.

Regal Revolution enhanced his reputation by several notches when he scored a surprisingly easy win over odds-on favourite Glide Along. Backed to the exclusion of the remaining four runners, Rafaat
Hussain’s Glide Along was in the race till the bend, but once Regal Revolution took over from Legacy Of Pride, Glide Along simply cruised along content with the second spot. With this run, Regal Revolution gets ready for a successful debut in Category I along with stablemate Henceforth.

One of the remarkable aspects of the current season is the trust trainers are showing in their apprentices.  Whether it is to overcome the problems they normally face from senior jockeys, or the apprentices are really shaping up well, trainers are increasingly depending on apprentices as reflected by the number of wins they have scored till last week. Of 63 races till Novermber 23rd, 26 were won by apprentices which is quite a high percentage when compared to previous years.

The apprentice who showcased his skills on the day was Madhu Kumar in the process of guiding Famous Tribute to a splendid win in The Rainbows For Life Plate.  Having sized up his ward in the last race where he matched strides with Legacy Of Pride till 200 metres before folding up for no apparent reason, Vatsalya and Madhu Kumar were quite sure of their win. Although Madhu was fortunate to get an opening on the rails, he showed his opportunism with a fine exhibition of jockeymanship. 

Man Of Words, who was out on an airing, moved well in the end to take the second place. Bench Mark would do well if she runs on the outside, for she seemed a bit hesitant when cramped for room. 

Two other apprentices who finished with a win each are Sk Sharookh and Abhinay. Both showed immense understanding of their masters’ instructions by timing the runs of their mounts – Aapki Merzi and Pentium Four respectively – to a nicety in either division of the Ming Dynasty Plate for Category II horses. Both graced the rear end of the fields before moving up well in the straight to eventually win with a measure of comfort.

Recoleta yet again came a cropper, while First Crush, who is still a maiden, underlined that she is ready to strike. Five-year-old Shakhtar’s effort to come on board was also no surprise but he should be allowed to come back to Category III before backing him.

HORSES TO FOLLOW: 
Category I: Bon Vivant, Bruno Magli and Bar-At-Lawn.
Category II: Bench Mark, Man Of Words, Divine Perfection.
Category III: Shakhtar, Coming Along (1200m), Secret
Deal (5 years & up), First Crush, Recoleta.