The bay filly acquitted herself with full honours as she drove past
leader Cosmopolitan, the full-brother of Democraticus and who was
running for the first time after being gelded, and returned with a
facile win under the care of Malcolm Kharadi. There was nothing to write
home about the other five runners.
The rumours floating around the racecourse that Subhag Singh saddled
Campanero (No Louder-Au Panache) would not last the Leger trip of 2800m
for the Byculla Club Trophy, misled a section of the punters and the
bookies. The Mallesh Narredu driven Campanero ought to have been on-money
favourite to win but surprisingly Somerset
West came in for undeserved support and became a joint favourite. When
going past the winning post for the first time Marquisa eased herself up
thinking that the race was over. Except for this comical sight there was
not much of excitement as Campanero
hit the front and called the tune to his two rivals. Mallesh completed a
treble with this win and wrested the lead from arch rival C.Rajendra in
the jockey's table.
With Intrinsic Value, Capriani, Cromwell and Esprit De Liberte
performing to the expectations of the bettors, the mood of the followers
of big money was quite upbeat throughout the day. Altaf Hussain nursed
Intrinsic Value (Placerville-Title Bought) gave an armchair ride to L.
Prashant when she cantered away for a start-to-finish over The Dominator
in the Bejan Bharucha Trophy.
Capriani (Mischievous Music-Goldilocks) from Nana Raghunath's stables
lived up to the promise shown on debut and was ably guided by K. P. G.
Appu for her maiden win. The chestnut filly was kept on a leash in the
third spot by Appu till the race took a serious turn and was spurred
into the lead. Capriani set sails for home but the late charge of Royal
Princess very nearly upset her applecart. It was the timely arrival of
the winning post that came to the rescue of the favourite and the
punters. Major Wager and Rising Warrior filled the frame but not before
giving a hint of their abilities that will be tapped probably during the
monsoon racing season at Pune. Charlize's run proved that she was not
worthy of any of the support that she may have received in this race.
After two consecutive failures recently Pesi Shroff ultimately decided
that racing Cromwell (Burden of Proof-Crown Treasure) in Class III could
end the four-year-old gelding's desperate search for success. Cromwell
assumed charge from no-hoper Fire Dancer opposite the grand stands and
was soon on course to his first victory this season. Nectar Jewel was
not disgraced when finishing behind the winner and was followed by Win
For Me, who is capable of doing much better.
P.Kamlesh steered favourite Esprit De Liberte (Conquering Hero-Tempt Me)
to her maiden win but not before being nagged by Stunning Star (formerly
known as La Brigue) in the straight. The filly sent out by Vinayak won
untroubled once she had sorted out the issue with Stunning Star, who was
later joined on the winning post by Mantovani and Shambaala. Ishtar, who
was second in demand to the winner, never seemed interested in the
proceedings and ended fifth.
Top-weighted Star of the Season tried to pull the rug from under the
feet of his rivals when taken on a start-to-finish mission by rider
Aadesh Kumar but his hopes receded in final lap when Matinee Star began
closing the gap and wore him down. The Arti Doctor trained Matinee Star
(Steinbeck- Annaberg) shed the maiden ranks with this win.
Star of the Season may have failed but his barnmate Light of Justice
(Mischievous Music-Mariana) brought handsome dividends after one
misleading run which put many punters off his trail. The Satish Nayak
ridden ward of Narendra Lagad was highly fancied by race goers to win
just six days back but he let them down by ending a tame fifth. But
today he sprouted wings, which may have had something to do with the
lucrative odds, and hit the wire first ahead of Red Revelation and
favourite Magical Moon who made his bid far too late.
