Since all the top-rung trainers have had their moment in the sun, the
field has been left open for professionals like Hormuz Antia to take
toll of the bookies. Antia had three aces up his sleeve on Saturday in
the form of Silent Spectator, Terminal Frost and Flying Investor, who
brought windfall gains not only for their master but also their owner
Sajjan Kumar Jajodia.
Since the game-plan drawn by Antia had ensured that the odds were to the
liking of Jajodia coupled with the fact that no untoward price
fluctuation was witnessed, the punters were somewhat assured that there
would neither be any change in the wily professional's heart nor his
plans as far as the chances of his three wards were concerned.
Ironically, both Silent Spectator and Flying Investor had lost against
Bikini Bomb. Silent Spectator ran true to his name when Bikini Bomb won
her first race but Flying Investor suffered due to the power-packed
finish of Y. S. Srinath astride Bikini Bomb when she won for the second
time. The RWITC stipes however failed to deduce whether this rare
occurrence was a mere coincidence.
Silent Spectator (Conquering Hero-Farmacologist) fulfilled the promise
shown in his last run and jockey S. P. Ranjane didn't falter as he
guided the grey gelding to a convincing victory over favourite Te Quiero,
Magic Words and Beaming.
The four-year-old Terminal Frost (Case Law-Madam Brady) however
encountered a rough passage as Black Warrior, Storm Alert and All Or
Nothing were all inclined to the Vikram Jodha ridden filly sweat. The
three place getters didn't throw in their towel and Terminal Frost was
indeed fortunate to have escaped unscathed from the fierce attack
launched by this troika.
Flying Investor (Alnasr Alwasheek-Blades of Fury) won almost
start-to-finish despite being nagged by Charging Rhino and Thief Of The
Knight close home. Fire N Desire impressed when she finished just
half-a-length abreast of Thief Of The Knight. Dr Anil Kumar trained
Techno Digital followed the footsteps of his barn-mates Royal Mirchi and
Mustang Sally and didn't figure in the judges' frame. Interestingly the
services of K.P.G. Appu were procured for these three horses by Dr Anil
Kumar which misled many a punter.
Jockey C. Rajendra celebrated his return to the saddle by assisting the
Imtiaz Sait trained Blue Spirit (Bishop of Cashel-South Beach) to her
maiden victory. Blue Spirit unleashed a powerful run on the wide outside
to overwhelm Magic Spell, Live It Love It and Thunder Zone.
Trainer Narendra Lagad is truly a wizard and his magic wand never fails
him. He has done the trick with the likes of Generalissimo and Light of
Justice earlier and on this occasion he had Amadomio (Sir Bruce-Dance
Move) do the same. Lagad had to use the services of Satish Nayak as his
regular comrade S.N.Chavan was serving a riding ban which he incurred on
Amadomio when his stable-partner Generalissimo had led the victory
parade a month earlier.
Amadomio's purpose was furthered by the raunchy behaviour of on-money
favourite Raudo. Raudo reared up in the gates and unconfirmed reports
suggest that the gelding had suffered a bleeding injury which probably
went undetected by the senior veterinary officer of the club during the
mandatory check up before he declared Raudo fit to race. There were
rumours after the race that blood oozed out from the wound and seeped
into one of Raudo's eyes and which could probably explains his poor
performance. Amadomio, who was always in close touch of Heart of Danger
and West Coast Eagle, swooped on the duo close home and went on to
register an upset win.
The wonder filly Enaksi (Royal Kingdom-Serious Trouble) made amends for
her previous failure when rookie Raju Singh ably guided trainer Robert
D'Mellow's protege to a facile win in the Starfire Girl Trophy. Goodness
Gracious made another futile attempt to go wire-to-wire but couldn't
sustain as Cromwell overhauled him and then Enaksi found her rhythm to
leave them spellbound. Premier Star ran a dismal race subsequent which
prompted trainer Imtiaz Sait to have the gelding examined by the vet.
After an endoscopy was done, the vet has detected a possible onset of a
lung infection which affects Premier Star's performance.
Dallas Todywalla seems to have brought a sea-change in the ability of
Flying Rani (earlier known as Celubrious), who recorded her second
successive win. Flying Rani gathered a lot of steam when spurred by
Rajendra and when surging past favourite Touch A Star, who took charge
of the running from Esperante but succumbed to the onslaught of the
winner. Golden Key ran a consistent third but Aracaju and Glory both ran
pathetically.
