The Pesi Shroff saddled
Stara Zagora got down to business swiftly when the starter's flag came
down and he had no intention whatsoever of letting go of the advantage
which he had seized through his initiative at the start. The Dr. Vijay Mallya owned five-year-old chestnut son of Alnasr Alwasheek out of
Divine Light treated his rivals with disdain as Mallesh won pulling up
from Adam's Star and Master Craft.
The intense battle for the leading jockey's title between Mallesh and C.
Rajendra got livelier after the latter reeled off three winners in a row
astride Aspinalls, Torque and Dynamical.
Rajendra rode Aspinalls (Razeen-Zaya), who was sent out on this occasion
by Imtiaz Sait, well off the pace as Royal Scandal set
the early pace. The Malesh driven favourite Asiatique, who chose to
carry 2kg extra, sought to assert his
superiority in the last lap of the mile-and-a-quarter journey when the
entire field shifted gears. But Aspinalls didn't permit his main
adversary to indulge in this luxury and produced an astounding gallop.
This sparkling run left the rivals of Aspinalls speechless. Asiatique
laboured hard to wrest control of the runner-up berth from Royal
Scandal.
Dallas Todywalla saddled filly Torque (Don't Forget Me-Beautiful Ballad)
overcame a troubled passage and brushed aside the challenge of The
Rising and Steel Butterfly with her penetrative run. Rising Dream from
Altaf Hussain's yard was in the vanguard and though her rider Ravi
Biramne somehow succeeded in eluding the winning post this time, he
couldn't dodge the judges board.
Imtiaz got his second winner of the day when debutant Dynamical (Royal
Kingdom-More Dynamic) conjured up a fantastic run when alerted by
Rajendra and held on gamely to win the lower division of the Hong Kong
Jockey Club Trophy. Earlier Stunning Star and Gold Craze were involved
in a minor scuffle and were relieved to see Dynamical arriving on the
scene. Zuetina warmed up only when the race was in the safe-keeping of
Dynamical but did peg back Stunning Star to take the second berth.
After playing second fiddle to Rajendra in three consecutive races
Mallesh finally got into action with Stara Zagora and he stayed in
contention for the championship through the scintillating debut of Count
Du Monet (Burden of Proof-Count On Me). The Kunigal Stud bred chestnut
three-year-old gelding although very keen in the start was held back
adroitly by Malesh till entering the home straight. Count Du Monet
spurted into the lead in a trice when Mallesh gave him his head and the
race ceased to be a contest thereafter. Favourite Sonic Boom had to be
content chasing the shadows of Pesi's ward. If one is inclined to
believe the opinion of his master, Count Du Money is classic material.
Premier Galaxy (Pennine Ridge-Cryptic) from Bharath Singh's yard, a
failed favourite last time out, wore her galloping shoes this time and gave a
thrashing to her rivals.
Premier Galaxy was ridden confidently by rookie Dashrath Singh and was
rewarded with eligibility of carrying a whip during his future
assignments. Emulating Skywards disinterested show, both Prince of
Hearts and See The Truth too were reluctant to put their best foot
forward and ended thus.
At the start of the day's proceedings, Running Machine (Local Talent-Munizah)
proved that his previous success was not a fluke and Amyn Merchant
guided the gelding to a narrow win over favourite Albany, who was unable
to overwhelm the winner.
Amyn was to partner another winner in the concluding event astride
Federico (Alnasr Alwasheek- Viola). Trainer Nirad Karanjawala opened his
account when Amyn hit the front with Federico and
stretched his neck to hit the wire ahead of the late-finishing Leonora.
Amyn appeared to be seized by some kind of unknown fear when Federico
refused to shorten his strides. Amyn continuously turned back to see
where his danger was but couldn't locate him. Lone Trojan and Rare Look
ran off the board.
