Their prayers were answered. Rajendra rode two identical races and
triggered a late surge in both Storm Alert and Oh What A Babe to realise
his dreams and fulfill the aspirations of his followers. Narendra Lagad
trained mare Storm Alert (Tirol-Eastern View) gathered momentum just as
Genesis had completed the process of eliminating Live It Love It and was
eyeing the winner's slot.
There was another twist
added to the drama meanwhile when Malesh opted to replace the indisposed
K. P. G. Appu astride One Good Thing in the last race. But trainer
Imtiaz Sait had Oh What A Babe (Conquering Hero-Ordina) tuned to the
moment, which enabled the filly to produce a final burst despite
Rajendra having given her too much to do in the straight. Oh What A Babe
came with raking strides to overpower Time Warner, who tried to scramble
towards the winning post after One Good Thing had thrown in her towel.
Rajendra made no effort to hide his emotions and stood up in the
stirrups the moment he had nailed Time Warner.
Rajendra deserved every
bit of the adulation he received on his return to the paddock after the
race. A seasoned campaigner that he has proven to be, Imtiaz had a
cheerful smile on his face which said it all.
At the start of the day, Mahroze Irani nurtured Excitement
(Tirol-Angelina Ballerina) lived up to the promise shown last week and
wore down favourite Wall Street. This happened to be rookie Dashrath
Singh's last success of the season as he suffered a fall in the next
race. Glory finished third after her performance took a big leap. She
was followed by Touch A Star.
In the next race, as
the field was about to reach the final bend, favourite Verzzano stumbled
after being trapped between Esanika and Saturday Club and dislodging
Dashrath Singh from the seat. Nirad Karanjawala's ward Esanika (Barood-Champagne
Lady) seized the initiative with C. Ruzaan aboard and won warding off
the threat posed by Dancing Mystery and Return Of The King. They were
followed by Ganador and Saturday Club, who suggested that they would be
in business during the forthcoming Pune season.
Queen Adler (Greensmith-Classic
Line) from Altaf Hussain's stables created a flutter when Aadesh Kumar
inspired her to literally fly towards the end and extinguish Game of
Power's encore bid. The betting trend of this race was misleading to say
the least and the performance of a couple of contenders in this race was
questionable.
Pesi Shroff's candidate
Rejuvenite (Tirol-Liebestraum) provided his saddle partner Ruzaan his
second success of the day when he defied the top-weight and the penalty
incurred for his victory earlier this month and posted a convincing
victory over Force of Destiny. The Shiraz Sunderji saddled favourite was
not going anywhere despite the strong urgings of Rajendra when the
crunch situation arrived.
Narendra Lagad's brave
decision to entrust Generalissimo (General Monash-Pas de Argent) to
newcomer Akash Agarwal turned out to be productive. The young lad had
adrenaline flowing in his veins, after finishing third in the earlier
race atop Get Fresh, and he rode his mount with purpose and brought him
the shortest way home and even thwarted the late bid of Goodness
Gracious at the post. The alarming drift in the odds against Hormuz
Antia saddled favourite Shockwave had a story of its own to tell. Those
who trusted their own instinct and were willing to see the obvious
writing on the wall stayed away from Shockwave and didn't regret that
decision. The mare ended third but her run was nothing but an eyewash.
Spinoza (Pennine
Ridge-Shingle Path) made a winning debut and forced Rajendra, who was
discharging his duties astride the debutant favourite Almandine, to wait
for sometime more before he could taste success. Aadesh Kumar spurred
Vinayak's charge and went clear of the favourite. Queen Victoria came
with a long stretched run to taking the third place. Gaea and Art of War
never seemed to be in the hunt and ended thus.
