The daughter of Razeen out of Ocean Sunset was last in the field of
seventeen to enter the straight but gave a terrific response to Colm
O’Donoghue’s call for acceleration, which was somewhat contrary to his
expectations. Once she found her rhythm, Desert Lightning put paid to
the hopes of Romantic Liaison who appeared poised to land the spoils
when she hit the front in the final hundred metres.
Earlier Mehila set a fast pace and expectedly made a dignified exit from
the scene. The leadership then changed rapidly before Romantic Liaison, the
Vijay Singh trained Calcutta 1000 Guineas winner, was spurred by C. Alford to
take charge of the running. The filly broke free but Desert Lightning
came with raking strides to spoil her party. Risada kept the third place
ahead of Atmosphere, who gave a vastly improved show. Fedora ended a
tame sixth whereas Bratz finished a poor eleventh.
The day’s curtain raiser was marked with some comedy
of errors. The odds against ante post favourite, Todywalla trained Our Own Star (Alnasr
Alwasheek-Lyrical Fantasy) drifted to the extent that punters began
to treat her as a non-starter. Money then started coming the way of Blue
Spirit. Maugisa took control of the running briefly after Rosemount led
from the gates when Our Own Star was brought into the reckoning by
Rajeev Pandey. Punters who had forsaken Our Own Star couldn’t believe their eyes
and many
were not convinced that Pandey had the intent to win.
Regardless of these insinuations, Our Own Star won by a whisker from
Millennium King, Maugisa and Blue Spirit.
Dallas Todywalla led in a quick double when debutant Diabolical (Major
Impact-Double Quick) won handsomely in the hands of C. Rajendra. The
chestnut colt allowed Snap Dragon to do the initial running and
overhauled her in the straight. He drew away despite the momentary
aggression of Niall McCullagh ridden joint favourite Cosmopolitan. Snap
Dragon regained the second position from Cosmopolitan.
Starscape (Alnasr Alwasheek-Sprucing Up) was steered confidently by
Alford to overcome the stiff resistance posed by stable partner Portal
of Victory close. The latter ridden by Ryan Moore was humbled in the end
and the margin of defeat was just three-parts of a length. Favourite
Supreme Act called the early shots but succumbed meekly when challenged
by Starscape.
An even better finish was witnessed in the next event. Rank outsider Campanero, not relishing the crawl at the start, was
sent into the lead. Despite carrying 63 kilos on his back, Campanero was reluctant to give up the advantage.
Some Time (Tejano-Indian Mission) with Srinath in the saddle, although travelling on
the bit, met stiff resistance from Campanero. The
ensuing fight went all the way to the wire where Some Time nailed Campanero, who
appeared to have little room to manoeuvre in the last furlong. Favourite
Flavius Victor was unable to make any impact and ended a poor fourth
behind Pamela Bordes.
Thundering Power (Major Impact-Anissa) from Cooji Katrak’s yard easily
accounted for Marquisa, who was expected to give a tough fight. The
tale-swishing daughter of Mizvicki never posed any problems as C.
Rajendra accomplished his second win of the day.
The dogged approach of Khushnaseeb (Cruachan-Carroll Queen), the
nine-year-old warhorse saddled by Asad Siddiqui, enabled him to edge out
Amaranza in a close finish. Malcolm Kharadi rode Khushnaseeb with
purpose to wrest the initiative from the runner-up. Some of the fancied
horses like Power Zone, Celesta, Helmsdale and Serendipity were not
sighted in the fight. Malcolm finished his day on a satisfying note
after delivering the goods for Bezan Chenoy astride Struie (Razeen-So
Romantic). The maiden filly slipped into the lead after favourite Snow
Tiger cut an erratic course. She kept going to stave off the threat
posed by Celubrious. Maybach and Grease Lightning ran harmlessly to fill
the frame.
