After a smart jump Rajendra travelled comfortably in the first furlong
and suddenly shifted in as Airwave came along side. It could not be
judged whether Rajendra was anticipating Airwave to come on to him or
whether Oyster Cove shied away himself. The fact however remained that
Oyster Cove travelled close to the inner rails.
When the field straightened Airwave squeezed Oyster Cove and it was
curtains for him and his followers. Romantica, who lay at the wrong end
till the turn, started devouring ground when alerted to her task by
Niall. She shot past Pitlochry in the last 100m. Sea Spray ended a tame
third ahead of Alice Wonder. The admirers of Oyster Cove should not feel
let down by this defeat as he lives to fight for another day and will
certainly recoup their losses.
The four-year-filly Convenience (Storm Trooper-Clarisse), also trained
by Sunderji, lived up to the promise shown in her last run and delivered
the goods with the assistance of Nirmal Jodha in saddle. Castle Creek
showed the way to the field but had company in the form of Flames of
Fire all the way. The latter led for a while but was soon overpowered by
Convenience. Adam’s Bounty ran on from way behind to end a noteworthy
third ahead of Castle Creek.
Rajendra had started the day with a fluent win atop Desert Sunrise
(Don’t Forget Me-I’m Calling You), who despite sporting blinkers on this
occasion, took her own sweet time in quelling the challenge of second
favourite Glory. Rajendra managed to steer the Imtiaz Sait nurtured
filly for her maiden win. Nucleus came with a flourish to pip Glory for
the second place.
Narendra Lagad trained debutant filly Kiss of Luck (Diffident-Pasta)
helped bookies rake it in when she scraped through in the hands
of jockey S. N. Chavan. Kiss of Luck took charge from Ishtar when the
field straightened but was confronted by favourite Star Perfection, who
was sluggish at the start, and Nimble Feet. Kiss of Luck held on bravely
and spared a neck to Chagall, who covered acres after losing precious
ground at the start. All the three horses, who finished behind the
winner, should not linger in the maiden ranks for long. Star Perfection
would definitely relish some extra ground.
Among Dreams (Greensmith-Classic Line) made amends for her earlier
failure but faced stiff resistance from Reign of Fire and Old Flame, who
were ridden by whipless jockeys. The Dallas Todywalla trainee however
got stronger at the finish. Inner Instinct started galloping when the
race was over to finish fourth but should gain a lot of experience from
this run.
Don Surti’s candidate Money Star (Mischievous Music-Mariana) made full
use of her handicap advantage and was ridden confidently by Vikram
Walkar as she frustrated the attempts of Mallesh ridden favourite Sixty
Seconds. Royal Hunt ran a forward race but was content to remain away
from the limelight and succumbed far too easily before Money Star and
Sixty Seconds. Wild Vegas ended fourth with the fancied Activisto in
close pursuit.
Altaf Hussain saddled Raudo (Major Impact-Untold Story), the shortest
priced runner of the day, scored a facile victory over Zephyrella,
Interlaken and Great Alliance, who were clearly no match for him.
Rajendra helped himself with another win to complete a brace for the
day.
