He was once more
competing against youngsters like Theatre Lady, who had ended third
behind Armament and Fedora earlier, West Coast Eagle and Ryeback. The
last two named were receiving chunks of weight from Star Strike but were
never a spot on him in the entire race. All that Star Strike required
from his saddle partner Mallesh Narredu was some able guidance and Mallesh
was not found wanting. Entering the home stretch, Star Strike sailed
into the lead and the winner was sighted a long way from home.
Theatre Lady curiously never put up a worthy show which has roused the
Stipes to have a closer look into this performance of the Dallas
Todywalla trained filly. Runner-up Ryeback showed much improvement over
his last effort to finish ahead of West Coast Eagle. Star Strike has
limitations as far as stamina is concerned but he could turn out to be a
brilliant miler as he matures.
Hormuz Antia nursed 10 to 7 on favourite Pleasure Zone (Conquering
Hero-Little Do) had a close shave in the curtain raiser. No sooner had
P. S. Chouhan taken control of the running in the straight than he had
company in the form of Arzano and Éclair Blanche. The public fancy
however escaped unharmed. Zameer Sayyed appeared uninterested in
tackling Pleasure Zone and was hauled before the Stewards.
Zameer was lucky to get away with a light sentence.
The
Right Man tried his best to stay away from public glare but Nirmal Jodha
couldn’t prevent him from taking the fourth place. Something big is
brewing with this son of Forest Fair and keeping a close tab on him
could prove to be profitable.
Chouhan completed a popular back-to-back double when Dallas’ candidate
Six Stars (Placerville-Mitzvah) made every post of Tiger Lily Plate a
winning one. Six Stars grabbed the lead right from the word go and won
almost untroubled. Goodness Gracious qualified for place money after
keeping both Alice Wonder and One Way at bay.
Satish Nayak too had a profitable brace of winners. Nayak first rode the
quietly fancied Ruby Rosa (Tirol-Robusta) from Narendra Lagad’s stables
to a narrow victory over Helmsdale, who found her galloping shoes rather late. Money Stream and Body and Soul were
both well supported in the ring but failed to deliver the goods. The
manner in which Desert Rally covered lost ground after a sluggish start
to end a close fifth suggested that a victory is just around the corner
for this Shiraz Sunderji trained filly.
Nayak's second winner was astride the M.K.Jadhav saddled filly Tracy (Dark
Nile-Azureen), who came with raking strides to pip favourite Secret
Dance at the post.
Frenchman Cyrille Stefan scored his first win at Mahalaxmi when he
partnered Nina Lalvani’s ward Sail Away (Greensmith-Keep Looking) who
overpowered favourite High Opinion after a minor scuffle in the home
stretch. High Opinion was unable to raise a fluent gallop and was forced
to play second fiddle. Morpheus flattered briefly in the straight and
faded away to end third
ahead of Lionheart. So Shocking gave a disappointing performance.
S. N. Joshi schooled mare Eternity managed to land the spoils after
Nirmal Jodha brought her the shortest way home. Olympic Medal ran all
over the place before taking the second slot. Premier Galaxy ran a
suggestive third and was followed by Secret Paradise.
Major Roberts (Major Impact-Kisses Due) from Shiraz Sunderji’s barns
ended the day on a delightful note for the punters after C. Rajendra
steered him to a convincing win over second favourite High Rising and
Generalissimo. Golden Flowers was the only one who was impressive form
among the beaten lot.
