The Subhag Singh trained eight-year-old son of No Louder out of Au Panache followed Gold Star into the straight and took charge when the field entered the home stretch. Frida Kahlo, who lay at the tail end but close on the haunches of Southern Regent, set the battle in motion.
Naill McCullagh brought Frida Kahlo into contention forcing B. Prakash atop Southern Regency to show some urgency too. Unfortunately for Prakash, Aperitivo was racing right ahead of him and had he not switched lanes at that juncture, Southern Regent would have surely collided with the visitor from Kolkata. Frida Kahlo meanwhile joined the issue with Campanero and raised hopes of leaving the field stranded. She put her head in front momentarily but refused to accelerate which allowed Campanero to battle on. Southern Regent came with a flourish but the tide was in favour of Campanero, whose final burst delighted his saddle-partner Samuel Fargeat.
A mere nostril separated each of the three horses involved in a blanket finish. It was indeed a breathtaking finale and the racing public didn’t matter if an outsider had won. They had received full value for the time and money they’d invested in watching the races on Sunday.
An identical finish saw Major Roberts warding off the threat posed by Oscar Star in the Greater Mumbai Police Trophy. The Shiraz Sunderji nurtured Major Roberts (Major Impact – Kisses Due) unleashed a powerful run when C. Rajendra stepped on the gas and collared leader Incomparable. Bottom-weighted Oscar Star was also looming large on the horizon and almost handed Major Roberts another humiliation. The piping-hot favourite was lucky to have landed the spoils and he owes it to Malcolm Kharadi whose inability to keep Oscar Star on an even keel helped the winner’s cause. Incomparable stayed on in the third position ahead of Generalissimo.
Shiraz led in another winner towards the end of the day when Clas (Glory of Dancer – Classic Statement) made his rivals look like novices. Clas having let down the public twice when ridden by McCullagh was now entrusted to Nirmal Jodha. He proved to be a perfect foil for Clas on this occasion. Emerging Power, the favourite to win this race, incidentally, was being ridden by McCullagh. The favourite flattered till the pack entered for the final run in but dropped out of contention rapidly. Clas, who was racing in the mid bunch, was set alight by Nirmal on the wide outside. The devastating run unleashed by the bay colt left his rivals gasping for breath. Cincinnati and Olivia ended second and third respectively.
Looking at way rookie Dashrath Singh rode both Battery and One Way, it didn’t appear for a moment that he has started his riding career just last month. He showed signs of maturing fast when he gave a confident ride to the two winners, both hailing from his master Magansingh Jodha’s yard.
In the curtain raiser, favourite Battery was ridden off the pace but the six-year-old started to devour ground when alerted to her task by Dashrath. Earlier, second favourite Constantia was brushed up by Zameer Sayyed to race close to the leader Highflying in the early part of the race. Constantia took charge and flattered briefly in the straight before Battery launched her assault. Keisha ran on to place third ahead of Pioneering, who looks to be better suited for trips which are at least a mile long.
One Way (Tecorno – Afsheen) literally sprouted wings when given her head by Dashrath opposite the grand stands. The mare produced such a burst that Hormuz Antia’s two musketeers Shockwave and Flames of Fire, who were fighting for supremacy right from the word go, didn’t know what hit them when One Way appeared out of nowhere near the winning post. Mysterious Land didn’t have the luck of the race else she could’ve fared much better than finishing a close fourth.
McCullagh and Antia had solitary success in the form of Demolisher (Alnasr Alwasheek – Final Cut), who easily consumed second favourite Strikealite in the straight. The runner-up tried runaway tactics but had no steam to last the trip.
Trainer Faisal Abbas pulled a rabbit out of the hat when he saddled Escravos (Don’t Forget Me – New Europe) against the horses prepared by stalwarts like Imtiaz Sait and Ganapathy to name a few.
Escravos was the hottest tip of the day and the moneybags were quick to cash on it. Escravos met initial resistance from Culture Shock but the facade didn’t last and Samuel soon had the upper hand. Native Strategy dropped back after receiving interference but rallied on to finish a faraway third. He should be better off with this educative run.
The betting trend in the concluding event hinted that the dice would probably roll in favour of Charging Rhino astride whom rider Dashrath Singh was seeking his third winner of the day. Trainer Nana Raghunath and another rookie Nadeem Alam however had different ideas. The two were associated with the start-to-finish mission accomplished by outsider Elusive Dream (Diffident – Winning Dream). Try hard as he did, Dashrath and Charging Rhino failed to subdue Elusive Dream. Money Stream started galloping only for academic reasons whereas Pleasure Zone ran as if he was lost in the woods. Princeway moved in late to finish fourth and should be doing serious business towards the end of this season.
