Young
Faisal Abbas never had it so good in his brief career thus far and
wouldn’t have asked for any more. This third generation horse-trainer
saddled a great treble with Tribal Warrior, Lago Medio and debutant
Labuan. All the three horses had the services of the hard-working K. P.
G. Appu, a riding ace from Bangalore. On the way to Faisal’s treble, the
owners of Lago Medio and Labuan had the opportunity of picking both
trophy events of Sunday.
Lago Medio (Royal Kingdom – Gumbaru Etsu) needed no hard-selling for his
talent as an able sprinter and the market forces had no hesitation in
bestowing the favouritism on him. The nimble-footed Lago Medio set the
tone for the race with Enchanting Girl trying to pace with him. He
remained unruffled throughout and when Appu put him in top gear he just
drew away from her. Culture Shock from S.Ganapathy’s yard seemed more
happy to be in the third place and was not disgraced when being allowed
to have his way by the other runners who themselves were content
remaining in the background. Te Quiero stood out among them.
With Quest for Cash showered with all the attention in the bookie’s ring
and some going the way of Dazzling Skill and Uruj, Labuan (Major Impact
– Lunar Music) was given a miss and he found himself in the company of
the horses for which the bookmakers were ready to dole out stakes in the
range of 10’s and over. Taking a great leap from his debut show, Cobble
Court went running to the front and waited till Quest for Cash came to
divest him of his responsibility. Pesi Shroff’s on-money ward flattered
for a while keeping Salandra at bay but had no answer to the brilliant
run uncoiled by Labuan. The bay gelding unleashed a tremendous turn of
foot to come from way behind and running through the field like a hot
knife cutting through a slab of butter. Quest for Cash should be better
off with experience and so will Salandra. Dazzling Skill was not given a
punishing run. Party Celebration had a forward run and likely to run
true to his name in the near future.
The long in tooth Tribal Warrior (Shareef Dancer – Quickening) earned
his corn bill and set the ball rolling for his master. Yet his task was
not that easy. It was Thunderelo who, as if in approval of Nirad
Karanjawala’s decision to do way with the pacifiers immediately after
one run, came through the shortest way home and was being hailed as a
winner. But Appu had other ideas going on in his head and he kept
reminding Tribal Warrior of his outstanding bills with his whip. Appu
found Tribal Warrior responding gallantly and bringing Harish’s effort
on Thunderelo to a nought. Favourite Cocaine raced thereabouts in the
third position without posing any threat to either Tribal Warrior or
Thunderelo. Grey Strom wasn’t really keen to put his best foot forward
and ended a close fourth. Warning’s forward run was an encouraging and
an improvement over his previous show.
Harish, another Bangalore-based rider, had a brace of winners. He
started off on a high note astride Mansoor Shah trained Collateral
(Libor – Spring Water), who had been waiting for the right moment to
strike. The replacement of F. Irani with Harish in the saddle brought a
sea change in the attitude of Collateral and he had some submissive
rivals to help his cause. C. Rajendra would certainly like to put his
performance on this day behind his back as soon as he can. He kept Zeus
in a none-too-favourable position on the rails and switched his path
only when Collateral was running full steam ahead. Ring Bearer also fell
in the same category albeit with a different modus operandi.
Harish’s second success was gained aboard Shiraz Sunderji saddled Trojan
King (Tirol – Trojan Lady) after a hard-fought battle with Rage of
Angels. Earlier Latest News took over the running in the straight from
Misty Stream but was unable to stretch out as Trojan King came at him.
Rage of Angels seemed poised to overhaul Trojan King at one stage but
Harish was relentless in steering his mount to victory.
Regal Fantasy (Storm Trooper – Sea of Love) from Rehanullah Khan’s yard
though neglected in the betting run ran true to form and swept past rank
outsider Asian Express when P. S. Chouhan asked her for an effort nearer
home. Thunderella kept the flame of hope of her supporters flickering
with her runaway tactics and which was stubbed out abruptly Asian
Express and Regal Fantasy. Beaming laboured to finish third. Dancing
Bride was there in the vanguard but without any intent to a positive
move.
Rookie Dashrath Singh atop Magansingh Jodha trainee Notable Runner (Case
Law – Noble Ballerina) pulled the rug from beneath the feet of favourite
Mazan and making every post of the six-furlong journey a winning one.
Niall McCullagh was seen piloting the public fancy Victor (Diffident –
Victory March) to an effortless victory in the concluding race for
trainer Dallas Todywalla. The recent acquisition of Iqbal Nathani hit
the front when the gates opened and continued to dominate his rivals
till the wire. Peoria and Thundering Hero remained in futile chase
throughout with The Rebel barely managing to keep himself away from
coming in the money. Alaskan Zone finished fifth but was the best of the
beaten brigade.
