Imtiaz
Sait and Colm O’Donoghue were the men in action on Friday as their
respective engagements had fair chances to win. Both professionals
however didn’t go farther than gaining a brace apiece. This apart, two
rookie riders were made to look like veterans by horses endowed with
explosive talent. Accessible was one and Steel Butterfly the other. Both
Accessible and Steel Butterfly attracted a steady flow of smart money.
Interestingly, the Indian lads made O’Donoghue eat a humble pie on both
occasions.
Balthazaar was seeking his second successive win under Imtiaz’s card and
was the on-money favourite to win the Maharaja Sir Pratapsingh Gaekwad
Trophy. Assisted by the Irish rider, O’Donoghue, Balthazaar (Alnasr
Alwasheek – Lorne) snapped the leading sequence of Ranier when heads
turned for home but found Patroclus hot on his trail. Try hard as he
did, P. Kamlesh never managed to secure that extra ounce of energy from
Patroclus that was required to nail Balthazaar. O’Donoghue, to his
credit, was focussed on his job all the way and his powerful finishing
drive did the trick for Balthazaar. Golden Triangle laboured hard to
finish third ahead of Dedication.
Imtiaz’s second winner Accessible (Steinbeck – Access All Areas) was
ridden by D. K. Ashish and who found himself pocketed towards the rails
when favourite Strathendrick was given his head by O’Donoghue. S. N.
Chavan atop Cornelia Supra, fortunately for Accessible’s followers, was
in a generous mood and he gave Ashish the opening he was desperately
looking for. Strathendrick had meanwhile stolen a march over the field
was being hailed as a winner before Accessible’s superb turn of foot did
him in. Roman Beauty ended a fair third while River Dancer an easy
fourth. Ishtar probably didn’t like the feel of the pacifiers on her
eyes and performed poorly in contrast to her earlier two runs.
Pesi Shroff not only has nerves of steel but is undoubtedly a good judge
of the calibre of a rider also. Not surprising as he has established
himself as an icon in that capacity. He put a novice Vijay Kadam in the
driver’s seat on Steel Butterfly. The grey daughter of Burden of Proof
out of Kariba found herself in the same predicament as Accessible but
Kadam had no intention of letting his master down. Taking a cavalier
stance, Kadam took a criss-cross route without proving a nuisance to the
other contenders. Steel Butterfly made a stellar contribution in Kadam’s
feat as she manoeuvred her way through the maze of horses like a
versatile filly. Steel Butterfly and Kadam made O’Donoghue aboard the
favourite Oyster Pearl pay the price for their daring caper. Catalunya
ended a faraway third ahead of Druids Glen.
Pesi had a perfect start to his day when hot-favourite Totalitarian
(Royal Kingdom – Eka) made every pole of the mile and a quarter trip for
the Tiger Lily Plate a winning one in the hands of Niall McCullagh. The
field was spread out in single file and raced almost in the same order
all the way home with Mischief in his Eyes finishing runner-up ahead of
Star of the Season and Struie.
Master Planner (Royal Kingdom – Rhinefield Beauty) from Rehanullah
Khan’s yard had so much power packed in his final burst that the wayward
Viceroy was unable to halt his victory run. Master Planner seemed
cruising giving an appearance that his saddle-partner, Amyn Merchant,
was taking things too lightly. Be that as it may, Master Planner
overcame seemingly violent interference from Viceroy but favourite
Jalapeno was not that lucky and got squeezed out in the melee that
ensued. This incident definitely called for a Stewards enquiry which was
not initiated, to the surprise of many, by the Stipes. No-hoper Sparrow
Hawk ran third after making the entire running with Return of the King
ending a close fourth.
Trainer Mansoor Shah, making his comeback after a brief stay away from
his job, tasted immediate success when P. Kamlesh steered Collateral
(Libor – Spring Water) stretched away to win from Perfect Attraction and
Last’n Impression in a tight finish.
Home To Home stunned all with an upset victory but was not allowed to
keep race after runner-up Peoria’s rider T. S. Jodha raised a successful
objection. Malcolm Kharadi ridden favourite Royal Ballerina, owned by
Mohan Thakur and saddled by Hosidar Daji, ran a dismal third without
raising any hopes for her admirers. Artillery flattered to deceive till
arriving in the home stretch and ended up in the dumps when the race was
over.
The same colours however came to the fore when Kharadi guided the
even-money favourite Red Dawn (Royal Kingdom – Serious Trouble) to his
maiden win in the concluding race. Dallas Todywalla’s candidate however
had a tough time countering Black Warrior’s attack and should consider
himself lucky to have escaped the clutches of the R. Rupesh ridden
adversary. Sara Jahan (formerly Diffiant Gal) ran on to be third while
Red Mesa ended fourth. Ancient Princess once again let down a large
following.
