With B. Prakash and Open Opinion showing no real intent of becoming
millionaires through this race, Rajendra took the cue and swung into
action on the Altaf Hussain nurtured colt. The Hurricane took just a
couple of seconds to inflict the damage on the field. Rank outsider
Labuan suffered in the rear till turning for home and then wove his way
to end a good second and was followed by Reflected Glory, Ramaswamy's
ignored contender. Open Opinion retired to be fourth but this run needs
to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Remember Atmosphere?
The filly which was given a horrendous ride by C. S. Jodha at Pune in
October last? And that her rider was in receipt of some extraordinarily
lenient treatment by the Stewards, the champions of fair and clean
racing? The Stewards remained unmoved even after the vociferous protests
of one of Atmosphere's part owners and trainer Mansingh Jadhav when the
filly vindicated their stand by winning in her very next run at Mumbai.
Jadhav and the owners of Atmosphere were obviously shattered yet
couldn't do a thing about it. But Atmosphere, it seems, felt that she
still had a task ahead. She went on to shock Rejuvenite in Class I and
once again came good in a terms race where she faced the challenge from
a seasoned runners like Evatina and Dynasty.
Atmosphere had Mark Gallagher replacing the originally declared rider P.
S. Chouhan in the saddle. She ran unconcerned till approaching the grand
stands and then unleashed a sparkling run that left many including the
RWITC Stewards speechless.
Atmosphere won comfortably from Oyster Cove, who was slightly hampered
when Atmosphere surged past him. At the end of it all, Atmosphere will
never know whether she had done enough to convince the compassionate
Stewards of the fact that she was not allowed to run on her merits at
Pune, irrespective of the argument that she is yet to win a race at the
satellite centre of the RWITC. The punters, of course, feel they know
the truth especially as Atmosphere has won not once but thrice in a row
since Pune. As for favourite Evatina, she ran on to be a close third but
her manner of running suggested that all creatures connected to
Ramaswamy had taken a day off.
Earlier, Dannenberg dropped jockey Colm O'Donoghue on her way to the
starting gates in the second race and bolted riderless. Ganapathy's
request to withdraw the horse was granted and it eased the task of
Desert Dust (Glory of Dancer-Warning Shadows), who cantered away for his
maiden win after Boss Elements played bluff master for a while.
Narendra Lagad, however, was industrious on Sunday. He led in a brace of
winners, Beau Monde and Wow Factor, both making improvement by leaps and
bounds. Jockey Sunny Chinoy astride Beau Monde (Warrshan-Momentous) got
straight down to business as the gates opened and helped the
four-year-old gelding carry the top-weight to his maiden victory.
Honeyday and Siberian Siren followed harmlessly.
In an identical display of sorts, Wow Factor (Alnasr
Alwasheek-Hopesville) made every post of the Romantic Blaze Plate a
winning one to the amazement of all. Saregama though strikingly poised
at one stage dropped back suddenly and though recovering from that lapse
failed to lessen the impact of the Wow Factor.
Fear of Tears (Alnasr Alwasheek-Champagne Polka) provided jockey S.
Bhadke a rare win and a pot of gold for his connections. Fear of Tears
had been on a weight-reducing mission since his arrival at S. N. Joshi's
yard and his true ability came to the fore only after jockey T. Bernard
got suspended.
Jockeys R. Rupesh and P. Belose atop Beaming and Striking Out
respectively were dislodged in a mishap that occurred during the race
after Incomparable tried to avoid being squeezed by Queen Adler. Harish,
the rider of Queen Adler, came from the outside to grab the lead but
this attempt was termed as dangerous and consequently the mare was
disqualified. The decision was arguable and as such the relegation of
the horse and the punishment meted out to Harish seemed quite harsh.
Harish later partnered Habituated but was an expensive failure. The bay
filly Enceladus (Black Cash-Selerina's Song) from Bezan Chenoy's barns
gave a spirited performance when exhorted by Nirmal Jodha and went
sailing clear.
Bezan had a back-to-back-double when Hazelhead (Glory of Dancer-Comfort
Zone) made ample amends for his earlier failure. Priapus, shown early
daylight by Malesh Narredu, found himself short of a crucial run when Y.
S. Srinath powered Hazelhead to oust the even-money favourite by a neck
at the winning post. Alamshaara ran an impressive third ahead of Call To
Arms, who is gradually being tuned for a game performance.
The Brave Heart (Conquering Hero-Double Starlet) upset all calculations
when S. P. Ranjane drove the Hormuz Antia trained gelding to a
start-to-finish win. Helmsdale and Ring Bearer were clearly outpaced and
outwitted by the winner. Lunar Queen ran when it was all over bar the
shouting. The Dominator was the best of the beaten brigade.
