Holding Court makes cannon-fodder of his rivals
By True Blue

Mumbai
Mar 04, 2007

With Mystical safely out of his way and several other peers training in Kolkata, Holding Court (Royal Kingdom - Confiture) continued to hold sway at Mahalaxmi and made cannon-fodder of his three rivals in the C. N. Wadia Gold Million (Gr.2), the prestigious race which was sadly reduced to a farce. Guest Connections had never met Holding Court before this encounter and whether the young filly would be able contain S. Padmanabhan's horse was probably the only interest in the race.

Flareon played pace-maker for Holding Court till the heads turned for home and the race ceased to be a contest the moment Niall McCullagh relaxed his grip on the reins. Guest Connections tried to stage her appearance but Harish was unable to control her drift and the filly ended up in the dumps.
Owner Haresh Mehta had planned his Holi celebrations in a big way. He started off with a bang by winning the R. J. Kolah with a horse aptly named Party Celebration (Royal Gladiator - Cryptic) before Holding Court added colour to his joy. The Bharath Singh trained Party Celebration seemed to be in a hopeless situation in the mid-bunch when the race came to a boil but the Pratap Stud Farm-bred Party Celebration unleashed a powerful run down the straight to clinch his maiden success.

The Pesi Shroff trained filly Obelinna was nowhere in the picture till the winner assumed command but put in a sustained run thereafter to finish second. Flashing Flame ended third ahead of Victorica, who emerged as the best among the beaten lot. Canton Caper and Mejestical were in the vanguard for some while but retreated for obvious reasons.

Mehta's plans to wrap up the day with Haifa Victory's success were foiled by jockey Harish astride Orlando Bloom. Harish's two earlier mounts had gone wayward in the final journey but Orlando Bloom (Major Impact-Special Treat) kept a straight course as a result of which Malesh Narredu astride the favourite was outwitted near the post. Tearaway showed relevant interest in the race hence ended up in the money.

Malesh was in the limelight by riding two popular contestants, Priapus and Gruezi. C. D. Katrak nurtured Priapus (Storm Trooper - Placid) registered an encore after Sail Away had brought the field of eight into the final run-in. Raudo add some pep to the finish but that was not good enough to earn the bracket that has been eluding him since long. Asiatique and Niall McCullagh had a point to prove after the Vijay Mallya property's controversial defeat at the hands of Wall Street. The chestnut gelding probably did so amply when finishing fourth. Interestingly, Asiatique was in heavy demand in the betting ring for winning the race but failed to save even place money.

The Nosher Cama trained grey filly Gruezi (Royal Kingdom - Sarmatara) had raced twice this season and both times in the Indian classics. She had finished fifth in the 1000 Guineas and not surprisingly she seemed to tower over her Class IV opposition in Jayaramdas Patel Trophy. Gruezi went surging past the tiring Master Planner when Malesh set her alight at the bend and was soon home and dry. Benfica took some stick before finishing second ahead of Master Planner and Fantastic Fury.

Malesh had to face the ire of the punters when the on-money Home To Home failed to oblige in the opening event. Imtiaz Sait trained maiden filly Ancient Princess (Conquering Hero - Love For Love) was ridden by D. K. Ashish to a fluent victory over Tafeta and Home To Home ended a tame third. There were angry demonstrations but thankfully the situation didn't turn ugly as seen when Mazan had lost some weeks back.

There was a winning brace for jockey C. Rajendra too. He first helped the Asad Siddiqui trained bay filly Dancing Diva (Brave Hunter - Dance Move) gain her third success of the season. The champion rider rode her in workman-like fashion and Dancing Diva easily called the bluff of runner-up Enchanting Girl opposite the stands. Hoofbeats ran thereabouts and held on to the third berth from Blazing Speed, who curiously languished behind the frontrunners.

Rajendra had to pull out all stops on the Narendra Lagad nursed Spica (Senure - Media Frenzy) to secure the Nadia Mary Homi Wadia Trophy from the clutches of Luck Factor. The Shiraz Sunderji saddled second favourite called the early shots and held on to her lead stubbornly till the last half-furlong where Spica eventually managed to assert her superiority.

Hormuz Antia trained The Brave Heart (Conquering Hero - Double Starlet) had a surprise in store for the younger filly Star Girl and snuffed out her challenge in the upper division of the Rose Royal Trophy. Star Girl has this habit of providing an anti-climax after leading all the way home and the story was no different on this occasion. Flying Glory tried to intimidate both Star Girl and The Brave Heart but had to eat a humble pie in the end. Culture Shock ran a dismal race.