Delectable lone favourite to win
By Usman Rangila

Mumbai
Dec 23, 2004

Having had a close look at the well-filled card on Thursday, veterans of the sport were seen telling their friends to adopt a cautious approach and not to go overboard as far as taking big positions on favourites was concerned. It was their experience and not a wild guess that made them forecast the probable outcome. The wise men were not wrong. Rank outsiders claimed six out of the nine races in card. Delectable emerged as the only clear-cut favourite to oblige. Of course, Sugar N Spice and Maracaibo, who were second-in-demand to Star Divine and Royal Hunt respectively, also justified the enthusiasm of their connections.

The betting arena was all agog with "inside information" that a coup has been planned with Fair ‘N’ Square from Narendra Lagad’s yard. Regardless of this news, that turned out to be a hoax for all practical purposes, Shiraz Sunderji-trained filly Star Choice had her own band of followers. Fair ‘N’ Square jumped out awkwardly if only to prove that making a fast buck is not the prerogative of a select few and, regardless of the source of their information, people with money power should not attempt to jump the queue. Star Choice too was unable to reproduce the sparkle seen in her previous run and petered out in the straight allowing Letsgetloud to assume control of the running. Meanwhile V. Kotwal spurred Hard Rock and the filly flew past Letsgetloud to give the first shock of the day to the punters.

Soon afterwards Bezan Chenoy sent out Enchante, who went on to register an encore by defying the penalty imposed by the handicapper for her previous victory. Anil Baandal rode the bay mare confidently whereas both Firey Future and Chimango were unable to raise any hopes at any stage of the race. 

Asad Ali saddled three-year-old bay gelding Vanilla Sky made a winning debut as he devoured ground in the final stages of the second division of the Divine Light Plate to stun second favourite Sound of Silence at the post. Ante post favourite Love Affair lost her way in the betting ring as also during the race to finish nowhere on the judges’ board. Trainer Mansoor Shah, however, had a gratifying experience with Maracaibo, who bagged the Maharaja Sir Pratapsingh Gaekwad Trophy. After being sluggish at the start the grey gelding made steady progress over the seven-furlong journey and produced a sparkling run in the hands of K. P. G. Appu to go sailing past Pitlochry and the late finishing King of the Turf. Favourite Royal Hunt’s run was so poor that it hardly deserves any mention. 

Star Divine was strongly fancied to make a winning debut tipped as one of the best bets of the day. The daughter of Alnasr Alwasheek, entrusted to Ravi Birmane by Bezan Chenoy, raised a flicker of a hope when the field straightened for home and surrendered meekly when Altaf Hussain’s charge Sugar N Spice arrived with a big run. I. Shaikh didn’t falter and drove the Diffident-filly to a convincing victory. Rich Treat too was given a flawless ride by Shakti Singh Rathore as she thwarted the attempt of Imperial Thriller to catch up with her near the post.

Two horses, Wine N’ Song and Grease Lightning, both rated zero by the handicapper, gave a pleasing performance though rubbing the punters the wrong way. The former saddled by ex-jockey Amjad Khan rallied from the wrong end and then moved up under Zameer Sayyed’s whip to catch Starmaniac unawares in the shadow of the winning post. Five-year-old Grease Lightning had inhabited four different stables since the start of his career before finding refuge in Dr Anil Kumar’s yard mid-way during the last Pune racing season. The grey gelding is reported to have had a niggling back problem, which had an adverse effect on his performance. But his new master, originally a vet with Nanoli Stud Farms, and his staff nursed him patiently and his first visit to the Mahalaxmi tracks this season proved to be a fruitful one. Lightweight jockey C. Ruzaan rode a copybook race astride Grease Lightning and brought him into contention with only a furlong to go for the wire. The grey put in a gallant run to go surging clear of Maid of Money and bring cheers to the faces of his caretakers. Imogene held on grimly to the third slot from Park Lane.

Battered by the stunning upsets, punters had something to crow about when Delectable pierced through the bunch of frontrunners to become the only favourite to stand out in the ruins. Y. S. Srinath powered the Magansingh Jodha trained Delectable to put in a resolute run and win the second race of her career with authority. Leopardess finally showed some zest for racing after coming under the wings of Faisal Abbas and ran an encouraging second ahead of Imola and Sphinx. 

It is reported that the stipes will be investigating the wide fluctuations witnessed in the odds of Feet So Fast in the curtain raiser as also that of Love Affair. The stipes have also decided to enquire into the running and riding of both Blazing Arrow and Star Divine.

Hard Rock (V Kotwal up), winner of the Symbol of Love Plate Div-II

Enchante (A Baandal up), winner of the Erin Dust Plate

Vanilla Sky (M Kharadi up), winner of the Divine Light Plate Div-II

Sugar N Spice (I Shaikh up), winner of the Divine Light Plate Div-I

Wine N' Song (Z Sayyed up), winner of the So Modest Plate

Maracaibo (Appu up), winner of the Maharaja Sir Pratapsingh Gaekwad Trophy

Presentation ceremony of the Maharaja Sir Pratapsingh Gaekwad Trophy

Grease Lightning (Ruzzan up), winner of the Worthwhile Trophy