Fiddle Faddle records a stunning victory in the Prince Pradeep Trophy
By Usman Rangila
Mumbai
Jan 25, 2004
Battling against the terms of the race and Simply Supreme and Star of Windsor in the final four furlongs of the Derby trip, the six-year-old bay mare Fiddle Faddle created a sensation by the claiming the Prince Pradeep Trophy here on Tuesday. The main objective of the RWITC in framing this weight-for-age race was, supposedly, to provide a prep race for the prospective candidates of the Stayers Cup. With Fiddle Faddle upsetting all calculations, it can be argued whether the purpose was served.
It was Simply Supreme who was taken on a start-to-finish mission by Richard Hughes who nearly succeeded before the Subhag Singh trainee decided to spoil the party of last year's Invitation Cup winner. The daughter of No Louder out of Ruddles raced in close attendance behind the leader and it was the relentless pressure applied by Frenchman Samuel Fargeat that helped the mare gain the upper hand in the last hundred metres. Despite being hard ridden by Mark Gallagher in the home stretch favourite Star of Windsor refused to accelerate and eventually ended third. Trainer S. Ganapathy decided to remove the pacifiers on his candidate in his current campaign and this could be one of the reasons behind his recent lacklustre show. On entering the final stretch, Malesh Narredu piloted Decent Proposal ran into a wall of horses and her chances were further marred when Colm O'Donoghue astride Capture The Moment closed the opening which the Vinayak trained mare was looking for and had to settle for the fifth position.
Vinayak had, however, started the day on a winning note when the bay filly Constantia (Indictment-Number Thirty) was ridden to comfortable win by Abhishek Habbu. Crepe Suzette, Yvresse and Disastrous followed the winner home. Peronda who lost steam in the betting ring ran ditto on the racetrack and finished a dismal last. Niall McCullagh then powered Oyster Cove (Royal Kingdom-Gumbaru Etsu) for an effortless win in the Rock Witness Trophy. Shiraz Sunderji's ward allowed favourite Carrera to call the early shots and joined issue when the field turned for the final journey home. The bay gelding stormed into the lead when Niall gave him a couple of cracks with his whip and was in no danger of being caught by any of his rivals thereafter.
Trainer Mansingh Jadhav pulled off a successful coup with Power League (Serious Spender-Essentielle) who was confidently partnered by apprentice Vikram Walkar in the saddle. The winner chased no-hoper Power Zone till the last two furlongs and went surging clear defying Annunciation's intimidating run towards the end. Grey Storm came wide into the straight to finish runner-up. Favourite Passion ran a disappointing fourth whilst Naaina choosing to leave her chances at the gates itself. Rashid Byramji nurtured filly Star Qualities (Diffident-Quality Exchange) defied the handicapper by showing a clean pair of heels to her rivals in the Republic Plate. P. Kamlesh took Star Qualities to the front and kept going to register an encore. Flag Bearer finished on late to deprive Blue Devil the second place. Hidden Dragon is the one for the followers of form. This Faisal Abbas trainee was prominent in the front and was not disgraced when ending fourth.
Joy of Light (Steinbeck-Sparkling Vision) made every post of the Dr A. H. Sayed Plate a winning one as Suraj Narredu grabbed the initiative right from the word go. Suraj made a conscious effort to conserve the energies of the Arti Doctor trained filly and it went a long way in helping the filly achieve her success. Cosmos, sent out by Imtiaz Sait, did not have the luck of the race and ended a noteworthy second ahead of Queen's Special. The odds against ante post favourite drifted out alarmingly during race time as Joy of Light cornered the majority support and although entrusted to Niall McCullagh on this occasion, the Bezan Chenoy-nurtured Star Divine once again gave a pathetic show.
Hormuz Antia's ward Tarragona suffered a self-inflicted injury in the saddling area before the scheduled time of the race leading to her withdrawal from the fray in the last race. One Way found favouritism being thrust upon her and was in sight of victory when a poor display of riding from Pramod Belose put paid to her hopes. Amyn Merchant latched on the opportunity and drove Altaf Hussain saddled Radical Velocity to a gratifying win. Path of Fortune ran a tame third ahead of Adam's Bounty, who seemed more interested in being a spectator.
