Noble Executive
started to hang in the moment Prakash steered him into the lead
and this could be one of the reasons that can be attributed for
his defeat. The other important factor, however, was the fast
nature of the track. All of a sudden the main grass track turned
fast this week. The Estate Officer of the Mahalaxmi racecourse
and his staff, who are in charge of maintenance of the track,
had drawn a lot of flak for the alleged heavy-watering of the
track a week prior to the running of the 1000 Guineas. Probably,
this criticism was still playing on their minds when the track
was being prepared for two days of racing at Mahalaxmi this
week.
It may be recalled that Noble Executive clocked 1:17.04 when
winning over a six-furlong trip. The timing registered for the
seven-furlong Dashmesh Million run on Thursday was 1:26.06.
Provocateur, who had almost vanquished Noble Executive in their
last encounter, finished a hapless fifth on this occasion. As
the surface of the track was obviously a bit hard this week,
even Bookie’s Delight found the going too ‘good’ for her
liking and lost to Salt Lake on Wednesday.
The only other race that managed to hold the interest of the
sport-lovers was the tight finish between Star Magic (Alnasr
Alwasheek-Moonlight Magic) and Kazakh (Razeen-London Cries) as
the curtains finally came down. Riding the Bezan Chenoy ward in
copybook style, Niall McCullagh wore down Kazakh in the duel
that lasted a good two-furlongs before Star Magic floored his
rival.
Much to the chagrin of the moneybags Meringue (Don’t Forget
Me-Pasta) finally came good in the upper division of the
Cornelian Plate. The bay gelding from Shiraz Sunderji’s barns
improved with each stride in the straight to overhaul leader
Gold Berg and Snow Star. The piping-hot favourite Fluency was
never sighted in the fray.
Sent out in top fettle by owner-trainer Don Surti, Bud Royale
scored an impressive victory over Eye To Eye. B. Prakash rode a
confident race aboard the son of Binkhaldoun out of Back Home.
Eye To Eye was seen hanging when the crunch situation arrived
and end up with a consolation berth on the judges’ board.
Jaggy Dhariwal-nurtured Soviet Lake too was inclined to hang but
Pesi Shroff did well to get her on an even keel. The daughter of
Bold Russian out of Ace Venture took toll of dry-coated
Fleurissimo in the process. Knighted was gifted the Royal
Calcutta Turf Club Trophy on a platter and the Dr M. A. M
Ramaswamy gelding gleefully accepted the honour.
Coming from behind on this occasion, Tio Pepe knocked off
Lisianski on his way to glory. Sky Bound who was being touted as
a season certainty turned out to be the flop of the day. Moira
gave a speedy display to catch her rivals flat-footed. Spearmint
Rhino despite getting off to a good start failed to make any
impression and finished a dismal fourth behind Star Guest and
Super Cop.
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