WINTER 2000-2001  :  MUMBAI RACE REVIEWS

El Cid downs Columbus to lift Red Rufus Trophy

The power-packed finish of C. Rajendra helped El Cid down the colours of Columbus in the last couple of strides and lift the Red Rufus Trophy on Saturday.  More...

C. Rajendra strikes back with a morale-boosting treble
Jockey C. Rajendra — whose confidence had hit an all-time low in the last couple of weeks — logged in a morale-boosting treble on Thursday. It was indeed heartening to watch Rajendra ride with renewed vigour after his bugbear B. Prakash’s winning spree had virtually become unstoppable.
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Jockeys Shroff and Prakash give a sterling performance
Ace jockey Pesi Shroff and the talented young rider B. Prakash were the star performers at Mahalaxmi racecourse on Sunday.
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Aspiring Star upsets the applecart of Elegant Jade

Elegant Jade and Speed of Light, both last outing winners, were simply done in for speed by debutant Aspiring Star in the Astronomic Trophy here on Sunday. The three-year-old son of Broto out of Thunderous stunned the fancied duo to make a winning debut. More...

Rapallo fails to collar L. A. Woman after his bit slips

After leading four winners in a row on Sunday, the party had not yet ended for trainer C. D. Katrak. Cooji led in another winner — aptly named Dressed For Dinner — to cap his winning spree. This five-year-old got-abroad son of Formal Dinner out of Sprucing Up had started his Pune campaign in Class III and ten runs later, he had shed 20kg on the handicapper’s scale. More...

Bookies have Kazakh for lunch; Persian Lord as dessert

Sunday was feasting time for bookmakers. For starters, they had Timeless Elegance, Kazakh for lunch and Persian Lord as dessert. One of these three exotic dishes — Kazakh, was "served" by Mallesh Narredu. The other two were "provided" by B. Prakash. More...

Gironde resumes her winning ways in splendid style

Gironde, the four-year-old got-abroad filly, resumed her winning ways in splendid style when she swooped on Zeisha at the winning post and clinched the issue in her favour for the Aintree Racecourse Sprint Trophy. More...

B. Prakash closes the gap on C. Rajendra 
with a fine treble

With the current Mumbai racing season is nearing its end, the number of winners ridden by leading jockey C. Rajendra are becoming scarce at the moment. At the same time, jockey B. Prakash is going great guns and a fine treble from this young rider has brought him within reach of C. Rajendra’s tally of 49 winners this season. More...

Iceberg wins Gool Poonawalla Million in an absolute thriller

For the second day in running, on Sunday, jockey Niall McCullagh was the cynosure of all eyes at Mahalaxmi racecourse. The Irish jockey, who has had a dream run this season, got public support on four out of his five riding engagements. More...

Criollo, River God emerge easy victors

Having swamped the opposition in his previous run, it was inevitable that Criollo be installed as the odds-on choice to win the Exhilaration Trophy, the feature event contested by only four runners on Saturday. More...

  Queenstown gallops away for an impressive victory

Four runs in the hands of S. M. Johnson and one with Jethu Singh in saddle — which obviously were part of her weight-reducing campaign this season — Queenstown was placed a shade better on the scales to strike in the Fair Wood Trophy on Monday. The daughter of Batzushka out of Great Request lay in wait till entering the straight and swept past the leaders to sail away for an impressive victory in the hands of jockey B. Prakash, the second retainer of owner K. N. Dhunjibhoy. More...

Storm Again overcomes illness to win McDowell Indian St. Leger.  

Overcoming every adversity that came his way since he wound up his Pune campaign, the star performer of this season —Storm Again, made his connections, especially trainer Jaggy Dhariwal, proud by inscribing his name on the McDowell Indian St. Leger 2001 trophy. More...

Star Fortune delivers the goods after a long wait

It took precisely four runs for the five-year-old mare Star Fortune to prove that the decision made to purchase her by the Poonawalla brothers made sense after all. The daughter of Steinbeck out of Star of Fashion had never been off the frame in any of her four runs and the idea to make use of blinkers on her clicked for trainer Hosidar Daji. More...

Moneybags again have their say against bookmakers 

The bookmakers were battered once again by the moneybags when the all-weather track was employed for one last time this season on Thursday. Some bookies who have lost heavily this week are even contemplating not to operate their books next year if and when racing is conducted on the all-weather track. More...

Sea Minstrael flops and so does Valencia

The two-day card of seven races run on the all-weather track almost bled the bookmakers to death as all of the fourteen winners had attracted huge flow of money.  More...

Alarming rise in number of losing favourites as foreign jockeys leave Indian shores

Come March and a few of the foreign jockeys, who prefer spending the winter in India, succumb to a mysterious disease in addition to the usual homesickness they suffer. It has been discovered that severe itching of the palms is the first symptom of this rare disease.  More...

Noble Opinion spikes Affability's hopes in virtually the last couple of strides

Noble Opinion, the underdog from among the quartet of horses running in Dr M. A. M. Ramaswamy’s colours, produced a scintillating run in the hands of B. Prakash to catch runaway leader Affability at the wire in the Poonawalla Breeders’ Multimillion.  More...

Resolute Mallesh guides Gulmohor to pip Days of Glory 

A resolute performance in the saddle from jockey Mallesh Narredu enabled Gulmohor pip Days of Glory virtually at the post for the Indian Express Trophy on Thursday.  More...

Sparse fields mar mid-week racing at Mahalaxmi

There was a paucity of runners for races slated to be run on Wednesday and Thursday. The all-weather track was employed for mid-week racing and this compounded the problem of getting adequate number of horses to participate in the races.  More...

Great Investment fetches handsome dividend

With the top guns misfiring in the Nanoli Stud Eclipse Stakes of India (Grade 2), the onus fell on rank outsider Great Investment to land the spoils with a big bang in this prestigious race.   More...

Rajendra strikes purple patch, 
Lagad gets five

If the defeats of both debutant Hi Fidelity and Thunder Clap are allowed to a back seat, then a statement that form and reputation held their fort here during the mid-week races could be made.  More...

Simply Noble survives a scare from Strengthtostrength

Trainer Dallas Todywalla took the racing world by surprise when he accepted to run Simply Noble, the McDowell Indian 2000 Guineas winner, in the Dr. S. C. Jain Sprinters’ Trophy (Gr.2) on Sunday. More...

 Storm Again uncontrollable

Such was the impression of her victory in the Kingfisher Indian Oaks that Allaire was the overwhelming favourite to win the mother of all battles at the Mahalaxmi turf: The McDowell Indian Derby. She was the shortest-priced Indian Derby runner in the last decade. But she failed to live up to the expectations of her admirers. More...

Zephyr Bay stays on course

Meeting almost a similar set of rivals which he decimated in the Indictment Trophy a couple of weeks back, Zephyr Bay, saddled by Bezan Chenoy, stayed on course to win the Governor’s Trophy. The six-year-old son of Placerville out of West Coast Keg took the mile and a half journey in his stride and struck gold for the second time this season for his connections. More...

Imtiaz Sait gets Ally McBeal back to winning form

Running after a gap of almost five months, Kargil wrest the early initiative from his eight rivals and went wire to wire in the Capricorn Trophy on Wednesday. Favourite Sea Minstrael found himself sandwiched between Spice Boy and Alderney at the start and never really recovered after that mishap. More...

Warrior Queen clinches Bahrain Trophy

After three days of pounding taken by the regular grass track within a span of less than a week, races were held on the all-weather track on Thursday. More...

Pleasures regains winning form

The controversial defeat of Runaway Queen on Tuesday in circumstances that can be described as most unfortunate, was the talking point during the mid-week races held here. Runaway Queen was the obvious choice to win the A. Geddis Plate, the last race in the card of nine.  More...

Allaire wins Oaks in style

Insha-Allah, I will bounce back," promised Aslam Kader in one of his recent interviews. Sounded optimistic then but, those words were testimony to the unflinching self-confidence of a man who was run down by his critics.  More...

Dashmesh Million field spread-eagled by Wild Eagle

Running in company of well-bred and well-prepared horses like Antequera, Star Wish, Chili Lady, Over The Ocean, and Queenscliff, all ridden by top-flight jockeys, did not stop Wild Eagle from giving them a thrashing in the Dashmesh & Hargobind Stud Million (Gr.3) on Thursday. More...

Regal Equity lands the spoils

Often it is found that horses need much more than their ability or talent to win races. Apart from class, ability, and talent, ‘luck of the race’ also is an essential element. A case in point is that of Top Mover who fulfilled the first three requirements, but didn’t have the luck of the race in the Maharaja Sir Harisinghji Trophy (Grade 3) run on Thursday. More...

Yewall blazes the track

The All Weather Track came to the rescue of the authorities as unseasonal rains ensured that racing could not be held on the regular grass. The authorities decided to shift the feature event of the day, the Maharaja Sir Harisinghji Trophy (Grade II) to Thursday, with a rider that all acceptors must run.  More...

Simply Noble dwarfs Allaire in 2000 Guineas

Close on the heels of the breath-taking finish witnessed in the 1000 Guineas last Sunday came another thriller in the McDowell Indian 2000 Guineas. Darius Byramji’s versatile filly Allaire enjoyed the favouritism with the haughty Simply Noble from the barns of Dallas Todywalla.  More...

Shroff’s resolve comes to the rescue of Six Speed in 1000 Guineas 

It was vintage Pesi Shroff all the way in the Kingfisher Indian 1000 Guineas (Gr.1) run at Mahalaxmi racecourse on Sunday. The ace professional jockey of India rode a gem of a race astride Six Speed that was befitting both his fame and talent.  More...

Queenscliff shows lot of promise 

Queenscliff from the yard of Cooji Katrak proved far too superior for Ciel Fleuri in her smashing debut win in the Magnasound Juvenile Trophy, which embellished a lacklustre card of  Sunday. More...

Running Star’s Smashing Victory Makes Rivals Sit Up And Take Notice

The three-year-old colt Running Star, assisted in the saddle by C. Rajendra, made a winning reappearance on the Mahalaxmi racetracks, scoring a smashing victory in a seven-furlong Class III race on Thursday last. More...

Simply Noble comes into Guineas contention

The victories of both Star Shine and Simply Noble were the highlights at Mahalaxmi racecourse this week but, the RWITC managing committee stole the limelight with their unexpected gutsy performance. For the past couple of years, the Club has, time and again, been held to ransom by the workers union. 
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LADY MOURA AND STAVROS RECORD WORKMANLIKE WINS

The three-year-old Cristofori out of Ile Des Soeurs filly Lady Moura kept her Guineas hopes alive by winning the Maharaja of Morvi Trophy on Sunday. Stavros who is by Tecorno out of Mrs Rose, considered a classic contender by his connections, also obliged in the Mathradas Goculdas Trophy contested by Class I horses.
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