|
|
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 (Razeen-Fly for Baby)
enjoyed the favouritism with the haughty Simply
Noble (Placerville-Lap of Luxury) from the barns of Dallas Todywalla.
Aware that they needed somebody to contest the early speed of Simply
Noble, the Byramji camp chose Arrakis for this job.But obviously
they had got it all wrong or probably Darius had under - rated
the abilities of Simply Noble. For, Arrakis cut a sorry figure when
Ryan Marshall made a futile attempt to grab the initiative from
Simply Noble by giving Arrakis a crack or two immediately after the
flag came down.
For Richard Hughes and Simply Noble, Arrakis did not exist and
they strode merrily in front. Rounding the turn, Aslam
Kader aboard Allaire made his first move by sending the chestnut in
chase of Dr Ramaswamy’s candidate. Allaire did draw alongside
Simply Noble and then ensued a battle royal for supremacy. Aslam was
in full flow and for a fleeting moment
Allaire got the better of Simply Noble. But only just. The bay son of
Placerville is made of sterner stuff. Refusing to be
cowed down by the Bangalore challenger and concentrating on the
stakes ahead, Richard kept his head down and rode Simply Noble with
all aplomb.
Meanwhile, race goers relished the ding - dong battle, each waiting
with bated breath to see his horse triumph. Both Simply Noble and
Allaire were inseparable as they went past the wire. The camera
decided in favour of Simply Noble who necked out Allaire. It was
observed that the runner-up shifted out under pressure forcing Aslam
to change his whip hand
but that hardly made any difference to the end result.
In a gesture that was truly magnanimous Richard did not forget to
mention the contribution of jockey B. Prakash to Simply Noble’s
success. Also, there was a smile full of gratification on Dallas
Todywalla’s face. And why not, Simply Noble had accorded him the
opportunity of leading the Guineas winner that was nursed by him and
him alone.
In the early part of the day, there was an air of expectancy with
the fight between Affability (bred as half-sister to Six
Speed) and The Gladiator (half-brother to Lady Moura) on the
cards in the Allah Rakhkha Trophy. But the fight was a non-starter
right from the word go as Wild Eagle (Don’t Forget Me-Tsar Maiden)
took off smartly from the gates depriving the fancied horses a
chance to come anywhere near her. Affability ran a distant second.
Judging the pace to a nicety on Consortium, C. Ruzaan then timed his
challenge to perfection that saw the son of Thaumaturge, trained by
Magansingh Jodha gain his maiden win over favourite Awesome Foursome
who was ridden by Mallesh Narredu. It was clearly not Mallesh’s
day as he failed to oblige astride all three mounts out of the seven
he had. Mallesh was also involved in the unsavoury incident
where he, in true horseman-like fashion atop San Vitale, tried to
close the gap on Furiously who was being partnered by B.
Prakash. Tagamet aggravated the problems by shifting in forcing
Prakash to check his mount. But the young rider could not prevent
Furiously from clipping the hind leg of San Vitale and came
crashing down instantly. Prakash was lucky enough to escape with a
minor injury that should keep him out of action for at least a week.
All the hard work done by Mallesh astride San Vitale came to a
nought as Soviet Run renewed his challenge under Pesi Shroff’s
vigorous assistance and in fact got stronger at the finish to
earn his first career success.
Machrihanish (Razeen-Prima Facie) was a totally transformed filly
after her disastrous failure a fortnight earlier and the chestnut
groomed by Bezan Chenoy simply toyed with her opposition in the
hands of Naill McCullagh. Lack of a crucial run prevented Torres
from
giving his best and he ended third, a short-head behind Fire
Girl. The same fate awaited stablemate Special Happening as Shiraz
Sunderji-saddled Attia In Sunlight put on her galloping shoes
to stun the fancied troika.
In fact, Zillion Figlia, stablemate of the winner, carried the
public purse without
raising any hopes of a possible victory at any stage of the race.
Agreed that Attia In Sunlight beat her rivals fair and square
but all the same, the decision of Shiraz to pitch a
well-prepared runner against his fancied horse did not go down well with the
punters.
Knighted survived a scare from Shaktik before he could register an
encore. The resolve of B. Prakash, and to some extent,the
inexperience of Aadesh Kumar made all the difference in the end.
Again, the calibre of Naill McCullagh saw Venus through as F. Lynch
atop Lunar Mist came agonisingly close to beat her. Chittor was one
of the two winners jockey P. S. Chouhan rode during the day.
Christmas day racing produced results like Santa Claus’ bag of
gifts. Tajjub obliged his connections and also earned his corn bill
in the process. Ancestry and Tulsa Time provided stunning upsets.
Current Bay extended her winning streak with a facile win on this
occasion.
The supporters of Endorsement had their hearts in their mouth as
McCullagh and Tap on Power stole a march on their rivals. But Mark
Gallagher drove Endorsement with some purpose, though shaky at one
stage, to save the day. Later on, with Universal Star standing alone
with all her chances in the gates, Gallagher powered Heaven’s Feel
to a splendid victory.
Iceberg (Placerville-Frost Queen) made a stylish winning debut as
McCullagh took the Bezan Chenoy ward on a successful
start to finish mission. Memories of You was in futile chase all the
way and changing legs during the trip did not help her chances.
After three disappointing
starts, Meringue in the hands of C.Rajendra finally made it to the
winner’s
enclosure with ease. To the discomfort of many, Great Alliance put
his best foot forward and sailed away for an emphatic
victory over Silverita.
-
Usman Rangila
|
|
|
Dec. 24th
& Dec. 25th
2000
|
|
Consortium (C. Ruzzan up), winner of
Harrish Mehra trophy being led in by trainer Jodha.
Simply Noble (R.Hughes up), winning
the McDowell Indian 2000 Guineas (Grade I) from Allaire (aslam Kader
up)
Simply Noble (R.Hughes up), returning
to unsaddling enclosure after winning the McDowell Indian 2000
Guineas (Grade I) from Allaire (aslam Kader up)
Venus(McCullagh up), returning to
unsaddling enclosure after winning the Hard Held plate (Div I)
Tajjub (S.S. Bhati up), winner of Gay
time plate, waiting to be led in by trainer Kasbekar
Ancestry (S.S. Bhati up), winner of
Cheerful Gift plate, returning back to unsaddling enclosure.
Current Bay (Pesi Shroff up), winner
of Classic Jewel plate returning to the unsaddling enclosure
Endorsement (Gallagher up), winning
the First Born plate from Tap On Power (McCullagh)
Iceberg (McCullagh up), winning the
"Daum France & L'Artiste Crystal trophy from Memories Of
You (C.Rajendra)
Meringue (C. Rajendra up), winning he
Prince Royal plate
Great Alliance (M. Narredu up),
winning the Feelings plate
|
|
