Avantage shows plenty of stamina to lift the Byculla Club Trophy
The six-year-old bay gelding Avantage (Dark Nile-Whisper’s Shadow) scored an upset win in the Byculla Club Trophy on Sunday as none of the other six runners could stay the gruelling mile-and-a-three-quarter trip. As the starter’s flag came down, the challenger from Ivor Fernandes’ stable broke away from the field in his customary fashion and established a long lead. For a change, Avantage lasted out the trip carrying feather weight on his back and also young Yogender Singh, who gave him admirable support in the saddle. The rivals of Avantage were headed by the favourite Hunan and were found gasping for breath all the way and none managed to catch him even as he shortened his strides in the final leg of the journey.
The bookmakers were in for another round of battering on consecutive days although the surprise victories of Autocop, Pegasus and Avantage did provide some kind of a breather during the running of thirteen races on Saturday and Sunday. Ravi Birmane gave a gritty performance astride Jaggy Dhariwal-trained filly Autocop (Burden of Proof-Traffic Police), to overcome Lebombo close home. Favourite Solar Flower ran in snatches throughout after a lethargic start and ended third but should not linger in the maiden ranks for long. Mehmaan too ran a disappointing race. Ravi completed his third winner of the week when he drove Viceroy for a comfortable win on Sunday after favourite Shadow Fax was declared a non-starter.
Arti Doctor-nurtured filly Whyem (Sir Bruce-Romantic Memories) recorded her maiden win at last as Pesi Shroff took her on a successful start-to-finish mission in the Volcan Plate. The aged gelding Lord of Thunder unleashed a powerful gallop after ridden well off the pace by A.R. Mani and wore down the early leader Ride The Lightning and Cagliari nearer home. Luck Be A Lady appeared too late on the scene to make any difference to the final outcome and could only complete frame.
There were not many admirers for Pegasus (Don’t Forget Me-Clelia) in the Pyare Miya Trophy probably because his saddle-partner C. Rajendra was not allowed to carry the whip. This, however, did not prove to be a handicap for Rajendra as Mansingh Jadhav’s ward literally flew towards the winning post after snatching the lead in the last furlong-and-a-half. Mansingh was unfortunate to have missed a back-to-back double as his runner Shining Star began galloping only when Heroism had the race in his safe keeping. It is officially reported that Mansingh has lodged a complaint against jockey Zameer Sayyed for not following his instructions astride Shining Star.
There was an alarming swing in the odds against Heroism (Greensmith-Victory and Gold) but that did not prove to be a hurdle for the Hormuz Antia trainee. As often in the past, Osprey, also sent out by Antia early in the day, found the public purse too heavy a burden to carry and succumbed meekly to Narendra Lagad-saddled Attia In Sunlight, who came with a flourishing run to upstage him near the post.
Jockey P. Kamlesh booted home a fine double astride Wonder of You and Raziya during the day. Altaf Hussain-nursed Wonder of You (Classic Tale-Golden Award) won without much ado after tackling Miss Sunshine and Activisto in the home stretch. Raziya (Placerville-Star of the Stage) came with a penetrating run down the centre to grab the lead from Ungaro and kept going under the whip. Romantic Hero waged a losing battle all the way but kept the second slot from favourite Aerospace, who was not going anywhere despite the strong urgings of Irishman Mark Gallagher.
Mark, however, delighted his fan following with his resolute performance astride both Ocean of Angels and Secret Commotion. The former, who is by Alnasr Alwasheek out of L’lle Mysterieuse, took time to warm up and once he did that Born Destiny was made to suffer. Coming into the straight, Born Destiny had stolen a march and was being hailed as a winner before Hormuz Antia’s protégé Ocean of Angels got going. Sorab Jilla-saddled Secret Commotion (Alnasr Alwasheek-Lyrical Fantasy) stunned Diffidence on the post and won by the narrowest of margins in what can be termed as the closest finish witnessed during the current season. Many racegoers were in fact surprised when the judges announced the verdict in favour of Secret Commotion but it was a touch and go affair right from the moment the duel between these two steeds began.
The five-year-old mare Cagliari (Alnasr Alwasheek-Etna) made amends for her failure on Saturday and also brought some cheer to the face of her master Mahroze Irani when she claimed the April Blossom Plate from Teaser on Sunday. Cagliari drew away from her rivals when Yogender Singh changed gears in the final stretch. Punters found their money going down the drain when Ganador faded away into oblivion after being prominent in the front group for most of the way.
