Artois’ feet of clay remained exposed as the highly-rated colt from Western India suffered his first career defeat. Interestingly, Mr Ardeshir
Narielwala, one of directors of Five Stars Shipping, was quite candid in admitting that inadequate preparation was Artois’ undoing. Speaking to this correspondent after the 2000 Guineas was run, Mr Narielwala said,
“Artois didn’t feel his legs. This race came too early for him and he simply blew up in the
straight.” Due to his tendon problem, Artois was deprived of any pace work and his exercise regimen included trotting and swimming. This fitness schedule apart, Artois could afford the experience of just two mock races, both run earlier this month.
|
Rapidash (P Kamlesh up)
winner of The McDowell Indian 2000 Guineas being led by trainer C D Katrak
& Ownera Capt Jamshed Appoo & Sunil G. Jhangiani
|
|
Capt Jamshed Appoo & Sunil G. Jhangiani receiving the cup from Dr.
Vijay mallya
|
Just a week after finishing fifth behind Fair Always, Rapidash sashayed majestically down the Mahalaxmi ramp to wear the 2000 Guineas crown. P.
Kamlesh, replacing Chris Lemaire in the saddle atop Rapidash, rode the daughter of Greensmith out of Starstruck Actress well off the pace till the final turn where Road Runner had the first march over his rivals. Even as B. Prakash was trying to get the
M.K. Jadhav trainee into his stride, Malesh brought Artois on his outside. Road Runner was denied a clear run and a chance to be in the hunt.
|
Artois wrest the lead only for a fleeting moment as Rapidash forced her way through with Kanthara also set into motion by Naill
McCullagh. The two residents of Cooji’s barns fought a stirring duel down the stretch but Kamlesh and Rapidash were in no mood to capitulate. The moment to uncork the champagne bottle had arrived for Capt. Jamshed Appoo and Sunil
Jhangiani, the co-owners of Rapidash. For the second Sunday in succession, Naill was forced to play second fiddle.
|
 |
Both Londoner and King of Hearts ran above expectations to fill the frame. As for
Artois, he finished down the field. But, his fans should not lose heart. Artois is not a horse to be written off in a hurry. This Storm Trooper progeny will certainly rise from the ashes. He has six weeks on his hand before the Blue Riband of the Indian turf is run. Enough time for his master Vinayak to take stock of the situation and revise his strategy.
Without implying that he didn’t deserve all the fame and glory, Cooji Katrak emerged as the unlikely hero of the week. This veteran, who has always been in the news for all the wrong reasons, may’ve been surprised himself to see three of the four horses saddled by him take the first three spots in the McDowell Indian 2000 Guineas. Those three horses belonged to the fair sex! Furthermore, he had the credit of leading three winners on Sunday including
Rapidash.
Whispering Shadows was the one who benefited most from the surprisingly slow pace set by Avantage in the Shantidas Askuran Trophy. Pradeep Chouhan was reluctant to increase the tempo midway through the derby trip and woke up only when Bajrang Singh astride Whispering Shadows moved up rapidly from the tail end to join him. The Cooji
Katrak-trained filly stretched out and was beyond the reach of her rivals in a trice. Dazzling Queen from Imtiaz Sait’s yard was backed down to even money but the filly was a false favourite, a fact established after she ran a dismal last.
Olympico proved to be the proverbial icing on the cake for Cooji. The bay gelding, brought in-foal to Rio Anna and who is by Wild Zone, had shown a tremendous turn of foot to win after recovering from the interference caused by Azzuro and Running Machine in his previous outing. A near identical run saw Olympico wear down Great Strides, who was being hailed as a winner close home. Prakash is reported to have reported the loss of his whip in the closing stages of the race.
The bred-in-purple filly Queen of Fashion (Razeen-Fly For Baby) made a smashing debut to win the Allah Rakhkha Trophy where her owner-mate Forcing Bid was the favourite. The bay filly defied her paddock looks to stun the seven-horse field. Forcing Bid and Two Good should both benefit from this run.
Ex-jockey Hanut Singh sent out Great Opinion (Rebounding Thrill-Song of Myself) to her maiden victory in the curtain raiser.
R.K. Mahesh-piloted Naaina veered out badly at the turn and extinguished all her chances of winning. Amjad Khan was another ex-jockey who led in a winner. Rank-outsider Discover produced a fascinating run in the hands of lesser-known F. Irani to humble Blue Devil in the Noble Way Plate. Ignore this run of Blue Devil as he is capable of a much better performance.
Bionic Angel and Palatial were the two horses that left a bad taste in the mouths of the
racegoers. Their performance could best be termed as inexplicable. Faisal
Abbas-saddled Kintyre tasted success that was denied to him in his last outing while Rise improved on his previous effort to reap a rich harvest for Hormuz
Antia.
|
| |
 |
 |
|
Jockey
P Kamlesh receiving the trophy from Dr. Vijay mallya
|
Freeze
of presentation ceremony
|
 |
 |
|
Olympico
(C Rajendra up) winner of The M N Nazir Trophy being led by trainer C D
Katrak & owner Shapoor P Mistry
|
Shapoor
P Mistry receiving the cup from Mr. Jehangir M. Nazir
|
