Pesi Shroff plays Santa Claus, presents Mallya camp a double
By Usman Rangila
u_rangila@indiarace.com
Mumbai, Dec 25, 2003
Jockey Pesi Shroff played Santa Claus for a change and delivered a Christmas present to the Dr Vijay Mallya camp by booting home a fine double through Adonesque and Somerset West. This happened on Christmas day when the reigning champ C. Rajendra preferred to take a backseat along with Naill McCullagh and B. Prakash. The most intriguing piece of riding, however, came from P. Kamlesh astride favourite Wonder of You. Looking at the way Kamlesh rode in the opening event, it was difficult to believe that he was the same rider who had won an Indian classic just four days ago! Ditto for Rajendra, the winner of the Indian 1000 Guineas, astride Sheer Silver who went down narrowly to Zealous Cat in the concluding event.
Despite running after a five-month lay-off, there was enthusiastic betting on Altaf Hussain-saddled filly Wonder of You in the grey market. After opening at 5 to 4 against the odds crawled up to 7 to 4 without any mitigating cause. The way Kamlesh assisted Wonder of You in the saddle was far from being called flawless. It was left for the punters to decide where the young rider went wrong. The ‘gallant’ effort shown by Wonder of You at the fag end of the seven-furlong journey could only fetch her the runner-up berth. It was C. Ruzaan-ridden Time To Reflect, who finally put on his galloping shoes and score an upset victory.
The grey filly Adonesque (Inner City-Misty Way) had advertised her fitness when Ravi Biramne had partnered her during her lung-opener 11 days back. Yet, she was lesser fancied than both Heroism and Star Decoration. Fitness counted in the end and Adonesque took toll of the Naill-McCullagh-piloted favourite Heroism. The Hormuz Antia candidate came out well from the wide draw and took over the running from Fire Dancer at the bend. Meanwhile, Adonesque was travelling a handy third towards the rails and waiting for Pesi’s command. With a little over 300m to go, the grey finally got her call and she swept past Heroism for a convincing win. Star Decoration finished third after showing reluctance in putting her best foot forward throughout the journey.
When Pesi consents to carry an overweight astride any horse, there is an overpowering reason behind it. That was the case when he accepted to ride Somerset West in the N.M. Irani Trophy. The Kunigal Stud-bred daughter of Burden of Proof out of Green Sum made a stylish debut after loitering at the wrong end till the turn. Pesi produced her on the outside and she was literally flying towards the destination. The start-to-finish mission undertaken by favourite Annunciation came to a screeching halt in the last furlong when Somerset West thundered on to the scene. Even Zahra, Strength And Honour and Star Forrester displaced Annunciation at the post.
One man who was missing in action was trainer Jaggy Dhariwal. The veteran professional is on the road to recovery after undergoing a heart-bypass surgery at Bangalore recently. The veteran professional must’ve been in a cheerful mood on hearing the news of the dual success and should be raring to go now. The Mallya-team deserves all praise for their admirable job in taking care of the string during their skipper’s absence.
Apprentice Towfeeq Shaikh also celebrated Christmas with a double. The rookie rider may not be physically strong but seems to be loaded with determination. It was Towfeeq’s resolve that brought Czai into the reckoning in the Prince of Hearts Plate where she upset the applecart of the fancied duo, Amaron and Swinging Rhythm. The former did not raise a fluent gallop in the straight while Rajendra was too late in calibrating the ‘Swinging Rhythm’ of his charge. He also lost his whip and his damage control exercise could not prevent Czai from hitting the wire first.
Towfeeq soon found himself guiding Don’tspenditall to a narrow victory over Opium and Trojan King. The daughter of Don’t Forget Me had disappointed in both her career starts, last time on the Indian 1000 Guineas’ day. Whether the assistance of the 5kg-claimer made such a vast difference to the ability of the Bezan Chenoy ward or was she exploited over a wrong distance last time out is a moot point? However, the fact remains that she did win.
The languid attitude shown by the eight rivals of Command Zone went a long way in helping the candidate of S.N. Joshi land the spoils in the Vallabhdas Adwalia Trophy. The only semblance of any visible competition in the race came from Peaceful Paradise and Enchante. That façade too vanished when Command Zone got going in the straight. Rajendra seemed to be in a trance atop Sonic Symphony at every stage of the mile journey.
Mayflower recorded her maiden victory in the hands of S. Sunil. The Mansingh Jadhav-nursed filly won warding off from the late finishing White Whisper and Freedom’s Choice. Santarelle and Grand Ambition gave a flop show. Zealous Cat from Shiraz Sunderji’s yard obliged her followers for which they have to thank C. Rajendra. The champ had every chance of winning the race aboard the runner-up Sheer Silver but… Supreme Chancellor too came on reluctantly to finish third.
