Raptures emerges triumphant as Rave disappoints once again
By Usman Rangila
February 11, 2004
Having endured nearly an entire year without success, the Imtiaz Sait saddled mare Enduring Image (Razeen-Perpetual) finally entered the winner’s enclosure on Wednesday. The field contesting for the Jeanne D’Arc Trophy was reduced to just four as the top-weighted Kojagiri was permitted to be withdrawn on veterinary grounds at declaration stage. With due respect to her three opponents, winning the race appeared to be just a matter of formality for Enduring Image.
The bookies too seemed to concur with this notion and hence kept their risk levels to the minimum by offering Enduring Image at less than even-money. Enduring Image created a minor flutter when she lost a few lengths at the start. Since the pace cut by Avantage was not exactly hot, Malesh had no difficulty in moving up quickly to be in close attendance of the leader. As Avantage preferred calling it a day without much ado, Enduring Image slipped into the lead when the heads turned for home. P. Kamlesh astride Forgotten Dreams challenged the favourite and tried to make a fight of it. However, the Cooji Katrak trained filly proved to be only a minor irritant for Enduring Image who stretched away magnificently under the whip.
Just a race earlier, Rave, who sported the same colours as Enduring Image but is co-owned by Capt. Jamshed Appoo, proved to be the biggest sob story of the day. The performance given by the filly nursed by Cooji Katrak was truly shocking and difficult to comprehend. Every respectable owner dreads the sight of his horse losing as an on-money favourite and many squirm when this happens in a sequence. Worse still, the situation gets really embarrassing when another horse belonging to one of the co-owners of the favourite comes out and wins the race. This was precisely what happened with Capt. Appoo when his property Raptures, saddled by Imtiaz Sait, won start-to-finish under the care of Bajrang Singh. Raptures, incidentally, had been a failed favourite in her last outing over the same trip. At one stage it appeared that Music Prospector would cause a major upset but jockey S. Sameer’s finishing touch was rather imperfect. Music Prospector and Rave finished a close second and third respectively.
Capt. Appoo and Cooji Katrak had earlier led in the chestnut filly Radiate (Placerville-Aroma), who made an impressive debut in the Muffin Trophy. It took time for P. Kamlesh to get the filly into her stride but once she found her rhythm, Radiate steam-rolled her opponents including last-outing winner Path of Fortune.
It seems that adrenaline had not stopped flowing in the veins of Malesh after picking the feature event as he was immediately seen waging an arduous battle atop Azzuro in the concluding event. Plagued with a double tendon, the son of Indictment devoured good ground in the straight to join the fray with Prabhuti. Rookie Neeraj Rawal astride Prabhuti made a valiant attempt to match the skills of Malesh but the power-packed finish of the latter paled the efforts of the whipless rider. Naill McCullagh ridden favourite Simply Red appeared a trifle reluctant to put his best foot forward as he warmed up late to his task. He ended a close and noteworthy third. There was some scattered support for Trojan King but the Imtiaz Sait trainee was content to test the waters before he could take a plunge into serious business. Likewise, Danger In Sight too was not overtly interested in catching the attention of the judges’ yet she was unable to keep herself aloof from their frame.
The rest of the day belonged to the three ex-jockeys viz. S.M. Johnson, Hanut Singh and Jayantilal K. Gor. Still struggling to make an impact and also further their careers, this trio of professionals got a due reward for their painstaking work when the aged horses Al-Gibran, Magic Honey and I’m Honoured returned triumphant in their respective races. Al-Gibran responded gallantly to the call of jockey Pradeep Chouhan and had the measure of favourite Real Quick and Yvresse in the final stages of the race. Magic Honey got off slowly from the gates but made rapid progress and was engaged in a brief tussle with Cagliari, who had taken over the lead and shaped like a winner. Magic Honey with Ravi Birmane in saddle travelled better and soon had the upper hand over his rival.
The success of I’m Honoured would’ve surely coming as a relief for the veteran Jayantilal who had been nursing the wounds inflicted by the close defeats of Dras and Temple Tune last week. Apprentice Towfeeq Shaikh rode in copybook style and kept Teaser at bay. Both Al-Gibran and Magic Honey have won twice this season while I’m Honoured just earned his corn bill but what makes their feat more remarkable is their age. Al-Gibran is 6; Magic Honey 7 while I’m Honoured is 9. Indeed it was a just reward for all the hard work done by the three ex-jockeys.
