Naill McCullagh refuses to let his guard down, guides Cats Whiskers & Elezibeth Arden to hard-earned victories

By Usman Rangila

February  12, 2004

The hat-trick of Makramah, the grit shown by Naill McCullagh and the fluent victory of Fantastic Knight were the bright spots of the seven-race card conducted on Thursday. Makramah (Placerville-Lunch) made every post a winning one in the hands of K.P.G. Appu and made short work of fancied Classy Devil, who failed to make any impression save for a brief while when the grey mare appeared to be getting closer to the winner. After shrugging off the threat posed by Classy Devil, Makramah quickened well and left Captive Heart groping behind. Imtiaz Sait’s decision to use pacifiers on Makramah have certainly worked wonders for his ward, who has blossomed late and left many stupefied with his winning streak.

Despite having tasted prolific success this season, Naill McCullagh refuses to lower his guard and his consistent performance in the saddle contributes largely making the sport somewhat pleasant. The Irish professional’s victories astride both Cats Whiskers (Razeen-Magical Moments) and Elezibeth Arden (Sir Bruce-Sweeter Than Honey) were hard-earned and his enthusiasm in the saddle remains a spectator’s delight. 

Sanjay Kolse saddled Cats Whiskers found herself in troubled waters as she was cordoned by leader Rahil, Different Strokes and Arabian Fighter when the field entered the home straight. It was only the confidence of in-form Naill that saw Cats Whiskers wade her way out successfully to restore calm in the minds of her supporters, who seemed to be in distress after sensing the plight of the bay mare. Rahil was not disgraced when Anacita displaced him from the second slot and lives to fight for yet another day. 

The grey filly Elezibeth Arden paid her fourth visit to the tracks with a span of little less than two months and still cornered majority support from the punters. Narendra Lagad-schooled Confident exploited his initial speed to wrest the lead but this bay son of Diffident couldn’t stretch out when debutant Sword of Power locked horns with him in the final two furlongs. In the meanwhile the daughter of Sir Bruce was set alight by Naill and the filly came with raking strides to score an astounding victory over Sword of Power.

The bookies, harassed by the successful forays of the public choices, tried to recover their losses on Fantastic Knight (Sir Bruce-Vanity) who had the best form and also the best rider available on the racing circuit to guide his fortunes. This rare ambitious move from the turf accountants was a slight drift in the odds against the Hosidar Daji-nursed dark bay gelding, who had finished a creditable seventh in the Indian 2000 Guineas. The reason behind the bookmakers’ folly, for which they had to pay a heavy price, remains a mystery. The admirers Fantastic Knight started counting their profits once Pesi pushed him into the lead opposite the stands and drew away for an authoritative win.

Free Gold, the nine-year-old mare from Irene Patel’s yard, proved to be a bread-and-butter commodity for her connections when rookie Yogender Singh urged her with good purpose and foiled the runaway tactics of Grand Finale nearer home.

Ashbourne (Don’t Forget Me-Dizzy Heights) proved too good for her eight opponents as the Sorab Jilla-saddled grey filly produced another sparkling run to register an encore in the hands of R. Rupesh. Pure Gold ran a forward race but was forced to into submission by the winner. Runner-up Ride The Lightning wove his way out after being stuck towards the inner rails but Ashbourne was already home and dry. Malada ran true to form and carved a narrow victory over Liquid Gold and Senor Tango. The last named met a slight interference towards the end stages of the race yet jockey R. Rupesh preferred not to object against the winner, a decision which raised many eyebrows in the racecourse.