Punters armed with form horses in their repertoire go on a killing spree
By Usman Rangila
Mumbai
February 26, 2003
One more card of seven races including two “framed” at acceptance stage went through on Thursday. The turnout was, as usual, low. The religious followers of horseracing were, however, not disappointed a bit for the simple reason that six out of the seven races run on Thursday were all in accordance with the form. The absence of the foreign riders was conspicuous. It was given to understand, after probing with the RWITC officials, that the club had decided not to allow the foreign riders to accept rides on Thursday as they had ridden horses in excess of the prescribed limits on the Poonawalla Breeders’ Multimillion day.
Two wrongs always make a right for the RWITC. Not willing to ruffle the feathers of some of the influential owners, the club breached its own rules (read calendar notification) and bent backwards only to accommodate the foreign riders on Sunday last. Then just to placate the Jockeys Association of India, the club denied the foreign riders a chance to ride on Thursday.
Ex-jockey S.M. Johnson pulled off a successful coup in the first race of the day through Star Status, who had been on a weight-reducing mission right from the day he landed in the stables of Johnson. The man who aided Johnson in accomplishing this job was his long-time friend and associate G.F. Kennedy. Kennedy, who had last ridden a winner in 1997, made no mistake astride Star Status and won warding off from Berliet. The runner-up made a valiant but futile attempt to catch Star Status.
Cooji Katrak-trained four-year-old filly Londoner (Storm Trooper-Passing Gull) made short work of her three rivals in the Abdullah Khairaz Trophy. C. Rajendra got an armchair ride astride Londoner with Premier Passion stubbornly refusing to accede to Betfair and not letting go the second berth from her grip. Cooji completed a double later when Born Destiny (Steinbeck-Oiseau de Guerre) made mincemeat of the opposition in the Ferial Trophy. Kamlesh had Born Destiny travelling on the bit behind Madonnaofthepinks till the last corner and swept past her to graduate from the maiden ranks. Starmaniac and Evidence of You ran on to fill the frame. Relishing the extended mile journey on this occasion, Sangramsinh Joshi’s candidate Political Power (Sizzling Melody-Red Rosette) recouped the losses suffered during her last appearance. Political Power lay in close attendance of Rising Passion till the last 500m and drew away for a comfortable win over Milestone and Redeem.
Trainer Mansoor Shah’s first visit to Mahalaxmi, after recovering from a recent bypass surgery, was by no means a memorable one. His two fancied runners, Greenfield and Zante who were both entrusted to K.P.G. Appu, couldn’t shoulder the burden of the public’s purse. Just a little over a furlong away from home, Greenfield was in a striking position along with Cagliari and Titania but the Greensmith-filly just wouldn’t accelerate when Appu pressed the trigger. The Rehanullah Khan-saddled six-year-old mare Akiydath (Tiajuana-Zee Zee Top), meanwhile, flew in response to the urgings of Pradeep Chouhan to score over Teaser, Cagliari and Greenfield, who finished a neck abreast of each other.
Zante, on the other hand, came across a better one in owner-trainer Don Surti’s money-spinner Money Star (Mischevious Music-Mariana), who was knocking at the doors of success. Jockey Zameer Sayyed, Money Star’s regular saddle partner, rode a perfect race in that he narrowly escaped from the clutches of Never Surrender, who travelled six or seven horses wide into the straight. Apprentice T. Atul drove the Hormuz Antia trainee with good purpose only to find that the stars were simply not in his favour. Zante ended a length behind the first two and Lochmaben a further short head away.
Simply Red, a failed favourite in the hands of Naill McCullagh in his previous outing, wore the correct galloping shoes on this occasion and romped home in the concluding event of the day. The resident from Bezan Chenoy’s barns was entrusted to jockey B. Prakash, as Bajrang Singh was unable to fulfil his engagements. Though lying a faraway sixth or seventh behind the runaway leaders Hidden Rainbow and Battle Launch, Simply Red came with a devastating run when powered by Prakash in the home stretch. The winner was sighted long way from home when Simply Red accosted Battle Launch in the final stretch. Starboard had another opportunity to play the bridesmaid role. Douglas earned precious stake money when finishing ahead of C. Rajendra-piloted Wonder of You, who remained an uninterested wayfarer throughout the race.
