Hormuz Antia turns the heat on the bookies, pulls out four aces from up his sleeves
By Usman Rangila

Mumbai
March 14, 2004

Even before the bookies could start feeling the effect of the rising temperatures, trainer Hormuz Antia decided to turn on the heat on them. He pulled out four aces: Reign of Fire, Dominique, Ocean of Angels and Aerobic’s from up his sleeve. The preparation and placing of these four horses by the ex-jockey was so immaculate that only a foolish mistake from the rider would’ve prevented any of them from winning. It usually takes great courage from a professional to nominate a horse to win and tipping not one or two but four maiden horses to score requires exceptional confidence from the trainer in the abilities of the animals in his charge. Antia, being a past master at honing the skills of the thoroughbreds entrusted to him by his patrons, executed this responsibility with great expertise.

The pattern that Antia adopts to get his horses to a certain mark on the handicapper’s scale may not always conform to the rules. Yet, the only thing that matters in this game nowadays is how the trainer gets value for money for the investment of the owner. A quick learner that he has been throughout his career on the racetracks, Antia is one of the few from his ilk who knows how to keep the owners happy.

Barely six months into their career that began at Pune, both Reign of Fire (Greensmith-Carolina Rose) and Aerobic’s (Tecorno-Aerobica) had done enough to escape from the routine watch of the students of form. This ensured that the odds against these two horses would be lucrative. Antia knew it was time to strike gold. 

Reign of Fire was entrusted to apprentice Neeraj Rawal who kept the filly in close attendance of leader High Voltage and favourite Magnificence. As High Voltage was not in a generous mood, Magnificence failed to make any inroads towards the inner rails. Reign of Fire, meanwhile, had started to accelerate and was soon in the reckoning along side the favourite. With High Voltage calling it a day, it was left to Magnificence and Reign of Fire to settle the dispute. The latter got stronger at the finish and was half-a-length good of Magnificence who in turn was a head in front of Own Trumpet. The S.S. Shah-trained mare veered out under pressure when jockey Mansoor Khan pulled the mare out in the middle but for which there could’ve been a twist in the tale of Antia in the curtain raiser itself.

Dominique and Ocean of Angels wrapped up the next two races, the Nadia-Mary Homi Wadia Trophy and the R.J. Kolah Trophy, in quick succession for their master. This duo didn’t have any hitch whatsoever in graduating from the maiden ranks. Bred as half-sister to Secret Romeo, the dark bay filly Dominique (Cruachan-Wind In The Willows) followed Ponte Grande into the home stretch where Malesh Narredu released the brakes on the filly who drew away for an emphatic victory. Free To Fly was lethargic at the start and never raised any hopes for her supporters at any stage of the race.

Ocean of Angels (Alnasr Alwasheek-L’lle Mysterieuse) was ridden in the same fashion by Malesh as the bay colt allowed Diffidence to call the early shots. Ocean of Angels had no difficulty in taming the second favourite when the heads turned for home. Space Girl and Liesl laboured hard to fill the frame. Later, in the concluding event of the day, Aerobic’s went wire to wire to complete the rich haul of Antia. Jockey S.P. Ranjane hit the front with the bay gelding as soon as the starter’s flag came down and was never headed by any of his rivals. After lying in close attendance of the winner, ante post favourite Montana hung out as usual and faded out to finish fourth behind Grand Finale and Nice One Claire.

Radical Force was the only sore point of the day as far the punters were concerned. The candidate from Cooji Katrak’s barns, who had won the Stayers’ Cup just a week ago, caught a tartar in his half-brother Road Runner (Placerville-Aroma) in the Bombay Dyeing C.N. Wadia Gold Cup. The Mansingh Jadhav-saddled four-year-old bay gelding chased of Whispering Shadows, who set a cracking pace for stable-mate Radical Force, and Astrologica all the way till the final turn arrived. The latter took charge for a brief while but had no answer to the onslaught unleashed by Road Runner who was then kept on the road to glory by C. Rajendra. Radical Force failed to produce the turn of foot seen in his last run and ended a dismal second with Astrologica and Allodium in close tow. Rajendra completed a back-to-back double when he got a chance ride aboard Our Own Girl (Storm Trooper-Saraceno). The Sorab Jilla nursed filly came across some uninterested rivals, including the pre-race favourite Second Jewel, and made full use of the opportunity to land the spoils. Frenchman Samuel Fargeat was not in his usual element astride Second Jewel whose odds spiralled during betting time.

Imtiaz Sait, who is experiencing a lean patch, had earlier in the day led in Romantic Hero (Placerville-Romantic Feelings) in the Kailashpat Singhania Trophy. C. Alford, the champion rider of Calcutta, gave the chestnut a confident ride and won in a tight finish from Rahil and Royal Celebrity, two of the highly fancied horses in the race. Raziya, who ended a close fourth, was seen putting up good work towards the end, which was suggestive of some future conquest. 

Star Destiny pulled off a narrow victory over Amaron to lift the Jayaramdas Patel Gold Cup, which, incidentally was his second straight success of this season. P. Kamlesh employed all his skills astride his mount, sent out by Hosidar Daji, to snatch the race from the clutches of Amaron who was being hailed as a winner after his keen tussle with favourite Willy Nilly nearer home.