S. Rajesh could be out of action because of his riding astride Back In Action
The action this week revolved around two horses: Back In Action and Faster Than Light. Apart from being losers in their respective races, the other common factor in these two horses was that both shared ante post favouritism. Back In Action maintained his position as the overwhelming favourite in the market till the end while the odds for the latter climbed like its name and ended 4 to1 after opening at 100 to 85 on during morning hours of business.
The Bangalore-based rider S. Rajesh could be put ‘out of action’ after failing to succeed astride Back In Action, the Damodaran Pillai-saddled favourite to win the Birthday Girl Plate. Official reports suggest that the authorities suspect Rajesh of not doing justice to his mount and have charge-sheeted him accordingly. Rajesh, meanwhile, is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing before the RWITC stipes on Friday. The stipes will then submit their report to the RWITC Stewards of the Club for further action. There is a great possibility that the club authorities will come down heavily on Rajesh and only a miracle is likely to save him.
Going by his current form, racegoers were confident that Back In Action would’ve no difficulty in tackling the opposition as such he was asked to carry the public’s purse. The four-year-old bay colt didn’t get the best of starts and raced at the wrong end of the field. Sailing in troubled waters close to the inner rails, Back In Action never raised any hopes for his supporters throughout the six-furlong journey. A slight check received from Attia In Sunlight worsened the matters for the favourite. Meanwhile, Action Zone and Millennium King swooped down on Attia In Sunlight and the ensuing battle went down to the wire. In a splendid show of his talent astride Millennium King, R.K. Mahesh, who had till now been in the news for all wrong reasons, snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Mahesh upstaged K.P.G. Appu-ridden Action Zone in virtually the last couple of strides before the photo-finish camera could come into play.
Even half an hour after this nail-biting finish, it seemed adrenaline had not stopped flowing in the veins of Mahesh. On this occasion, Love And Joy was set alight by Mahesh in the home stretch and Irishman Mark Gallagher had to bear the brunt of the belligerent mood of the young jockey. The Jayantilal Gor nursed Love And Joy took off sluggishly from the barriers but as seen in her previous two runs she flew in response to Mahesh’s call in the home stretch and nailed favourite Absolute Dominance at the post. Interestingly, the runner-up too lost a couple of lengths at the start.
It would be hard to know what was playing on the mind of trainer Hormuz Antia when he renamed his horse Grand Ambition as Faster Than Light. However, the odds of the horse did drift in keeping with his new name. The bookies were quoting Faster Than Light as the odds-on favourite just hours before the actual running of the race. The odds spiralled alarmingly to touch 4 to 1. Several punters who have a look at the horses at the time of their being paraded in the paddock, were shocked to see the condition of Faster Than Light. A few of them said tongue-in-cheek that Faster Than Light looks to be in-foal.
Before his re-christening, Grand Ambition had ended a good second behind Asian Express. He was in the vanguard till the horses straightened for home and then started his retreat to end up in the second but last position. Faisal Abbas-nurtured Nice One Claire called the shots and logged a surprise win over the heavily-backed Own Trumpet and her barn-mate Dancing Mystery, who was second in demand to Own Trumpet and Faster Than Light in the betting ring. Expectedly, an uproar from influential members of the racing fraternity in Western India followed Faster Than Light’s dismal performance. In a knee-jerk reaction, the Stewards imposed a fine of Rs. 50,000 on Antia for running an unfit horse. Racegoers were last seen scrambling to lay their hands on the dictionaries to find the meaning of an unfit horse and also that of its opposite after this report was made public.
Bezan Chenoy continued to “make hay while the sun shone” and led in Southern Smoke, who streaked clear of his four rivals in the Fair Haven Trophy and never gave them any chance of getting anywhere close to him at the post. Both Eternal Beauty and Magic Nobility also justified the faith reposed in them by the market forces. The former was ridden confidently by rookie Vikram Jodha to a narrow victory over Yvresse. Magic Nobility proved far too superior for his nine rivals as Mark Gallagher drove him to a widening seven-length victory over Rage of Angels.
After saddling two losers in Where Eagles Dare and Charlie Parker last week, trainer Robert D’Mellow meant business with Keytothevaults, who came from an unfavourable position to overhaul Blue Devil. The Rehanullah Khan ward got a flier from the gates and was way ahead of his rivals before he ran out of gas in the last furlong. Like Robert, jockey P. Kamlesh too was in a different frame of mind as he steered a back-to-back double at the start of the day’s proceedings on Sunday. Ettan was the first to romp home in the hands of Kamlesh and Autumn Leaves came later. Favourite Axelle made a no-show where Ettan scored. Autumn Leaves came across a bunch of submissive thoroughbreds and didn’t let go the opportunity to shed the maiden ranks.
Mark Gallagher powered Star Decoration to an emphatic victory over High Handed who failed in his start to finish bid. Mark was expected to complete a double with Great Strides but he caught a tartar in Romantic Hero. Viceroy registered an encore with a superb win over Texas King. The fancied horses did not grace the finish. Taras Bulba despite veering out of a straight course managed to score for his new master Asad Siddiqui. Earlier, a change in name and running tactics proved lucky for Spectacular Star. The candidate from Hosidar Daji’s played a waiting game on this occasion as Encore and Helegonia showed the way to the field. Malcolm Kharadi switched gears opposite the stands and drew away from his rivals.
