Protégé shows miraculous improvement to win the Indian St. Leger
By Usman Rangila
Mumbai
March 28, 2004
There was a poor response for the Indian St. Leger, the last classic and one of the most prestigious races of the Indian racing calendar, as far as attendance at the Mahalaxmi racecourse was concerned. Rank outsider Protégé bagged the rich purse of Rs. 33.24 lakh from Smart Supreme and Road Runner in a tight finish.
Estonia sat down in the gates as the start was about to be given resulting in her taking off without Malesh Narredu in the saddle. Bangalore-based jockey S. Rajesh settled Protégé in the third or fourth position as the field of fourteen raced in a single file till about the half-way mark. Amazing Strides was brushed into the lead to set the pace for the other three horses racing in the colour of Dr M.A.M. Ramaswamy and was followed by Decent Proposal and Simply Supreme. There was no change in the order till the last 800m where Simply Supreme took charge of the running. Road Runner was also off the bridle at this stage and so were Red Orchid and Protégé. Both Smart Supreme and Star of Windsor were further away but were gaining ground on the leaders.
Protégé wore down Simply Supreme with Road Runner also throwing his hat into the ring. Rajesh dug into the reserves of Protégé and to his amazement found the offspring of Placerville producing a stupendous run to outwit not only Road Runner but also Smart Supreme, who found his rhythm a wee bit late. Star of Windsor failed to make any impact as he hung-in in the straight and yet finished a close fourth.
Shocking as it was, the result of the St. Leger exposed the inferior quality of thoroughbreds that took part in the Indian classics this year. Fair Always won the Indian 1000 Guineas but ran below par in the Indian Oaks. Estonia, who finished runner-up to Fair Always, went on to claim the Oaks and after running second in the Indian Derby she ended up fourth in the Indian Invitation Cup. Rapidash, the winner of the Indian 2000 Guineas, did not appear in any of the subsequent classics. Psychic Flame bagged the Indian Derby and the finished third in the Invitation Cup before ending up nowhere in the Indian St. Leger.
Protégé (Placerville-Little Cinderella), who was bred at the Nanoli Stud Farms, suffered a setback after graduating from the maiden ranks during the last Mumbai season which led to him giving a miss to the Pune racing season 2003. Protégé reappeared on the Mahalaxmi tracks in the first week of January this year and was a miserable failure in three consecutive outings when ridden by Malesh Narredu. This candidate from Cooji Katrak’s yard finally earned a bracket at the conclusion of the Invitation Cup weekend and was ridden by P. Kamlesh. Rated higher than only Amazing Strides and Capture the Moment, Protégé showed vast improvement to come out and win the 2800m Indian St. Leger. It must be said that Protégé’s success is nothing but a tribute to his master Cooji Katrak for he is the only professional who can bring about this miraculous change in the ability of his wards.
The victories of both Persian Lord and Crown Affair were in a way a slap in the face of the RWITC stipes and also the handicapper. Hormuz Antia’s ward Crown Affair, on the other hand, had never hit the board in any of her nine appearances since the start of the Pune season and had lost 21 points on the handicapper’s scale. Seven-year-old Persian Lord, who was earlier in the charge of Antia, had shed 19 points since his first run at Mahalaxmi last year. Faisal Abbas-trained Persian Lord had figured on the judges’ board only once during his current campaign and was backed down from 7 to 1 to 5 to 2 in the betting market. Same was the case with Crown Affair, who was hammered down to 5 to 4 and which shows the amount of confidence the Antia-camp had in the ability of the six-year-old mare.
These two races could not have come at a worse time for the RWITC Stewards who are facing severe criticism for such appalling state of affairs at the club. On their attention being drawn to this chicanery, the stipes and the handicapper sounded quite unapologetic about the whole matter. Since there is no mention about the performance of these two winners, it can be safely presumed that the Stewards too are turning a blind eye over this issue. Just for record sake, it must be emphasised that Persian Lord and Crown Affair are not isolated cases. If one digs into the record books, there are many more such cases where the handicapper has been magnanimous and the stipes unmoved.
Another incident where the stipes refused to intervene happened at the end of the day. As mentioned in the race day report, runner-up Adam’s Ambition hung out and went on to Star Holme, who in turn caused interference to Momentous Mover. These three horses were separated by 2-3/4 lengths and three-parts of a length respectively. Had Suraj Singh and A. Imran Khan raised an objection against Ravi Biramne, there was a good chance that both would’ve found favour. Surprisingly neither of the two jockeys chose to object. But wasn’t it the duty of the stipes to intervene when it was obvious that the interference would’ve made material difference to the result? Or were they in a hurry to reach home after a hectic day? How long will the Stewards of the Club act in this indifferent manner and tolerate this inaction from the stipes? How long are the punters destined to suffer? It’s anybody’s guess.
Heroism from Antia’s yard lost steam first in the bookie’s ring and the again after leading all the way till the last furlong and giving up meekly to end third. K.P.G. Appu Pure Gold encountered little or no resistance from Forever Sunshine and posted his second victory of the season. Ganador also appeared to be least interested even as Bajrang Singh extricated him from a messy situation towards the inner rails and ran on to finish fourth when the race was in the safe keeping of Pure Gold.
Mr Darcy, Sun Seeker, Adonesque, Samurai Sword and Eternal Flight, who cornered enthusiastic support from all quarters, ran true to form to emerge victorious in their respective events.
