SEA FARER FLOORS THE OPPOSITON IN FILLIES STAKES

Showing a clean pair of heels to her five rivals in the Fillies’ Stakes on Saturday,  Dhariwal-nurtured three-year-old filly Sea Farer made her maiden appearance on the Pune race track a winning one. Having stunned her opposition with a resounding victory on debut at Bangalore, the Vijay Mallya-owned filly was launched as the favourite to win the feature event.

The presence of Zeta Jones, who had the benefit of an outing here and the fact that she had run in company of better class horses like Six Speed and Allaire during her Mumbai campaign, did not detract Sea Farer’s admirers. The participation of Dancing Dreams a winner in both her two starts too did not matter.

Living up to the expectation of her followers was not difficult for the Green Forest out of Dunmar filly. Pesi Shroff fashioned her victory by seizing the initiative from the word `go'. Zeta Jones gained ground at the end to be a length away from the winner but this effort did not affect the end result. Au Revoir ran a fair third and she merits a following in the company of maidens.

Jockey Aslam Kader’s failure to apply for his riding license with the RWITC for the Pune season cost him two career winners. The RWITC stipes refused to accept the declaration of Aslam Kader atop two Deepak Khaitan properties Pleasures and Top Mover. The two horses were then entrusted to Mark Gallagher and Bajrang Singh respectively.

Pleasures (Placerville-Treasure Flower) was ridden in copybook style by the Irishman, which enabled the filly from Bezan Chenoy’s barns redeem her lost pride after that humiliating experience in the previous run. The Placerville progeny got smoothly off the blocks to head the field. Gallagher niggled her approaching the final run in and Pleasures flew in response to put the issue beyond reach of any of her rivals. Court of Appeal sporting the pacifier blinkers (not declared because the races were run on the monsoon track) ran a faraway second with Midnight Charm just about managing to pip Dhanadal for the third place.

Pleasures’ timing of 1:26.70 minutes for the seven-furlong trip may not have eclipsed the course record but it was certainly the best clocked so far. The filly is in good nick and Bezan Chenoy will surely pick a race or two with her this season.

Top Mover (Topanoora-Sweet Mover) took some belting from jockey Bajrang Singh to produce a winning gallop that wore down stablemate El Cid close home. The runner-up stormed into the lead at the top of the home stretch with C. Rajendra in saddle goading him to go on. He was proving a tough nut to crack but fortunately for the punters Top Mover resolute bid saved the day.

Another superb ride from Mark Gallagher ensured juvenile Knoxville’s (Placerville-Shocking) entry into the winners circle. This big striding gelding from Shiraz Sunderji’s yard was groping to find his rhythm that eluded him till the final two furlongs. But as Mark Gallagher opined after the race: "The moment Knoxville hit the ground there was no stopping for him". The Irishman obviously rates this bay gelding very high when he says, "the best of Knoxville is yet to come".

Adopting runaway tactics on this occasion saw Saytarra give a much better performance than expected by her connections. The Dallas Todywalla trained filly bowled along merrily in the front before Knoxville flashed on to the scene.

Dr M. A. M. Ramaswamy's Speculative and trained by Hoshidar Daji  lived up to the promise shown in her last run and easily accounted for Pussy Cat and Certain Smile in the curtain-raiser. Rise And Shine, also belonging to the racing baron, emerged victorious in the most thrilling finish of the day. The filly by Kly Green out of Bold And Beautiful edged out Dream Image and Sicalade in a three-horse photo finish. Metronomic came fourth. Sicalade landed up in the third berth after doing all the hard work but Jaggy Dhariwal’s ward will be packed with extra power in his next run. A benefit of doubt given by the stewards to Bajrang Singh for his riding astride Metronomic allowed him to escape any punishment and the jockey should be thanking his stars for that stroke of luck.

With Batroyale not permitted to run it was always going to be a straight contest between Seventh Fleet and Country Cousin. Seventh Fleet got preference in the betting but for the second time in succession the Mansoor Shah-trained filly flopped. Country Cousin coerced her into submission nearer home. To wrap up the day’s proceedings Rich Babe scored a narrow victory for master Hormuz Antia in a field that appeared very competitive on paper and it remained so with only a few interested in the contest.

Though it was seven months since his last brush with competitive racing, racegoers still gave Isle of Spice an edge over his rivals in the Colts’ Stakes event run on Sunday. Being a facile winner on debut at Mahalaxmi was just one of reasons for Isle of Spice to catch the market fancy, apart from impressive workouts and in the mock race prior to this run.

The son of Portroe out Solid Selection got straight down to business as the starter's flag came down but he could not achieve the goal for which he had set off. C. Rajendra’s start to finish mission astride Isle of Spice ended much before the winning post came into sight.

B. Prakash-piloted Safarando who was sitting by the tail of Isle of Spice grabbed the lead and drew away for a comfortably victory over Among Men and Storm Again. The former was hard-ridden by Pesi Shroff to finish second but the stewards were not satisfied with his efforts and decided to fine him 5000 rupees for riding an ill-judged race. Isle of Spice ran a miserable sixth.

Punters hoping to find some more winners to add to their winnings of Saturday were stretching their luck a bit too far. They were in for a shock as only two clear favourites in the card of nine races hit the wire first.

Caribbean Star could not given a better start to the aspirations of the bettors who were to discover later that Alice Charms would be the only other contestant with a mood to oblige them on the day when bookies were rubbing their hands with glee. Fabulous Fortune was another horse to fetch some dividends for her supporters. The rest of the winners never found any favour in the betting.

It took precisely a dozen of outings after his debut for Great Emperor (Bold Russian-Regal Melody) to earn his first bracket. The only horse to race with trainer Nirad Karanjawala in the colours of Dr Vijay Mallya, ran true to his form for the first time in his career taking toll of Arti Doctor-saddled favourite Hope in the Prince Khartoum Trophy. Aslam Kader got a ban for two race meetings for unsatisfactory riding on Accentuate after failing to get a clear run at the turn. Before he could sight the opening he was looking for, Aslam had already committed himself on the outside and finally finished third. Aslam is reported to have lost his whip when switching his mount.

Trainer Jayantilal Gor had two runners — Natural Grace (Excalibur’s Lake- Solitary Blessings) and Natural Spark (Rebounding Thrill-Solitary Reaper) in each of the two divisions of the Lord Jime Plate. The ex-jockey fancied the latter who was being assisted by Mallesh Narredu in saddle. But it was Natural Grace who ran to glory and causing a major upset in the hands of I. Shaikh. The best favourite Anthology could do was finish third behind Natural Grace and Menorca but he was not disgraced in doing so.

Despite Mallesh Narredu employing all his skills aboard Natural Spark the filly could not match strides with S. S. Shah-saddled filly Fabulous Fortune (Steinbeck-Wishing Well). Ante post favourite Different Crown ran a tame third.

The consistent filly Cymbidium finally hit the target and the reason of her success lay in finding an able partner in Pesi Shroff to assist him in the saddle. The diligence of the veteran jockey paid off in the keenly fought tussle with leader Addab and Silent Fox. Jockey I. Shaikh got  Sacred Mission a  bit late for it to make any material difference to the result.

Imtiaz Sait-groomed Prime of Life proved a shade too good for her stablemate Share The Spirit, highly fancied to win the race. It was for the second time in two days that Imtiaz Sait wards took the first two positions on the judges’ frame. Share The Spirit reportedly came lame.

Way Beyond hailing from trainer Narendra Lagad’s stable was the shortest priced runner of day. In her last essay this maiden filly had finished third in the hands of apprentice Mandeep Mann behind Kesariya Balam and was now facing a mediocre company. The hopes of the punters were escalated beyond the prescribed limit by the presence of jockey Mark Gallagher astride Way Beyond. Strangely, the filly did not raise any hopes of winning at any stage of the race as Val Rouge ran away with the race. In fact, it was her stablemate Royal Secret who overcame the initial hesitation of jockey Hamir Singh and ran menacingly towards the post. Bag of Tunes ran a game third and should be fit for the fray in a couple of outings.