FLENSBURG SHOWS PLENTY OF PROMISE

FLENSBURG’S victory in the Moosa M Hoosein Trophy on Sunday (August 6) was superb and stylish. And that’s the best possible way to describe the manner of victory achieved by the bay filly Flensburg (Don’t Forget Me-Arctic Eyes). In a race where the focus of attention were Georgeous Princess, Perceived Value and Storm Dancer, it was Flensburg who stole the limelight by the effortless manner in which she decimated the opposition.

Favourite Perceived Value (Razeen-Gourgandine) hailing from trainer Dallas Todywalla’s yard appeared a bit gross and that prohibited her from living upto the expectations of her connections. In contrast the sprightly daughter of Arctic Eyes by Don’t Forget Me looked a picture. But frankly speaking, none would have predicted a facile victory for this filly nursed by trainer Vinayak for owners Mr & Ms K. N. Dhunjibhoy and Mr & Ms Shapoor P. Mistry.

 

After lying third last as Act of Trust led the field, a little cajoling was all it took from Malesh for Flensburg to unleash a brilliant run that left her rivals stranded. Gorgeous Princess took some stick from Pesi to end a distance behind the winner. The Steinbeck filly groomed by veteran S. S. Shah, was jostled and denied a clear run on more than one occasion by Storm Dancer who was guided by Mark Gallagher.

Pesi Shroff managed a sideways glance as Flensburg moved full steam ahead on the outside but he had nowhere to go at that stage. Perceived Value was not disgraced when finishing fourth, half a length behind Storm Dancer. Jockey Appu who rode Perceived Value was of the opinion that Perceived Value needs a couple of runs before the Razeen progeny makes an impact. If one were to look into the past records of Gourgandine progeny, they have all been late bloomers and have shown their mettle only as late four-year olds.

 

Taking on more experienced competitors did not stop Magansingh Jodha-trained Radiant from picking up her third straight victory in the hands of jockey C. Rajendra. For the second year in succession, jockey C. Ruzaan failed to do justice with favourite Strengthtostrength who was entrusted to him by Rehanullah Khan for the second time on this same track. He was successful in only raising a glimmer of hope before Radiant brushed him aside and was homeward bound in the straight. Intel and Table Dancing ended a fair second and third with Absolute Power close on their heels. Despite being interfered by Specialist, Amusing ran a game sixth and should not be ignored in a handicap race.

 

Stone Ridge, Safarando, Silent Fox and Reflecting, all racing in the colours of Dr M. A. M. Ramaswamy played the role of bridesmaid on Saturday. Strangely at least three highly fancied contenders on Sunday seemed rather uninterested in reversing the trend set by their owner-mates on Saturday. The drifting odds gave a clear pointer to their prospects.

Diane In Demand scored an encore for trainer Dallas Todywalla. The filly prevailed over Pink Floyd and Fiery Angel, the two market fancies. With this easy run under Fiery Angel’s belt, his win should come very soon.

 

A power-packed finish from Irishman Mark Gallagher astride Crowning Moment frustrated the hopes of Stone Ridge, ridden by Appu. For the fourth consecutive time, this son of Razeen was forced to eat a humble pie. The time is now ripe for the connections of Cozumel, Ride The Lightning and Momentous Mover, who finished in that order behind Crowning Moment and Stone Ridge, to reap the harvest before it is too late.

The grey Enharmonic planted in the gates, which allowed The Midnight Sun to bring home the bacon for trainer Sandeep Mangalorkar. Russain Czar led for most part of the mile and a quarter journey and surrendered gracefully to the winner close home.

Daring Don achieved a hat trick of victories but the last leg upset the calculations of Baboo Khanna. The moment this bay son of Don’t Forget Me decided to poke through the gap offered by Master Honey near the inner rails he surged ahead to win untroubled from Safarando, Phenom, Master Honey and Merry Millennium. Phenom can recoup the losses in his next venture.

Those expecting Merry Millennium with C. Rajendra in saddle to perform better on this occasion than what she did in the hands of apprentice Daniel Bast, realised that they were living in a fool’s paradise. With Daniel Bast already under scrutiny for allegedly throwing his whip during his last encounter with Fantasy, wasn’t this one classic case of misplaced trust?

Absolute Hit, one of the few favourites that obliged this week, gave no anxious moments to his supporters after collaring leader Clive Commission. B.R.Kaustubh astride the runner-up was soft on his mount and yet ended second ahead of Victory Call. Second favourite Tasha Beat with Sunny Chinoy atop was not sighted till Absolute Hit was on his way to victory and finished fourth. This might have to do something with the fact that Sunny Chinoy had earlier partnered Daring Don which also belongs to owner Aziz Jaffer.

 

Tuned to the minute by Hormuz Antia, Realism made short work of his fancied rivals in the Meghdoot Plate. Narredu got down to work on this bay gelding even before the field reached the top of the home-stretch. The response he got was tremendous and Realism sailed past Silent Fox and Victory Waltz for a comfortable win.

B. Prakash’s persuasive efforts on Mariella saw the filly getting into her stride and enabled the filly to run away with the Tosca Trophy. Later on Peace March almost upset the field with her runaway tactics that were foiled by Free Gold. Claiming full allowance on Neelanjana, apprentice Aadesh Kumar fully utilised it to earn the right to carry a whip and also the corn bill for the mare. Runner-up Coronado, who shed the blinkers but with the left eye shield intact, appeared reluctant to overtake the winner.

 

Jockey Pesi Shroff made a winning appearance and so did the maiden filly Piccolina. The daughter of No Louder out of Al Zahyia was sent in fine fettle by trainer Subhag Singh. The three other runners were no match for Piccolina when she decided to throw her hat into the ring. The grey filly took charge of the running from National Velvet with minimum effort to earn her maiden victory.

Reap The Bounty with jockey S. N. Chavan in saddle, caught his rivals on the wrong foot as the gates flew open and ran away for an upset victory over Stolichnaya and Catchmeifyoucan. Dreadnought, one of the fancied horses ended a poor sixth. The runner-up and Let’s Have Fun, who finished fourth in this race, will be seen in different light over seven furlongs and byonds.

Immaculate extended his winning tally to four and the credit for this feat should go to the erstwhile RWITC handicapper who clearly underestimated the ability of Immaculate after his maiden win. Negligible penalties given to Immaculate after his first two victories have enabled this Narendra Lagad ward gain his subsequent wins. Just goes to show how horses can fool handicappers.

 

Shrewd placing of Sound of Whisper earned trainer Narendra Lagad a back to back double. The Placerville progeny swiftly pounced on leader Heartbreaker opposite the stands for an overdue victory. Azurica was simply not in the hunt at any stage of the race.

Majesty of Law provided Imtiaz Sait his first winner of the season and Malesh Narredu the first of the day. Furiously increased master Sanjay Kolse’s score to three this season after she took over the running from Millenium Star who at one stage appeared to have the race well sewn up. Amber Brown managed to save place money from the fast moving Bound By Honour. Tiger Talk ran well with blinkers when finishing fifth in this race. Chittor and Forever Sparky were the other two winners at the end of the week.