The grey filly Southern Star (Binkhaldoun-Southern
Girl) made ample amends for her last outing defeat against Spice
Boy in the Bade Miya Trophy. Much of the betting in the feature
event centred around The Pelican, the stylish looking
three-year-old chestnut gelding. After Sunglow packed his bags,
Southern Star (C. Rajendra up) and The Pelican (M. Narredu up)
entered the home straight almost together and went stride for
stride. The latter seemed to be gaining ground at one stage, but
with C. Rajendra cracking his whip on Southern Star, the filly
from Ms Arti Doctor’s yard stretched out gallantly to snub the
challenge of the favourite. The Pelican was not disgraced in
this defeat and lives to fight for yet another day. Great
Alliance flew in from the tail end but failed deprive Rapallo of
the third day.
Zadmal
Singh-trained colt Running Star was spoken of very highly in the
racing circle here prior to the commencement of the Indian
classics in Mumbai. But the Alnasr Alwasheek progeny suddenly
ran into problems and the classic hopes were dashed. Running
Star was making his first appearance after a break of nearly
eight months but that could not induce the race-goers to have a
second opinion about the chances of Running Star. With Ocean
Breeze (Exhilaration-Virginia Princess) playing her customary
role to perfection and almost landing the prize for herself,
Running Star (Alnasr Alwasheek-Promising) on the other hand
never raised any hopes for his followers save for a brief while
at the final turn. Spice Boy (Reasonable-Eretna) who had stunned
his opposition during his previous run, had a similar treatment
in store for his opponents. Settled close on the heels of Ocean
Breeze, Spice Boy tried to swoop on the leader in the home
stretch. Ocean Breeze was in no mood to surrender easily and
fought gamely till the end but had to concede in the end.
Communicator arrived late on the scene to make any difference to
the result but took the third spot ahead of Venus. Meringue who
was in the vanguard till the bend, gradually dropped back to
finish down the field.
Veteran Saeed Shah saddled Zongrilla, despite a slight drift in
the odds against him, faced no problems in recording his maiden
victory. The son of Placerville out of Twenty Carats had an easy
run just a week earlier, his first after being gelded, and an
improved performance what was expected from him. Zongrilla did
not let his supporters down by a registering a comfortable win
over Boundless Thrill who tried to catch her rivals on a wrong
foot in this race.
Ruzaan’s first winner came astride Laurels who is trained by
Michael Eshwer. The four-year-old son of Mischevious Music out
of Laissez Faire had been knocking at the doors of success for
quite some time and finally had his call answered on Saturday.
Kept in close touch with the leaders this time, Laurels gained
steady ground over the half-money favourite Alustar who was
being hailed as a winner close home.
The runaway tactics adopted by Ruzaan on rank-outsider Secret
Obsession (Forest Fair-Fabulous) paid handsome dividends as the
filly from trainer Sanjay Kolse’s barn went on to earn her
maiden success. Amaron (Batzushka-Tunanza) tried hard to catch
the winner but had to settle for the second place. Radical Force
(Alnasr Alwasheek-Aroma) and Rewarding King (Batzushka-Mulberry)
were fancied over the rest of the field but they could hardly do
any justice to faith imposed in them.
Radical Force, in fact, was the odds-on ante post favourite to
this race but a negative sentiment in the betting ring sent his
odds rocketing up to 2 to 1. The shrewd ones went for Rewarding
King but ended up with a long face after the race. Ruzaan
wrapped up the day with Mariazella who responded well to his
urgings and pulled away from favourite Fly By Alibi. The latter
was never off the bit till the last furlong and a half but
Warren Singh failed to get the desired response from the Imtiaz
Sait trainee who was proved to be a costly experience for the
punters.
Speed of Light (Portroe-Double Quick) picked up her second
success of this season when she sped away from Chamonix who
called the tune and led the field into the straight. Initiate
ran like a dud to let down a large following. Soliel came with
raking strides to put a spoke in the wheels of Pretty Bee close
home. The runner-up trained by Hanut Singh had just got the
better of Money Madness and Way Beyond when Soliel decided to
put his galloping shoes on.
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