Unfortunately,
youngster Sunny Chinoy chose the same day to blot the canvas
that highlighted his colleagues’ glory. Sunny, it is alleged,
played an important part in the defeat of favourite Courtesan.
More annoying is the brand of justice dispensed by the RWITC
Stewards for this offence.
Lest the Courtesan episode take precedence, it would be in order
to deal first with the heroics of Gallagher and Aslam. The
former was handling the firm favourite Wordsworth for the first
time this season. The gelding from Narendra Lagad’s yard had
the requisite form to go along with the trust reposed in him but
had Gallagher not shown the presence of mind in removing his
riding glasses at the bend, Wordsworth would’ve probably not
entered the winner’s circle.
As it continued to pour heavily during the race, the jockeys’
vision was impaired to the extent that they could not see beyond
a few metres. At the turn, Wordsworth was still in chase of
Jayashree and Emblaze. It was here that Gallagher took off the
glasses and then resumed his job in all earnest. Close home,
Wordsworth got into his stride and humbled Mallesh Narredu-ridden
Emblaze. Aslam too did the same thing when piloting the maiden
Say It Loud to victory.
But his fine performance atop Al Dente, which enabled her to
claim the feature, earned Aslam all the accolades. The strategic
decision to let Anagram set the pace showed that think-tank of
the Khaitan-camp had been burning some midnight oil and had done
its homework well. In that they took the wind out of the sails
of the opposition, which was banking upon Pleasures to play her
customary front-running role, which might have benefited
Endorsement.
Frustrating Pleasures no end, Pesi Shroff quickly had Anagram
calling the shots and the Imtiaz Sait ward held on gamely to the
lead quite close to the winning post. Al Dente preferred to run
at the rear and that is what really suits her. Aslam did not tap
the reserves of Al Dente till the last 200m and then, even at
the risk of being blocked, he brought her through the shortest
route. Put into top gear by Aslam now, the mare assumed control
and won warding off the bid of Endorsement.
Coming across a second-rate opposition, it was only natural that
Courtesan be the centre of attraction in the Rosamund Plate for
the bettors. However, the decision of trainer Rehanullah Khan to
pin his faith in the abilities of Sunny Chinoy astride Courtesan
raised many an eyebrow. He was to realise later that his trust
was misplaced.
When Star of Heaven took over the running from in the latter
stages of the six-furlong trip, it appeared that Courtesan would
swoop on her rival once Sunny relaxed his grip. But the grip
turned out to be vice-like. That Sunny preferred not to use the
stick on Courtesan, when the filly was allegedly hanging in,
sufficiently proves his guilt and also his ‘serious’
intentions.
Pleasure Hunt turned out to be the most impressive winner of the
day when the Razeen filly registered an encore. Nursed by Imtiaz
Sait, Pleasure Hunt never came under threat from her rivals once
she got her head from Rajinder. The filly should be counted
among one of the best equines in Imtiaz Sait’s charge this
year and it will definitely pay to follow her.
At the start of the day, Idaho ran away from his rivals to
record his second success this season. Star Power and Valencia
proved no match. Later, the bottom-weighted Kilmore Quay waylaid
Flying High, who was a rage with the moneybags. Kilmore Quay
thus gave trainer Neville Umrigar his first winner this
season.
Trainer Asad Siddiqui too had an opportunity to lead in his
first winner when jockey C. Rajendra astride Jodhpur Lade made
every furlong of the mile-long Gentle Spy Plate a winning one.
Jodhpur Lad survived to win from Judgement Call, Northern
Frontier and Act of Trust. As mentioned earlier, Bezan Chenoy
sent out Say It Loud who accounted for the more experienced
Furiously and Star Cutter. The latter showed the way to the
field and retired gracefully to end third.
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