Subsequent to her victory in the Maharaja’s Cup at Bangalore, there was renewed hope that the four-year-old bay filly Endorsement (Placerville-Princess Clemente) would further make her mark in the highest class. It was a bit of sheer bad luck and some unimaginative riding by C. Ruzaan that prevented the Michael Eshwer-nursed filly from living up to the hopes of her connections. 

Ruzaan settled Endorsement towards the rails as Signal Tap made the entire running followed by Sonalika and the rest. Halfway through the journey, Prakash moved up with Dominant Force and effectively blocked the path of Endorsement. Even at this stage if Ruzaan had anticipated that he would be denied a free run by the two Ramaswamy-owned horses, the result would have been in favour of Endorsement. Ruzaan woke up only when Aslam Kader had given Al Dente her head and was home and dry. It is to the credit of Aslam that he did not let his guard down when interfered by ownermate Anagram at the turn and got Al Dente to produce her best for the Eve Champion Trophy. Al Dente spared a length to Anagram at the wire and who in turn had Endorsement and Zephyr Bay in close tow. 

Zidane was another Razeen progeny to have tasted success during the day but not exactly in the manner that is expected from a 10 to 25 on favourite. Pesi Shroff had to keep intact the pressure on the chestnut from Shiraz Sunderji’s yard to thwart the half-hearted bid of Numero Uno in the last 50m. Demedicie and Magic Arrow were truly out of sorts and ended in the rut. 

Can the ownership of a thoroughbred horse really provide the thrills and spills in the Sport of the Kings? Ask the bunch of seven enthusiastic youngsters who form the Cali Racing Syndicate and are the owners of a horse they chose to name Steroid. A none-too-expensive purchase, Steroid sprang a big surprise on some bred-in-purple horses in the Shah-Zaar Plate. The son of Ilheus out of Azahara came with a scintillating run in the hands of S. S. Bhati to foil the hopes of a winning debut harboured by Bezan Chenoy-schooled Don Alejandro. The runner-up was clearly done in by the lack of experience. Anxious Moments, who once again fetched maximum support in the betting arena, fought really hard for his head with his jockey C. Rajendra as the start was given and probably lost all interest in the race so much so that he failed to figure in the first four. 

Persian Lord provided apprentice Abhishek Habbu his first career win at the expense of on-money favourite Catchmeifyoucan, who was ridden by B. Prakash. If readers of this column recall the review titled “Bookies have Kazakh for lunch; Persian Lord for dessert” they would remember that it was B. Prakash who rode Persian Lord on that occasion. Smell a rat? Anyway, the fact remains that Catchmeifyoucan could not match the speed of Persian Lord. 

Jockey Mallesh Narredu donned the silks for Dewan Arun Nanda and steered both Southern Star (Binkhaldoun-Southern Girl) and Aspiring Star (Broto-Thunderous) to impressive victories in their respective races. The grey daughter of Southern Girl had another exhibition of her devastating turn of foot on display when she took toll of National Velvet in the Rajaram Chhatrapati Trophy. In the very next race, the same faces were seen rejoicing the success of Aspiring Star who literally ran away from his rivals. Trainer Arti Doctor really needs a mention for having kept these two horses fighting fit.

The month-long bad patch hit by the burly professional Narendra Lagad was “suddenly” over on Saturday when he captured both divisions of the Nebraska Plate. The six-year-old gelding Suddenly, with jockey V. Gharat in saddle, came with a flourish to peg back Moonlight Kisses in the lower division. The drift in the odds of Smokey Joe had a story of its own to tell and so it was no surprise for those in the know when the horse saddled by stand-in trainer Damodaran Pillai (Smokey Joe was originally under the care of Mansoor Shah, who is serving a suspension) finished off the board.

The connections of Suddenly led in another winner at the end of the day when the lost sheen was rediscovered by Pure Pearl. Here too, V. Gharat got Pure Pearl to accelerate at the right juncture and caught Dracula by the scruff of his neck nearer home. Earlier, Fly Me To The Moon (Don’t Forget Me-Overshadow) obliged her followers but had to survive a big scare. The 10 to 4 on favourite was all but beaten by the long-shot Aureus.

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