The mare
owned by the Poonawalla family had two educative runs, first on
the monsoon track when she finished off the board and then on
the main track where she was in the vanguard till the turn and
retired gracefully to end third. Pleasures had obviously
benefited immensely by the two runs she had but several students
of form were put off by her previous run. Probably this could be
the reason why The Proletarian, who finished second ahead of
Pleasures during their last encounter, got maximum support in
the betting ring.
Pleasures relishes running in the front and it wasn’t
surprising to see her leading the field of eight vying for the
Southern Command Trophy. P.
Kamlesh had her settled nicely and kept her going when a threat
emerged from unlikely quarters. As The Proletarian failed to
raise any hopes of victory and so also Adamile, it was left to
Arrakis and Top Mover to lead the resistance movement. But
Pleasures was in a different mood and held on resolutely in the
end.
Pleasures’
dominance apart, trainer Shiraz Sunderji’s runners were seen
hogging the limelight on Sunday. Sunderji led in a trio of
winners and had Right Arrow quickened at the right moment, his
tally would have risen to four. After two “easy” runs in
Class III, Natural Grace (Excalibur’s Lake-Solitary Blessings)
was all set to strike when Shiraz placed her in Class IV
company. Mark Gallagher was made to work hard on Natural Grace
in the closing stages as Quick Decision came perilously close to
toppling the filly. Teaser’s lack of interest in the race was
evident when the last outing winner ended a tame third and even
had to struggle for earn the third place.
The wait for
a green signal from her connections for Asprilla (Mystiko-Amazing
Journey) that seemed never-ending was finally over when the Dr
M. A. M. Ramaswamy-owned grey mare scored a narrow victory over
Right Arrow. The runner-up tried to win the race in the stewards’
room by raising an unsuccessful objection. Asprilla did cut
across Right Arrow’s path but was always travelling better
than her rival and the protest was rightly thrown out. There was
a flood of money on Rodeo Romeo but it was destined to go down
the drain. The son of Portroe clearly lacked exposure and ended
fourth.
The
bred-in-purple Special Selection (Placerville-Pia’s Baby), who
was given away to trainer Altaf Hussain at a “bargain” price
by his breeders, won far easily than expected in the upper
division of the Extnor Plate. Special Selection is reported to
have undergone a knee surgery during which 14-15 bone-chips were
removed from his knee. Altaf gave ample time to the bay gelding
to get back to normal and hit the bull’s eye during the summer
at Mumbai. Altaf was once again rewarded for his painstaking
labour when Special Selection easily accounted for his nine
rivals.
The shrewd
placement policy of Imtiaz Sait paid off when Castle Grey
(Rebounding Thrill-Dauphine) won in the upper class after a
dismal performance in the Independence Trophy. The grey filly
showed preference for the main track and carved a narrow but
commendable victory over the late-finishing Thunderlite and
Eminent Leader. The last-named missed the target narrowly after
trying to make every post of the nine-furlong trip a winning
one.
The
three-year-old filly Fleurissimo (Don’t Forget Me-Pasta) is
not a great looker and her paddock looks sent her price from 6
to 4 on up to 5 to 4 against. Inspire and Maratha Princess, in
turn, received more support than they would otherwise merit.
Defying her ugly looks, Fleurissimo got the better of Arctic
Girl and Dendrobium close home and also staved off the challenge
of Maratha Princess who was found to be lame on returning home.
Even before
the jubilations of Pleasures’ victory had died down, the third
generation of the Poonawallas’ was leading in Valencia whose
ownership they share with the Jhangianis’. This was the third
winner sent out by Shiraz Sunderji. Sakshi warmed up far too
late to deprive Valencia the victory. Keep close track of both
Bud Royale and Emblaze as they have the ability to go an extra
yard whenever their master Don Surti issues the command.
Adil Dajee
tried to produce a stunner in the form of Powell Power in the
concluding event of the day. The four-year-old son of Cruachan
had only one run to his credit this season and was backed down
from 10’s to one-fourth of that price. At one stage it
appeared that Powell Power would land the spoils but just then
Loving You decided to put her galloping shoes on. The filly
owned and trained by Nosher Cama literally flew towards the end
to halt the favourite in his tracks. Those who tried to swim
with the tide had met with a watery grave. In hindsight it
looked as if Powell Power Punters was shown daylight early and
the bay really didn’t know which way to go after he overtook
The Gladiator in the home stretch.