Raphaela (C.Alford up), winner of the Fillies And Mares Stakes (Gr.3), being led in by Mr.G. B. Nagpal,
Mr.S.Noah & trainer Mr.Sanjay Kolse

Raphaela give her career-best performance
By True Blue

Pune
Oct 9, 2005

Barring the back-to-back double scored when she was a three-year-old, Raphaela has always performed in patches. She managed just two wins thereafter, one at Mahalaxmi and the other at Bangalore recently during the summer.

The four-year-old daughter of Razeen out of Magical Moments had reserved her best for Sunday when she made her high-profile opponents Frida Kahlo, Camarioca and Tiana look like novices. Lady luck continued to smile on C. Alford and this weekend proved to be the young lad’s best spell in the saddle at Pune. He scored another double with Cosmos and Raphaela.

With none of the six runners able to set the initial pace in the Fillies’ & Mares’ Stakes (Gr.3) run over nine furlongs, Self Appointed found herself in the front and was forced to show the way to all on sufferance. Tiana too was up in the vanguard with Self Appointed and it could’ve proved to be their undoing in the end. Raphaela, who raced in the mid-bunch, made her bid with a sustained on the top of the straight and wrest the lead from Self Appointed. Alford kept the pressure going by using his whip and reached his destination safely. Frida Kahlo’s late flourish fetched her no more than the second best place on the judges’ board. Although the filly was asked to do too much in the end stages by Malesh Narredu, it would not be unfair to assume that Frida Kahlo’s best days are over.

The Imtiaz Sait trained four-year-old rig Cosmos (Placerville-Cosmic Energy) finally found his way to the winner’s enclosure when Alford set him alight in the home stretch. Cosmos produced an electric response to curtail the start-to-finish bid of Love And Be Loved. Vanilla Sky wandered like a lost child in a crowded place and ended third thereafter.

The zealous spirit shown by jockey S. N. Chavan astride Fire God (Tecorno-Goldilocks) spurred the Narendra Lagad trainee foil Excellento’s bid to overthrow him. Earlier, the odds for ante post favourite Among Dreams scared away her admirers and those tried to swim against the tide were swept away. The Dallas Todywalla trained filly was eliminated from the fray by a chain reaction set off by Magic Words’ interference to Wild Fantasy. The owner-mate of the winner passed it on to Among Dreams. Fire God took command of the running and was hard-ridden to ward off the threat posed by Excellento. Coming back to Chavan’s zeal, one can only hope that the horses and riders of Lagad perform equally well when they are carrying the public’s purse.

The outcome of the October Handicap was of academic interest and Star Princess (Placerville-Prudent Princess) won the race in an absolute canter. Earlier Douglas came with raking strides to frustrate Strategic Moves near the post. The result could’ve been different had Vikram Jodha astride Strategic Moves not switched lanes in the last furlong. Priceless Place was subdued on this occasion seemed more eager to shift her burden quickly and was obliged by Strategic Moves. Annunciation ran a hell of a race and a bracket seems to be in the offing.

Vikram made amends for Hormuz Antia and the punters when he took the aged mare Osprey on a successful pillar to post mission. Her rivals were more comfortable chasing her shadows. Fairy Goddess caught the eye when she ran third after taking off sluggishly from the barriers. Star of Dubai seemed to have saved her best for some other day.

Adam’s Bounty unleashed a brilliant run when coming downhill in the straight and took both Striking Beauty and Moment of Creation by surprise near the winning post. Striking Beauty appeared coasting for a wire to wire win but her hopes vanished when she veered out under pressure. Swift Sword found his galloping shoes late and finished a noteworthy fourth. Incomparable, Summer Wind and Clas were the best of the beaten brigade.

Trainer Altaf Hussain pulled off a handsome gamble with Raudo on his maiden appearance at Pune. Entrusted to the lesser know Mansoor Khan, Raudo (Major Impact-Untold Story) made every pole of the seven-furlong trip a winning one. The rest of the runners were more interested in sharing the booty with Raudo.