Cabbala started her career with
Darius Byramji at Bangalore but was shipped to Pune later on. She won a
mile race effortlessly late last month yet the decision to exploit her over the Derby trip was seen as premature by
some. Cabbala proved the cynics wrong as she lay an unconcerned fourth
till the final turn and swiftly took over the running when Mallesh put
her in top gear. Her three rivals were left gasping for breath as
Cabbala drew away for the third success of her career. Flaming Bay and
Solar Flower waged a fierce battle for the crumbs with the former edging
out her rival for the runner-up berth.
The running of the second race of the day, the Sea Sand Plate, put the
RWITC officials in a quandary. Ganador won the race but the uproar
raised by the punters as Genesis came out riderless from the gates
forced the Stewards to initiate an enquiry. Interestingly, the Senior Stipe of the RWITC suggested that the money bet on Genesis should be
returned and Ganador should be allowed to keep the race. Shivlal Daga,
who chaired the enquiry, however, decided to brush aside this suggestion
and ruled that the race be declared null and void. Given the situation,
it seemed to be best solution provided by the RWITC Stewards.
Dallas Todywalla trained Priceless Place (Placerville-Priceless Moments)
avenged her last outing defeat at the hands of Duke Ellington when she
went pillar-to-post and held on resolutely towards the end. Dr M.A.M. Ramaswamy’s camp cornered another race when Castle Creek (Warrshan-Briar
Creek) recorded a smashing victory in Class III. Bregenz, who remains in
search of her elusive form, Red Hot Babe and Fear of Tears, who was out
for an airing, were at the receiving end of the thrashing dished out by
Castle Creek.
Win For Me (Don’t Forget Me-Winning Dream) scored an upset win in the D.N. Zodge Plate after Star Divine misbehaved at the starting gates and
was declared a non-starter. The three-year-old gelding from Narendra
Lagad’s yard was ridden confidently by Sunny Chinoy when coming face to
face with danger in the form of Brindisi in the home stretch. Brindisi
was clearly burdened by the weight on her back and lives to fight another day. There was sustained support for bottom-weighted Wall
Street but Rehanullah Khan’s ward lost all his
chances at the gates itself.
Summit (San Francisco-Blue Sonata) was not exactly a rage in the betting
ring as Cape Africa and Amanat caught the market’s fancy in the
Pimpernal Trophy. Kandinsky and Tearaway were engaged in a ding-dong
duel soon after the starter’s flag came down but Summit thundered on to
the scene, just when it appeared that the latter would boost Dallas’
winning tally further. The filly trained by young Asad Ali was powered
by Pramod Belose. It would pay to keep a close tab on the progress of Money
Queen, who tried to poke her way through the rails but her saddle
partner was reluctant to allow her this luxury. As for Cape Africa, she
appeared to be far from ready for this outing although the betting
trends suggested otherwise.
Mysterious Land ran for the first time in the colours of Kr. Yadvendra
Singh of Doaba Stud Farms, who imported her dam Mystery Melody, and was
victorious too. Jockey R. Rupesh, who was astride this erstwhile
property of Dr. Ramaswamy, grabbed the lead from Secret Path when
heads straightened for home and won warding off the threat posed by One
Way. Dallas completed a fine treble with this win and really looks
unstoppable at this stage.
Pesi sent out another filly, Sea Spray, at the end of the day to
complete a brace of winners. The daughter of Burden of Proof out of Sea
Gazer was a piping-hot favourite to register an encore and she did not
disappoint. The victory was however not as easy as anticipated by the
admirers of Sea Spray. Her supremacy was challenged strongly by
Vrikodara but Mark Gallagher packed enough punch in his riding to scrape
through for a narrow victory. Sixty Seconds ran an encouraging third and
can do better over a slightly extended trip. Mehila, the second
favourite, was never seriously interested in making her presence felt
and finished a tame fourth.
