The
day began with Alexandria (Major Impact-Lovely Fantasy) just scraping
through to win by three-parts of a length. P. S. Deora took Lucky Mining
on a start-to-finish mission and almost swept her rivals off their feet.
Irishman Mark Gallagher ignited a resolute run from Shiraz Sunderji
trained Alexandria and caught the runaway leader close home. In stark
contrast were Anil Baandal’s efforts astride favourite Amadomio, who
was poised to grab Alexandria but for his partner’s uncomplimentary
assistance in the saddle. S. N. Chavan aboard Magic Spell displayed
similar skills and tried to cloak the filly’s true potential. The
filly negated his attempts and dragged him to complete the judge’s
frame. Ironically, Narendra Lagad trains both Amadomio and Magic Spell.
Both these horses will be too good to be missed when they venture out on
the racetrack next.
Another
inescapable truth, which has disturbed followers of form, is the fact
that apart from Magic Honey, Fire Dancer and Confident none of the other
favourites sent out by Lagad so far have obliged. The list includes
Cornelia Supra and Magic Honey (both winners in earlier outings),
Thundering Star and Sher Afghan.
The
oft-repeated argument of horses not being machines is likely to be
forced down the throat of the gullible punter but this is too bitter a
pill for anybody to swallow. The RWITC stipes are likely to have seen
some justifiable cause for the defeat of the horses named above as the
incidents have got a quiet burial. It has been reported, however, that
one of the senior employees belonging to Lagad’s yard is being
questioned in Thundering Star’s case and the stipes have obtained some
incriminating evidence against this man.
Elezibeth
Arden (Sir Bruce-Sweeter Than Honey) gained some overdue success in a
field that seemed dead even before the starter’s flag came down. The
grey filly from Dallas Todywalla’s barns hit the front and B. Prakash
had no difficulty in coasting home for a comprehensive win over Dahana
and Power League. Second favourite Pleasure Zone chased the winner
without posing any serious threat and disappeared from the scene. Hormuz
Antia’s ward looks to be in a forward condition unlike most of her
barn-mates and can strike when her connections give her a serious
chance.
Prakash
and Dallas found success coming far more easily than expected when
Supreme Act (Placerville-Act In Time) accounted for the 10 to 7 on
favourite Hope Spring’s. The chestnut gelding made every inch of the
mile trip a winning one and drew away for a magnificent win. The
favourite was not disgraced when going down to Supreme Act and his
prospects of shedding the maiden ranks soon are really good.
Mallesh
Narredu squeezed in a back-to-back double during the five races that saw
the light of the day. Both winners, incidentally, were prime favourites.
Imtiaz
Sait saddled Premier Star (Placerville-Star Spangled) for his second
successive triumphant appearance. The bay gelding had recently made a
winning debut at Bangalore and followed it up by making light of the
heavy impost on his back. Premier Star literally thrashed his opponents
after taking charge of the running at the turn from Strikealite. There
were very few runners sighted in the fifteen-horse field who were
seriously interested in the proceedings. See The Truth’s chances of
getting a berth on the judge’s board were dented when Pradeep Chouhan
decided to travel wide into the home stretch before launching his
attack.
The
best show among the last ten appearances of S. N. Joshi trained
six-year-old mare Eternal Flight (Barood-Coup De Grace) happened to be
on the opening day of this season when she finished fifth behind Theatre
Lady. Demoted to the lowest class and with Mallesh partnering her,
Eternal Flight had an easy passage to victory. The odds against Eternal
Flight were hammered down from 5 to 4 against to 10 to 8 on and the mad
rush in the bookie’s ring to lay bets on her made one wonder whether
the other fourteen runners were duds? The fingertips on one’s hand
exceeded the number of serious contenders in this field. Royal
Aristocrat managed wrest the second berth from Speed Sachet. Both Sweet
Charity and Keisha will be ready for real action after some fine-tuning.
