Next morning, the weather, mercifully, was pleasant with the sun shining
bright to cheer up the racing fraternity. But all those smiles on the
faces of the race-goers lasted only till the first race of the season
got over. It was a passing shower but strong enough to delay the start
of the second race. The monsoon track stood up to the wrath of the rain
gods thanks to its excellent drainage capability. This helped the RWITC
authorities to go ahead with another five races till the skies opened up
again. The club patiently put up a brave front for some time before the
fury of rains forced them to wrap up racing for the day. Mockingly, the
rains stopped for good shortly after the announcement of the
cancellations of racing was made.
Be that as it may, the resumption of racing at Pune promised to be an
interesting fare as twenty-one races were on the cards over the two
days. The opening event began with the usual drama of swaying odds which
led a sizeable number of punters astray. Victorica, the ante post
favourite from trainer CD Katrak's yard, saw wild fluctuations in the
odds quoted against her. Some chose to pick a cue from the markets while
some laid their bets in favour of Pursuit of Power albeit on sufferance.
Eventually, they burnt their fingers.
Contrary to the belief of her detractors, Victorica (Senure-Anissa)
performed exceedingly well. C.Rajendra waited in the mid-bunch with her
as first Sparrow Hawk and then Major Starr toiled for a lost cause.
Rajendra pulled Victorica out from the pack at the turn and when the
filly gathered momentum, there was no doubt that she was on course to
her maiden victory. Pursuit of Power was no match for her and barely
figured in the money ahead of Hector with Major Starr hanging on the
runner-up berth.
Oasis Star belonging to the victorious connections of Victorica failed
to make a winning debut in the next race. The filly, a half-sister to
Oyster Cove and Lago Medio, found herself short on experience and was
outpaced by Red Indian, the eventual winner. KPG Appu astride Red Indian
(Redback-Matoaka) had to cope with some initial wrangling from
Hephaestus and Oasis Star but the race was reduced to a no contest once
the Dallas Todywalla saddled bay gelding got into the groove. Oasis
followed the winner meekly. Montalvo ran all over the place in the
straight but managed to snatch the third berth from Hephaestus and
should be a winner ere long on this showing.
The burly Narendra Lagad always loves to be in action at Pune and
actually plans it towards the fag end of the Mumbai season. He right
away saddled two winners, probably unintentionally. Acton Town (Glory of
Dancer-Argentina Express) was the first one and the other being Art of
War. Acton Town stunned punters when the Harish Rathod ridden long-shot
made every post of the six-furlong trip a winning one. The fancied duo
of Hoofbeats and Sharp Memory ran hopelessly throughout. Born To Lead's
late flourish could only dislodge Salazaar from the third slot.
Being badly drawn was no hurdle for Art of War (Diffident-Storm Dancer)
as rookie Nadeem Alam was successful in securing a striking position
behind the early leaders and surging ahead with a powerful winning burst
in the straight. The feather-weight carried by Art of War on his back
tilted the scales in his favour when Amaranza and Crespo tried to collar
him. Favourite Dance Diva once again proved to be a bookies delight.
Debutant Heifitz (Stravinsky-Millywakay) was ridden to a glorious
victory by trainer Vinayak's work-rider T. Mahesh, who replaced the
indisposed Delhi-based jockey Rajinder in the saddle. Heifitz came with
raking strides when heads turned for home to steamroll Salandra,
Socaroro and Buenos Aires. The winner however was lucky to survive the
onslaught of Dynamic Cat, another rank outsider in the fray, thanks to
the timely arrival of the winning post. Though not exactly on the prowl
in this race, the chestnut colt trained by CD Katrak did enough to
suggest that he is soon going to roar.
The Atomic Prince Plate was full of value for spectators in the
truncated racing programme. Dancing Diva (Brave Hunter-Dance Move) was
steered confidently by the 5kg-claimer Shailesh Shinde to a narrow
victory over Annot, Jubilation and The Rising. When the field settled
down, the Asad Siddiqui trained filly raced close on the haunches of
Jubilation, Annot and Lago Medio. Jubilation couldn't produce that extra
bit when challenged by Dancing Diva while Annot just couldn't get up in
time to overhaul the winner. The Rising though finishing just a
short-head and neck away from the first three horses meandered
harmlessly throughout. Lago Medio was easily the best of the beaten
brigade. However the horses that finished close behind him were out more
for an airing rather than being in the hunt and their individual
progress should be monitored closely when they race again.
