Appu reaches a milestone
By Sharan Kumar

Mysore
August 14, 2003

Jockey Gnanamurthy Appu reached the magical figure of 1000 winners in quick time when he booted home Just Brave to victory in the H H Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Memorial Gold Cup, the feature event of races held on Friday. The 29-year old Appu joins the elite 1000 club in a career span of just 11 years, a remarkable feat indeed. Twelve other Indian jockeys have reached the summit before Appu. Fittingly, Appu reached the coveted landmark on his mentor Darashah’s Just Brave. 

Jockey K P G Appu who reached magical 1000 winners mark receiving the trophy from Mr. Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar.

Appu began as an apprentice to Darashah and has ridden a fair number of winners for his trainer. The association has continued to be profitable and Appu is the backbone of the stable. Appu has made his mark in classics as well having won several of them, the major ones being the Gr 1 Golconda Derby, Gr 1 Fillies Trial Stakes at Bangalore and the Gr 1 Indian St Leger. 

Appu reaching the landmark was very much on cards as he was just two short at the start of the day and he was declared to ride on quite a few fancied runners. He made no mistake on Jimbo who beat a mediocre opposition pointless in the Almatti Plate (Div II) and then went into the day’s feature event, with the focus of the race goers riveted on him as he was riding joint favourite Just Brave. He made no mistake, racing the son of Brave Hunter a handy third along the rails  and slipping through the rails and opening up a decisive lead over the rest. The leeway established helped Just Brave clinch the issue as the moody customer Arrakis came dangerously close. Arrakis who has caused agony to his supporters on innumerable occasions, decided to put his best foot forward after a painfully long gap. Arrakis was baulked for an opening at a rucial stage of the race and by the time David Badel was able to get him out and race him on  the wide outside, the winning post was well in sight of Just Brave. Arrakis flashed home with a flourish only to miss the berth by half a length. But one cannot read too much into the run of Arrakis who may or may not reproduce this flourish next time out.There was solid support for the big made Adolfito for whom the distance was clearly sharp. Imperial Legend, who ran prominently in front, shot his bolt at the top of the straight and was clearly in need of this run. 

David Badel however was not to be denied his pound of flesh. He drove out the well supported Magic Mantra and Volga to facile wins. Zidane who got a clear run on the wide outside shaped like a winner but Magic Mantra managed to squeeze his way through a gap in nick of time and land the spoils. North Berwick who kicked clear of Volga at the top of the straight,weakened close home after raising great hopes and surrendered meekly to his pursuer. Favourite Baracudda was flat-footed and picked up momentum when the cause had been lost. 

Indian Tech was backed to the exclusion of his rivals and the son of Green Forest obliged after a brief duel with Initiation in the final furlong. Star Prosession relished the going and was full of running at the finish. He should strike before long if he is asked to tackle a more extended trip. Both the winner and the runner-up would appreciate a step up in distance. A significant number of gold and brown brigade were in the fray in the day’s races but they were there mostly for an airing. 

Apprentice Jagadeesh has been doing pretty well in the last one month. He drove out Air Marshal with all the resources at his command but Simple And Sweet, in the persevering hands of a seasoned Harish managed to clinch the issue by a whisker in the day’s opener. Different Story justified the huge volume of betting by winning with ease from favourite Dark Shadow while in the day’s concluding race, Sharpman won at the expense of heavily supported Royal Salute.