Armament overshadows Fedora, Spectacular Queen
By True Blue

Mumbai
Nov 20, 2004

Fedora and Spectacular Queen, the two fillies carrying the classic hopes of trainer Vinayak and Pesi Shroff, succumbed to Armament's firepower in their prep for the Indian 1000 Guineas.

Fedora’s credentials made her the odds-on favourite for the 1400-metre Maharaja of Morvi Trophy. But the cramped odds quoted on her seemed absurd when the filly stepped into the paddock for the pre-race parade. 

Next in contention was Pesi Shroff’s filly Spectacular Queen, who despite her low rating, got overwhelming support. Despite having just two career starts and a solitary win to boast, the bay filly has been rated very highly by the experts. There was some concern when Y. S. Srinath was declared to ride her with an extra 2kg burden to her declared weight. Imtiaz Sait had pinned his hopes on Armament, who had defied the odds twice during his three victories so far.

Theatre Lady stormed into the lead and surprised everyone with her dogged approach as she refused to cave in when Armament ranged along side and jockey C. Alford had to summon all his resources to gain a slender advantage. When the race took a serious turn Mallesh Narredu astride Fedora was in a situation from where winning the race looked remote if not impossible. Spectacular Queen’s prospects too weren’t bright as Srinath had to apply a lot of pressure to get her going. Armament(Razeen-Blue Ridge) was found three-parts of a length clear of Fedora, who pipped Theatre Lady with her late burst and in close tow, a short head away was Spectacular Queen.

Imtiaz was obviously elated with the success of Armament and he even had owner Deepak Khaitan accompanying him to lead in the winner. On being asked if he was surprised by Armament’s victory, Imtiaz replied, “Armament surely surprised me because he never obliged me whenever I ran him over seven furlongs. But his victory was not entirely unexpected.” “I knew that Fedora was the horse to beat and kept my fingers crossed after watching her condition in the paddock. That was the time when I thought that Armament had a chance to beat Fedora,” he added.

Although Spectacular Queen finished fourth, Pesi seemed satisfied with the filly’s performance. He went to the extent of saying that Spectacular Queen had run a great race. “She has her share of problems and had returned lame in Poona. She started cantering just fifteen days back and in the light of these circumstances I think she’s run a great race,” averred Pesi. Rubbishing the general perception that the 2kg overweight carried by Srinath had a bearing on his mount’s performance, Pesi explained, “I don’t think that the extra 2kg mattered at all. I’m fond of P. S. Chouhan but Srinath is an accomplished rider and I wanted him (Srinath) to get to know the filly better.” As for Fedora, all one can say that she defied her paddock looks on the track but was given too much to do in the straight.

Theatre Lady’s show undoubtedly exceeded the expectations of all and she should turn out to be a good handicapper. The other four who ran off the board were not disgraced and certainly deserved a mention for finishing in close proximity of the first four. Mehila has good potentials as a sprinter whereas Win For Me, Jubilation and Simply Gorgeous will surely have their share of success.

Perfect Attraction and Master Craft scored in their respective events to allow Imtiaz to hog the limelight on the opening day of the Mumbai season. Perfect Attraction (Excalibur’s Lake-Priceless Art) gave no anxious moments to her fans when she was spurred by C. Rajendra to grab the lead opposite the grand stand while Alford packed enough punch in his riding aboard Master Craft (Razeen-Magical Moments) which finally helped him earn a winning bracket.

If there was anyone who deserved to share the day’s honours with Imtiaz, it had to the four-year-old gelding Sovereign Power. It may have gone largely unnoticed but Sovereign Power clocked 1m 25.55secs for the seven-furlong trip, better than Master Craft and Armament. The son of Alnasr Alwasheek out of Adam’s Treasure is trained by Altaf Hussein and has just started flowering. Sporting pacifiers and having Vikram Jodha to assist him in the saddle, Sovereign Power proved too good for both Cromwell and Star Princess as he made every post a winning one in the Deepali Plate.

Altaf got one more success when the wayward Ettan (Diffident-Nicole) lasted out to win from Starmaniac, who was ridden half-heartedly by P. Sandeep and who didn’t even bother to protest the interference caused by the winner. It was ultimately left to the stipes to initiate an enquiry where the Stewards refused to meddle with the judges’ placing. Favourite Tartarus ran like a dud and ended way down the field.

Arti Doctor nurtured Smarty Pant (Greensmith-Innocent Pleasures) tasted his maiden victory when Mallesh guiding him to a comfortable win over a mediocre set of rivals in the inaugural race of the season. Jockey Nirmal Jodha justified the faith reposed in him by Shiraz Sunderji as he steered Oyster Cove (Royal Kingdom-Gumbaru Etsu) to a convincing win over Girl From Ascot, who was the only horse to challenge the winner.

Sharapova (Tecorno-Identity) ran wire to wire to give jockey T. S. Jodha his first win after his return from a long suspension. Favourite Nucleus ran a tame fourth. Nina Lalvani had reason to smile when Puissant (Alnasr Alwasheek-Persepolis) didn’t throw many tantrums and ran true to his credentials in the hands of Frenchman Samuel Fargeat to post an impressive win in the 1600-metre Gateway Of India Plate.