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Gin And Tonic wins the battle for honours

By Parjanya | 27 Mar 2008 | DELHI


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As it was on the card, a battle for honours between Gin & Tonic and Little Master was witnessed in the Amazing Fantasy Plate which was earmarked for class three runners. The former survived eventually by getting the short-head better of the latter en route to complete a sensational hat-trick on the day which also had a small field card. When the field of ten broke out of the gate, Gandiva, Gin And Tonic and Little Master found themselves at the helm of affairs over the five furlongs race. Seeing the leader running out of steam, Gin And Tonic decided to wrest the initiative and Little Master started working his way running close on her haunches. However, it was the excellence of the last year's runner-up champion jockey Ramandeep Singh Bal which helped Gin And Tonic to keep Little Master at bay. "I am proud of being the trainer of the third generation of Ruby Tuesday, the grand mother, and Celine Dion, mother of Gin And Tonic", Magan Singh, trainer, told me. I'm quite hopeful and will be delighted if I get the chance of train the fourth generation", Magan said. "She has got all the potentials from her ancestors to stand out tall over the sprints though she is still immature", he said. It is quite interesting to note that she is now on the road of success which leads her to join the bandwagon of her top class mother Celine Dion and grand mother Ruby Tuesday. Meanwhile, the performance itself promises a lot about her sprinting power like her mother, who had won the Sprinters cup twice before retiring to the stud. Interestingly, both the top notched mares (Ruby Tuesday and Celine Dion) also belonged to Umang Kumar, who owns the filly. Gurpreet, who rode Little Master, could have guided his way to victory if he kept him pushing in stead of using the quirt till the crucial stages. Bay filly Sangreal succeeded in coming out of maiden status at the mercy of Striving Higher, who she headed out at the post in the opener. Though she got a flyer but it was the latter, who was goaded hard initially to snatch the issue. Apprentice Jaiprakash aboard the winner rode her with patience til the final furlong. He then asked for an effort and the mount responded promptly, but he should praise the handling of the loser which made his task easy. Shah Nawab-saddled Beauty of Man retained her form while emerging victorious in the upper division of the Classic Talk Plate. However, she still has a vast scope to improve. Her owner-cum-stablemate Golden Gun also met with success but it was no so impressive in the lower division of the races. Running over the shorter trip may be the main reason of not performing so well as his strides best suit him over the longer distance. The run to be rembered is of Gold Giver. He has been coming to hands. The run of Wild west bears watching. Amid the younger horses ruling the turf, a nine-year-old Citi Front gave a shot under the arms of the race goers and proved it that there should be no bar for age limit. Travelling off the pace till the serious turn of the race he made the shortest way to cause an upset in the Don't Give Up Plate. Sarkar, who put in all effort into the last sprint coming through the fence, could not find better place than the second position by keeping off the late surge of Beyond dreams and Silver zara at the post. Sarkar should make amends. Beyond Dreams should soon bounce back to her form for she is known. Whereas, the run of Silver zara is noteworthy. Five Star was again driven home with no aim. Miracle Maker had the date with the winning post in the Academy Plate. The aged horse, who bled through nostrils in the previous outing, ran true to his name. Interestingly, the last time he gained victory was towards the fag end of the last season. Since, plenty of races still left, he should try to complete an encore.