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Burst Of Speed Lives up to Her Name

By Epsom Ace | 06 Oct 2010 | KOLKATA


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This monsoon, the trainers and jockeys championships are two of the closest in recent memory. A little surprisingly, neither Daniel David nor his retained rider A Imran Khan feature in the leading trio of contenders. Hot on the heels of trainer Vijay Singh (15) are brother Bharath (13) and Vikash Jaiswal (13) while Christopher Alford (13) is being chased by Kishore Kadam and Shailesh Shinde.

David, however, had the pleasure of lifting the afternoon’s main event, The Indo-Bhutan Friendship Trophy, with the speedy four-year-old filly named Burst Of Speed (Eljohar-Coral Reef). The victory also gave apprentice Arman Khan his first win of the season. Glamorous Spirit was installed as the firm favourite but failed to raise any hope at any time during the five-and-half furlong sprint. Burst Of Speed shot out of the stalls with Axiology in tow. Oyster Cove too was outpaced by this duo but Spitz made a gallant attempt along the rails. Near the distance post, Axiology was going hammer and tongs with the front-runner but Burst Of Speed had a little extra in her tank when the apprentice gave her a couple  of reminders and then rode her out hands and heels.

The Thimpu Cup was bagged by the favourite Swiss King (Diffident-Cyclonic), who was available at 9/4. Jockey Imran Chisty, who missed out on the first race as he arrived late in the city, rode a chanceless race on the Vikash Jaiswal-trained favourite. Allowing Italian Glory to call the shots till the bend, Swiss King shot ahead despite being taken wide by the front-runner. Thereafter, he looked home and dry. Second favourite India Jones was never in it.

The opening event, The Heiress Handicap, saw the afternoon’s biggest upset as Javed Khan-trained Abaya came with a telling run in the straight to get the better of Salute The Star and Best Bet. The favourite Apyrous showed a bit of early speed before fading out. Thus, after this poor run, it appears in retrospect that the long suspension slapped on Gurung for the first run of Apyrous (where he finished second to Glorious Invention) was a little harsh. Abaya had no recent form to go by but is known to spring a surprise every now and then. Sarfaraz Khan-trained Mafia Chief (White Crown-Sahashra) at last hoisted the winning flag despite travelling five wide right through the six-furlong race for the Osiris Handicap. The favourite Aesthetics was hard  ridden by Imran Chisty to finish second while All In The Stars was once again slow into stride – albeit by a lesser margin.

The 1,800 metres race for the La Gitana Handicap may be best remembered because of apprentice Shezad Khan’s over exuberance atop Aemilia (Placerville-Queen Ann) as he crossed the winning post. The 10-to-8-on favourite chased her full sister and second in demand Bourbon Queen till the straight before bidding her adieu. Bottom-weighted Andrology ran on to be a good second and has more than earned his corn bill this season.

A fine gamble on Christopher Gleich-trained Grand Pere materialized in the last race of the day. The 10-year-old has been maintained in fine condition and showed a clean pair of heels after collaring early pace-setter Mystic Force. Top-weight Rebellious ran on to be a good second. The poor run of recent winner Art Of War was disappointing.