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Averoff makes amends

By Sharan Kumar | 14 Jul 2001 | BANGALORE


Averoff (Aslam Kader up), winner of the BTC anniversary cup being led in by Ameeta Mehra, Deepak Khaitan and trainer Darius Byramji

Darius Byramji trained Averoff reached a destiny of sorts when she recorded a facile win over stablemate Adamile to lift the 1400 metres BTC Anniversary Cup, a terms race for four year olds and over, which featured Saturday’s races. Last year, Averoff was taken by a surprise in her last stride when another stablemate Regal Equity flashed past her to win by a whisker. This year too, such an eventuality could have come out had Adamile gone into the race with the benefit of a race run.

Averoff assumed command inside the final 200 metres and easily held off a belated challenge of Adamile. Acrobat who is back into racing after a tendon injury kept him out of action for a considerable period of time, gained lot of ground on the front-runners when finishing third ahead of Bold Chieftan and Allocated.

One expected Allocated to put up a stiff resistance but he is definitely short on class in relation to the horses which finished ahead of him. Jockey Pesi Shroff had him well positioned but the Placerville progeny was left flat-footed when the rest, led by Averoff swooped on him. Adamile should improve on this run in her subsequent outings. Tempt Me Not who was a model of consistency, was surprisingly off colour.

The Broto progeny went into the 1400 metres Summer Trial Stakes as a firm favourite though there were many who were inclined to believe that Flying Scotsman who had run a brilliant second behind Hope And Faith at Chennai despite the luck of the race going against him, would turn the tables on his adversary. Flying Scotsman flattered to deceive as after strongly challenging Hope And faith, he failed to sustain the effort and had to reconcile to the runner-up spot. The fact that Flying Scotsman was running for the first time on this demanding track, might have gone against the Conquering Hero progeny. Great Occasion was out of depth in this set and finished third.

Sydney Moses who saddled Flying Scotsman, perhaps erred in pitching three-year old The Archer against a seasoned opposition in the 1600 metres Manjri Stud Plate. The Archer had run a brilliant third to Blue Hare but then he was taking on well-performed horses like Torres and others. Though The Archer was not disgraced in defeat, money nevertheless went down the drain, as he was the favourite to win the race. Imtiaz Sait trained Torres who was taken on a start to finish by Delhi champion Rajinder who rode a clever race by dictating a pace, which suited his mount, the best, and then skipped away from the rest to win comfortably from The Archer. Soviet Ace and Daggers Drawn ran a poor race.

Rashid Byramji trained Pettalumma who had let down her supporters innumerable times, finally won, albeit by the skin of her teeth. Jockey Harish did well to have a good lead over the opposition which stood the filly in good stead as Tal devoured lot of ground at the finish to be shy by a mere head. There was considerable support for Hyderabad’s Marvel Shire but the outstation horses from that center have found it hard to make a mark here. Little Genny continued to earn her upkeep by picking up the third spot. The lower division of the same race, the Sir Brce Plate, was claimed by another Byramji ward Air Strike. The price offered at the betting ring was ridiculous considering the fact that the well-bred gelding was tackling a sprint, which was bound to prove too sharp. In the event, Air Strike managed to win thanks to vigorous efforts on the part of jockey Pesi Shroff. Jockey S S Bhati got pocketed along the rails and had he shifted Steroid earlier than he did, the outcome of the race could well have been different. Bhati tried to reverse the verdict in the Stewards room by lodging a loose objection for bumping at around the 500 metres marker, which was thrown out as quickly as it was lodged.

M P Mahesh’s Butter Sponge had been a victim of poor riding by apprentice jockey Rajesh Singh. The same jockey made amends with a much better display while guiding Butter Sponge to a facile win in a fairly competitive field in the 1400 metres R M Puttanna Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 20 to 35. Silvanus came with a late dash to finish second. The winner clocked a smart time of one minute 28.19 seconds, which was slower by a second than that clocked by Hope And Faith who was ridden out to win.

The supporters of Count My Stride had only to count the margin of victory once the Ganapathy ward was put in top gear by jockey B Prakash in the Confucious Plate. The filly stretched away to win from Tina’s Tune and Royal Caribbean. Mohan Valavi’s Ace of Space had it easy against a mediocre opposition in the Skyline Plate, a race for the lowest rated horses.