Despite being contested by only two horses, the S. D. Parkash Memorial Super Mile Gold Trophy (Gr.3) was the centre of attraction this week. And the event deserved all the attention it got because two of the best three-year-old horses — Wild Eagle and Rambus, were involved in the battle for supremacy. This race also was supposed to be the key to the outcome of the forthcoming classics. Though Rambus had nothing to lose, Wild Eagle had to justify his superstar status and that after conceding 6kg to his challenger. 

As if in a hurry to settle the issue as early as possible, Wild Eagle hit the front soon after the start and made absolutely no fuss about who would set the pace or what strategy would his opponent adopt. Mark Gallagher took his time in settling the son of Don’t Forget Me and not surprisingly was the timing of the first two furlongs a bit slow. Niall McCullagh in turn had Rambus settled close on the haunches of the leader. 

The duo travelled in the same order except for one stage where Rambus appeared cruising on the outside of Wild Eagle. But the flashy-looking son of Placerville did not succeed in putting Wild Eagle in any spot of bother. Gallagher gave Wild Eagle a reminder at that stage and then continued to flail his whip to keep his horse going. The equine superstar from trainer Arti Doctor’s string went on to win the race authoritatively leaving no doubt whatsoever as to who would be the horse to beat in the Indian classics.

Mark Gallagher’s riding was reminiscent of the brilliance he had shown during his first visit to India about five-six years back. On Thursday, he was instrumental in getting the filly Angara, sporting the same colours as Wild Eagle but trained by Hosidar Daji, to claim the jinxed Maharaja of Morvi Trophy. Again it was a horse from Cooji Katrak’s yard that had to suffer the brunt of Gallagher’s spirit in the saddle. Roll The Dice, also ridden by Niall McCullagh, found Angara fighting tooth-and-nail and getting the better of him virtually at the winning line.

Gallagher followed his victory astride Angara with a superb ride atop Stellar Angel in the very next race and just about held on to win from McCullagh-ridden Millennium King. Likewise on Sunday, spurred by his success aboard Wild Eagle, Gallagher drove Wordsworth for all his worth and necked out both Ruffles and C. Rajendra in the finish. Snow Star’s appearance in the paddock resembled a golliwog and it was surprising that loads of money was bet on this Raza Ali ward. If Gallagher excelled atop the four winners, he appeared wasted on Latest News who was the firm favourite to win. Original from trainer Antia’s yard made the bookies pay dearly for their folly in undermining her chances and accepting bets at 10 to 1 against her.

Old habits die hard it is said and the same holds true for Hormuz Antia. He had four runners in the Military Plate on Thursday misleading form students in thinking that Phrawah would be the stable fancy. It was Imperial Falcon who got the nod and in fact was a trifle lucky in winning the race in the stewards room. Charging Bullet had originally won the race but rookie S. Sunil and trainer Antia both protested against the winner saying he had taken precious ground of runner-up Imperial Falcon close home. However, immediately in the next race, Twinkling Star with C. Rajendra to pilot her was never seen in an obliging mood and finished at the tail-end of the field. 

Cooji Katrak may not have tasted success with both Roll The Dice and Rambus but the three-year-old filly Rage did not let her master down. Niall McCullagh got his solitary taste of success with this daughter of Alnasr Alwasheek out of Virginia Princess but had to show the courage of piercing through between Natural Spark and Star Wish in the last furlong of the race. C. Rajendra partnering Star Wish in the saddle almost had Rage cornered with McCullagh searching for room to make his bid. But McCullagh was in no mood to take things lying down. 

Looks like jockey Francis Berry is yet to get the feel of the track here properly as he took the blame of Love Me Forever’s defeat. The got-abroad filly was found wanting against Dhanasri as, according to Imtiaz Sait, Berry did not follow his instructions and showed early daylight to the favourite. 

Both Lucky Strike (Alnasr Alwasheek-Bazooka Babe) and Kraftwerk (Sir Bruce-La Figlia) made an impressive winning debut. Kraft proved to be a disaster when he burst his blood vessels where Aureus (Placerville-Sing A Message) romped home with apprentice J. Chinoy in saddle. Venire after gracing the wrong end for half the journey accelerated to well to gain his second straight success. Colonel’s Dream and Chelsea earned their corn bill but at the expense of the punters. C. Rajendra ended the week with an excellent piece of riding on Auditor and kept Cacophony at bay.