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Tobler wins his 2000 Guineas prep race in spectacular fashion

By Usman Rangila | 29 Nov 2001 | MUMBAI


Tobler (Mallesh Narredu up) after winning The Sir Rahimtoola Chinoy Trophy

The three-year-old bay Tobler (Rebounding Thrill-Hot Chocolate) won his prep race for the forthcoming Indian 2000 Guineas in splendid fashion, which should be a cause for some sleepless nights in Wild Eagle camp. The Pune Derby winner was sluggish at the start but came into his own as the race progressed. The manner in which jockey Malesh Narredu brought Tobler into contention after turning for home gave an appearance that he was taking things a bit too easy with the bay. But that was not the case and Malesh needs to be forgiven for his show of arrogance. For, Tobler was simply cruising and Malesh was the best the judge of the ability of his mount at that given time. Tobler swept past Soviet Ace in a trice and the race was all over bar the shouting. Trainer Vinayak has done well to keep Tobler, who remains unbeaten in his career so far, fit as a fiddle. Mr & Mrs K. N. Dhunjibhoy and Mr & Mrs Z. K. Dhunjibhoy of the Five Stars Shipping Co. Pvt. Ltd. are the proud owners of the Divyug Stud-bred Tobler.

 

The colours of the current RWITC chairman dominated the day as apart from Tobler, both Reconquista and Kazakh went on to win for the Dhunjibhoy family. Their retainer Malesh also completed a fine treble in the process. Having skipped the Pune season, both Reconquista and Kazakh were making their first appearance on the racetrack. The duo summered at the Nanoli Stud Farms before coming back to work towards the end of the Pune season.

Reconquista (Tecorno-Loire Princess) from trainer Cooji Katrak’s yard had enough speed packed in her to withstand the onslaught of Niall McCullagh-ridden Super Sword. After a slow start, the runner-up covered good ground to throw the gauntlet at the winner only to find her unrelenting. Kazakh (Razeen-London Cries) met an opposition that was far beyond compare and thus the Vinayak-trained bay faced no hurdles in the path of his maiden victory.

The three-year-old filly Iceberg (Placerville-Frost Queen) from veteran Bezan Chenoy’s string made a sensational comeback to the Mahalaxmi tracks here with a comprehensive victory over Aphaia. The chestnut filly just sped past Aphaia close home with McCullagh doing well in not allowing the filly to relax as the winning post came within her reach.

River God (Razeen-Ideas and Trends), who too is one of the classic hopes of his connections, got remarkable assistance in the saddle from Mark Gallagher when challenged by Dazzling Gold in the final stages of the race. However, the best finish of the day was witnessed in the concluding event where jockey Pesi Shroff atop the maiden filly Chiliandrina rode (Serious Spender-Cartier Million) like only he could to conquer Resist on whom B. Prakash went all out to topple the favourite.

Sometimes the odds on display in the betting ring belie the form of the horses running with a chance to win in a race. So it happened when Fluency went out as an on-money favourite as opposed to Overtures who ran at 5 to 1 against. There was no doubt that it was one-way traffic as far as the flow of money was concerned. The moneybags simply had their say with the Imtiaz Sait-trained filly Fluency who prevailed over Overtures, though the latter managed to give an impression of putting up a fight that was only good till it lasted.