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Alizadeh Springs A Big Surprise

By Pearcey | 27 Oct 2011 | MYSORE


Trainer M Eshwer leading Alizadeh (R Vaideeshwaran Up), winner of The Blue Ice Trophy

 

A small card of six events was held on the concluding day of the Mysore Main Season 2011. Racing on Thursday was a pale shadow of the packed action that had been witnessed during the last couple of months. With most of the bigger stables deciding to stay away, the authorities were unable to offer a better card to the sporting public at this centre. The Blue Ice Trophy, a sprint race for maiden three year olds, was slated as the day's feature. Apart from a pair of first-timers, the other nine participants had made numerous attempts to win a race. After some brilliant track work at Bangalore, Tharun Thimmaiah's Raaga had chosen to make his journey to Mysore. According to most reporters, the colt was fit to lift this trophy. No Doubt, Aparanta and Brownie shaped as his closest rivals, as all three of them had been able to figure on the board in an earlier start. The action in the bookmaker's ring sent alarming signals. Starting as a firm favourite, the odds on Raaga began to expand rapidly. Without much support for the others, the bookies were only wanting to lay this debutant. Those amongst the racing public who normally like to pick up a clue from the ring, this was a confusing scenario.

The race turned out to be a one horse affair. Jumping from an extreme draw, Michael Eshwer's Alizadeh led from the gates and showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals. Being ridden by an apprentice, who was ineligible to claim his allowance, Alizadeh was available at 20/1 with the bookmakers. Vaideeshwaran was equally shocked by this performance. The youngster looked back repeatedly in the straight before relaxing his grip in the final furlong. The fight was only for the minor placings. After running "green" for the first half of the trip, Raaga got into some sort of a rhythm in the straight and retained his second spot ahead of No Doubt, Brownie and Aparanta. Raaga will definitely benefit from this experience, as it was the first time that he was running on grass. Being a Mysore based youngster, the winner has the potential to move up the ladder. Alizadeh is sure to win many more races in handicap company.

The rest of the day's action was dominated by Monnappa and Jagadeesh. This trainer-jockey combination struck though a pair of well backed horses. To the delight of their supporters, both these wins were achieved near the winning post. The winning margins of a "neck" and a "nose" tell the full story. Their first runner Truthandfaith won the opening race of the day. Running over a mile amongst a group of horses rated in the lowest category, Truthandfaith won because of Jagadeesh's perseverance. He scrubbed his mount from the very beginning and had to keep pushing him till they crossed the wire. The small lead that he enjoyed at the top of the straight came in handy at the all important end. Bottom-weighted Ariana came charging from behind, but that wasn't enough to catch the leader. Truthandfaith lasted out by a neck from Ariana, Prince Norbert and Amazing Flora.

The second triumph was even more exciting. They had to wait till the last race of the season to achieve it. Bottom weighted Time Secret was quietly supported to topple the fancied pair of Beau Sancy and Shahizaar. The last named lost most of his chances by running rider less on the track. Instead of declaring him a non-starter, Shahizaar was re-loaded into the gates and asked to run. Beau Sancy chased Spark Of Napoleon till the bend before moving forward. He was soon joined on his outside by Time Secret. With both Vaibhav and Jagadeesh making free use of their whips, the two horses raced alongside for rest of the way. In fact, it was almost impossible to separate them with a naked eye at the finish. The digital camera confirmed that Time Secret had beaten Beau Sancy by a "nose". Spark Of Napoleon managed to retain his third spot ahead of Enforcer.

A seven furlong race for horses rated 60 and above generated a lot of excitement. Byramji's Lowndes Square and Tharun Thimmaiah's Chronicle were considered to be better than their opponents, and accordingly, they cornered most of the support in the betting rings. Their respective camps were a worried lot as the runners handled the first half of their journey. Despite being scrubbed, Chronicle had lost pace and was seen dropping back towards the inside rails. On the other hand, Lowndes Square was making heavy weather of his progress through a tightly packed field. The front running pair of Flash Flares and Gluteus Maximus were enjoying themselves in front and it was obvious that the final result would be confined to the two of them. The only thing that changed was the order. Darius Byramji's Gluteus Maximus got stronger in the final furlong to beat Flash Flares into second place. Apprentice Naushad Alam rode a neat race on this winner Time For All came from the back to take the third position.

Last outing winner Aston Park handled the extra distance with maturity and defied the handicapper in a Class IV race on Thursday. Harish chose to ride a waiting race astride this winner. Taking a good jump, he settled Aston Park behind Showers Of Luck, Bolzano and Super Sha. Seizing a yawning gap near the bend, he decided to make his move. Aston Park responded to the whip, lengthened his strides and ran away from Super Sha. Voodoo Moon did well to run a good third. Super Sha has struck some fine form and the six year old can be earmarked for an early victory.

A Class V sprint completed the day's action. Monappa's Catapult received strong support to start as a favourite ahead of Bahman, Blue Gum and Kukanof. The trainer had chosen to entrust him to an in-form Vaibhav. The boy's allowance increased the chances of this runner. However, Catapult was unable to carry the public purse to victory. Feroz Khan's Blue Gum showed tremendous sparkle to run away with this race. The mare tracked Magnifique till the bend. She responded bravely to S Ramesh's call near the final turn, and bounded away for an easy victory. Blue Gum won by a widening margin from a late finishing Artisan. Catapult plodded along to finish a very ordinary third. The winner has the ability to win again on promotion.