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Dear Henry Endears Himself to His Supporters

By Mahendra Mallya | 01 Dec 2011 | MUMBAI


Trainer S S Shah leading Dear Henry (C Ruzaan Up), winner of The Astonish Trophy

Dear Henry, trained by veteran trainer SS Shah, came alive with a start to finish essay and redeemed his high reputation with a facile victory to clinch the Astonish Trophy. Hitting the front soon at start, Dear Henry (Glory of Dancer – Flying Home) pulled off all stops and galloped on impressively to score a long pending victory. Star Alliance flopped badly and fell back when it mattered most.

The four-horse field was closely bunched all the way into the straight. Dear Henry then stepped up momentum with Clarion call and Kilifi closing in from either side. At about 300 meters from the winning post, Kilifi stumbled and fell, throwing off jockey Danny Grant who took a scary tumble. Fortunately for Grant, he not only escaped unhurt but went ahead to ride again and fulfill his day’s engagements.  Kilifi, however, was not as lucky and had to be euthanized.

Clarion Call tried to make a fight of it but Dear Henry proved just too good on the day, making most of the weight advantage he enjoyed. Star Alliance fell back inexplicably and finished a poor last.

Trainer SS Shah scored again with Prince Arius (Tirol – Canadian Flame) in a similar fashion, only this time his ward had to fight a lot harder to pull off a thriller. Prince Arius hit the front soon on start and maintained a steady pace all the way into the straight. There was a crowd of horses snapping on the tail of Prince Arius but the leader focused ahead and galloped on regardless. Favorite Augustus put in sustained bid midway in the straight, and at almost the same juncture Saifeena came alive with a spirited challenge.

Augustus could not keep up to the scorching finish the pair was heading to and ended third. Prince Arius and Saifeena battled hard and both hit the wire together. Prince Arius got the judge’s nod for his gritty performance managing to pull it off by a whisker from the gallant challenger Saifeena. Apprentice jockey Akshay did extremely well to keep a cool head and ride out with all his might without a whip and stay ahead all the way to the wire.

Akshay had earlier partnered Vinayak trained Star Burst (Ontario – Hounds of Love) to an emphatic victory and this too was an end to end attempt that proved fruitful without undue effort.  Star burst entered the straight close from the rails unlike Tysea who galloped widest of all from the start and also took the turn with an exaggerated curve.  It was later announced that Tysea bled.

Star Burst galloped strongly in the straight to sew up the issue long way from home. Daughter of Destiny was the only one who improved in the straight and was rewarded with the runner up berth. Laurus Tikati had all the chances but simply failed to quicken to end a tame third.

Orito (Major Impact – Radiant) scored for the second time this season, following his Pune success in his last run there,  thus completing a hat-trick of victories. Check Her Out darted to the front and led the field with Orito and Beyond Stars in close attendance. Class Apart and oriental Charm raced in the rear, but not too far away.

Orito easily got past Check her Out in the straight and jockey Srinath started to ride out hard. Oriental Charm appeared to be cruising along and even came up to the haunches of Orito. The duo matched strides for quite a while but jockey SN Chavan could not get much out of his mount to force the issue. Orito seized the moment and went all out to stay ahead. Oriental Charm was not up to it and even lost out the runner-up berth to the resurgent Beyond Stars, who worked hard to make a comeback and snatch the second spot from Oriental Charm. Both Chavan and Oriental Charm let down a strong following that had backed the filly heavily at race time.

Coccinella (Alnasr Alwasheek – Palazzio) brought back some cheer to the Shroff camp after two of the stables hot favorites went down narrowly earlier in the day. Coccinella too caused some anxious moments as she was the last one to turn for home. Giant Killer Narendra Lagad’s Festival night was going well coming into the straight and improving upon the early lead that she had held from the outset. Oluchi and Unknown Rebel were easily accounted for and just when festival night thought of going for the kill, Coccinella produced a scintillating gallop to simply come and grab the initiative and win convincingly. The final burst produced by Coccinella surely implied that the filly would improve further and will be a sprinter to reckon with this season. Festival Night was beaten by a top filly and she surely will have her day as well.

Swift memories (Major Impact – Memories of you) set the trend for the day which saw as many as six favorites fall apart. Carpe Diem, an on-money favorite was the first casualty. Swift memories moved smoothly to take charge from long time leader Enchanted soon on turning for home. Jockey Dashrath Singh got her going and Swift memories start to stretch out fluently. Enchanted fell back rapidly to end a detached last.

It was clear, as early as at the distance post, that Swift Memories was home and dry, with Rose Heaven also making little impression and Carpe Diem too not in close vicinity. Carpe Diem, however, finished on powerfully but only when all was over. The finishing effort prompts one to pursue with the filly the next time out as this was only her second outing, the first in Mumbai.

Shroff’s Besame Mucho was the day’s shortest price runner who was stunned by Aflame (Alnasr Alwasheek – Striking beauty) who scorched alright. Besame Mucho and Aflame made this one a two-horse race as they stuck together right from the start. Theirs was one of the longest fights this season as they galloped side by side all through the five-furlong scurry, a good three to four lengths ahead of Highway Express and the others.

The entered the straight together and fought out the entire length of the homestretch. Even coming into the final furlong one could not foresee the result as they were really going hammer and tongs. It was only in the final fifty or so that Besame Mucho blinked and Aflame surged ahead to win by a length. This was indeed the most entertaining race of the day.

Golden Kingdom (Royal Kingdom – La Tour D’argent) showed that he had benefitted from his outing. After consistently placing in Pune, Golden Kingdom produced a winning effort getting the measure of favorite Daredevil. Searock was quick to show early speed and darted into the lead opening up a gap of about three lengths to Mountain Flora. Daredevil came next and had Golden Kingdom alongside. The others were headed by Lady Genereuse and they were a good five lengths behind.

On turning for home, Daredevil took charge and seemed to be going well but only until Golden kingdom appeared on the scene. The Sandeep Manglorkar trainee accelerated well and in the final furlong sailed past Daredevil to post a comfortable victory. Lady Genereuse covered ground towards the latter half of the straight to end a decent third well ahead of Glowing Mist.  

Shabdeez (Brave Hunter – Gold N Honey) sprang a surprise as followers of favorites who ventured to back the more fancied runners, scorned at yet another long-shot spoil their party. Shabdeez came up with a brilliant run in the latter half of the straight after Kite Runner had sped past early leaders Celtic Manor and Arabian Eagle. Kite Runner looked good to pull it off and was leading by over two lengths coming into the final 100 but Shabdeez put in a dazzling run to easily collar the leader and score a powerful victory. Marine zone came from a long way back to end a noteworthy third.

Trainer SS Shah and apprentice jockey Akshay were the only professionals to score a double each.