The fact that it is the horse that makes the rider and not the other way round was reiterated when two favourites, Our Ambition, confidently entrusted to the lesser known apprentice jockey A.R. Mani, and Bold Bird with the out-of-form rider Philip Woods aboard, won their respective races on Saturday. Both the riders, Mani and Woods justified reposed in them by the owners, trainers and the punters. The win on Our Ambition gave so much confidence to the apprentice rider Mani that he went on to complete a double through Frontier Hero and On The Post at Mysore on Monday. Success, it is said, begets success.

A poor field of five came under the starter’s flag in  the Governor’s Cup, a terms race for three-year olds, run over a mile, the headline event of the day. The Razeen-Born To Dance filly Bold Bird, the property of Dr. M.A.M. Ramaswamy and trained by S. Ganapathy, remained a favourite all the way even though jockey P.A. Woods had been declared to ride it. But the followers of money started scratching their heads when a lot of it started pouring in on the top-weighted Society Dream, the property of Mr. M.A.M. Muthiah, theson of Dr. M.A.M, with Shakti Singh astride. 

Even though the followers of Bold Bird had to hold their breath when Shakti Singh brought Society Dream under the stick to race it neck and neck with Bold Bird over the final furlong, they heaved a sigh of relief when Bold Bird was declared a winner by a head. Woods took over the running early and kept the filly going, riding with hands and heels and without opting for the stick. A freak  accident mid wayup the final stretch, resulted in the fall of jockey Appu from Secret Silver. Appu was pursuing the winner when the steed veered out suddenly and shot through the false rails. This allowed Woods to enhance his lead by two lengths. Society Dream, who was kept far behind, almost ten to twelve lengths, till entering straight, started closing the gap from wide outside, only to reduce the margin of the winner to a head. A further five and a quarter lengths away in third was Spark Of Love. An identical distance back in fourth was Ideal Cut.

A while earlier apprentice jockey Mani booted home the Karan Singh trained Our Ambition to a sweatless victory to claim the stakes of B.P. Shivan Memorial Plate (division I), a mile race for horses in the 20 to 35 category. Mani raced the prime choice, a handy fourth till entering the straight, while Pride Valley and Tresorie were contesting for the lead, being pursued  all the time by Fereneze from out side. Passing the final 400 metres mark Our Ambition started gaining places with smooth acceleration and swept past the leaders inside the final 300 metres to win by little over five lengths, and plenty in reserve. Royal Debut came with a long stretch run to pip Tresorie at the shadow of the post for the second slot. Note: Our Ambition should make an encore in a similar company.

Pink Squirrel’s blinding acceleration on the wide outside helped the Twist And Turn-Arisen mare to get past the front-running Free World and Atomic Fusion virtually in the final stride, to claim the second division of the same version in a blanket finish, involving six horses. A head and a neck separated the trio at the finish line. A further three parts of a length back in fourth was the favourite Crystal Delight who was hampered for a clear passage approaching the final 300 metres. An identical distance away in fifth was Mehvish and Anzac, almost in a line.

A similar close finish was witnessed earlier when Imran Khan drove the next-in-demand Plain Truth to a neck victory over the favourite Diamonds Galore with Solar Power a close third. The last named in turn, was a shade ahead of Omni Presence with Ozone also in the frame, in the sprint race for horses in the 00 to 15 category. Diamonds Galore should make amends. Ozone has come to hand. 

It was a good start for debutant Obligado, the son of the versatile Indictment, who was ridden to a splendid victory. Jockey Malesh Narredu had the Darius trainee a handy second, and third behind the leader Braid Hills before gaining a winning lead inside the final furlong to register a little over five lengths victory over Gem in the opener.

Jockey Harish had a tough job on hand before driving home the odds on favourite, Affined to a narrow win in the Jog Cup, for horses in the 20 to 35 category, run over 1,400 metres. Harish led the Rashid Byramji trainee from the start. Entering home stretch he had to stretch every sinew, cracking his whip relentlessly to keep the gelding going, with Augile Castle, also under the stick, racing alongside. The final verdict of three parts of a length went in favour of Harish. An identical distance back in third was Psychedelic.

Jockey Shakti Singh will have to wait for an easier win, of course on the friendless Golden Fellowship, when the gap between the front runners Goebbles and Brave Bull was widened inside the final 250 metres, for him to register a facile win in the concluding event. A neck separated the late comers Abhimanyu and Silver Touch who had to be content with the minor placing.