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Sixteen Is Indeed Sweet For Native Knight
By Mahendra Mallya | 13 Mar 2011 | MUMBAI
Trainer Narendra Lagad leading Native Knight (P Trevor Up), winner of The C. N. Wadia Gold Cup Grade-II
Native Knight (Placerville – Native Tactics) finally provided a huge relief to his owner Mr Madhur Bajaj and the Chetak Racing syndicate when he produced that extra winning effort to savour the sweet taste of victory after a prolonged wait, on his 16th attempt. Native Knight had shown a lot of promise since his early days, but in the past, despite the experience of running close behind huge stars in the classics, he had squandered many opportunities. He was just not finishing off well. However, The CN Wadia Gold Cup (Gr 2) provided yet another opportunity and, this time, Native Knight performed to his full potential and achieved his moment of glory in style. In the midst of the glamorous models in the fashion show, he certainly looked the Knight in shining armour.
The race took a serious turn around the bend, as Clarion Call tried to pull off yet another fast one darting ahead at the curve. His bluff was called this time as Strelitzia soon overhauled him past the 400. Native Knight started to work his way to the front and when he shifted to top gear, it was clear he would dish out a telling blow. Strelitzia worked hard to offer a stiff fight, but Native Knight surged dominantly forward to go away in the final 100. Doi Moi too ran a hard race and went down fighting. Sunlight made little impact and surely looked totally spent. She needs a good rest and will surely recoup for the Leger in Pune perhaps.
El Clasico (Marju – Merwaha) towered over his five rivals in the Nadia Mary Homy Wadia Trophy and performed like a seasoned campaigner on his debut run. He was alert at the start and Srinath had no trouble getting him going from the start. He called the shots all the way and without needing any assistance from the saddle. El Clasico accelerated well and won untroubled clocking a decent 1:00.14 without stepping on it. He was on cruise control all the way. Ashwa Prabir showed some fighting qualities for the next best option passing Blessed to end runner-up. Blessed kicked on aimlessly to end a tame third ahead of Let It Fly. Josephine stuttered after jumping out and took no active part in the race, following the field a distance away all through.
Jockey C Alford was in Mumbai for his sole ride – St Catz (Royal Kingdom – Irish Glitter). He did ample justice by partnering St Catz to a thumping victory in the RJ Kolah Trophy for maiden 3-year-olds. So confident was Alford that he didn’t flinch from guiding St Catz to the front right from the start over the seven-furlong race. St Catz settled at a comfortable pace and, entering the straight, had only Hills And Stars in the vicinity. The rest were far too back and were only filling in the slots. Hills And Stars did manage to narrow the huge margin approaching the winning post, but that was more due to Alford easing up St Catz.
Aston Martin (Statue Of Liberty – Caviar Queen) pulled off a blinder in a thrilling finish concerning Beyond Stars and to an extent Starrer who finished on close, but did not really bother the fighting duo. Aston Martin was in the lead throughout and had Beyond Stars stalking him all the time. For the first half of the race, they pair was well clear of the rest. Starrer, the favourite, was too far back and proved costly. Aston Martin had a thin advantage coming into the straight over Beyond Stars; the rest had some catching up to do. Running Sun was third but could not quicken at all, even as Starrer went past him easily. Past the distance post, Beyond Stars started to match strides with Aston Martin and both Trevor and Amyn Merchant were going hell for leather in their quest for the winning post. At the wire, Aston Martin enjoyed a paper-thin advantage and was declared the winner. Starrer covered a lot of ground but was a touch too late. He ended in between the two on their haunches.
Roesti (Ikhtyar – Sarmatara) set the record right after a disappointing relegation in his last outing. Settling into the fourth position through the backstretch, Roesti made a powerful surge ahead past long-time leader Twin Spice early in the straight. Distant Promise improved at the bend but just could not reproduce his last couple of runs and surrendered tamely. Once in the lead, Roesti plundered forward leaving no chance whatsoever to any rival and drew away effortlessly under the guile of Zervan who rode a perfect race. He had Roesti galloping on full steam without using her up too much. Roesti posted a facile victory with lot left in the saddle. Solar Angel and Tara both rallied well towards the end to run behind the winner in that order. Eye Of The Storm as usual ended in the frame.
Macho Uno (Juniper – Universal Star) pulled off a sensational last stride victory literally snatching victory from right under Dancing Money’s nose. Favourite Ocean Treasure could not even put up a fight and ended a disappointing fourth. Even Guernica managed to come from behind and wide outside to peg back the favourite.
Dancing Money brought the field into the straight and marched on ahead gamely shaping like a winner approaching the distance post. Macho Uno, who was last but one coming into the straight, covered ground at a good clip and even though Dancing Money was comfortably ahead, Macho Uno indicated that he was not out of it. In the final furlong, Macho Uno put in a serious charge and gathered good momentum to devour ground at an alarming rate. He closed in on Dancing Money 50 from home and the two battled hard. Sunil and Kavraj Singh were both thoroughly competent and the luck of the nod went in favour of the more experienced jockey. Macho Uno was trained by Dr Anil Kumar who was very much confident before the race that Macho Uno could make it through.
Misschevious Trot (Storm Trooper – Puzla) from trainer Imtiaz’s yard scored a fashionable victory in the Icebreaker Plate over a mile. Apprentice Sandesh, who is fast earning a good reputation, rode a perfect race to ease the top-weighted Misschevious Trot into the lead soon on turning for home. Oh Calcutta until then had led comfortably enjoying a break of over two lengths over Misschevious Trot. Living The Dream and Vibgyor were a good seven lengths further behind past the half-way stage. Before Oh Calcutta could think of capitalising on her early lead, Misschevious Trot stepped up speed and easily shot past Oh Calcutta who was struggling to keep up. Vibgyor broke a blood vessel and was never in the hunt. Living The Dream ran a determined race and was rewarded with the runner-up berth as he just about managed to pip Oh Calcutta for the second. However, Misschevious Trot was the one who dominated the rest all the way in the straight.
Trainer Hormuz Antia yet again scored a popular double as both his fancied and well-backed horses Tomorrows Dreams and Amora won comfortably. Tomorrows Dreams (Bee’s Prospector – Alfie) rose to the occasion and produced a spirited run to outpace his rivals long way from home. The gelding surged ahead soon on straightening up for home and then unleashed a supreme effort to stretch away from the rest in no time. In the final furlong, he was all by himself and Bemisaal was toiling to make it to the runner-up slot. Game Of Power ran on to earn place money just ahead of Again Gallop.
Amora (Royal Gladiator – Expensive Week) provided the grand double and her effort was even more impressive than her stablemate in the first race. Amora raced in the mid-bunch as Naturelle held the fort till the turn. On straightening up, Gerrad led for a brief while and fought to hold his thin advantage from Kimaya who was looking threatening for a while, until Amora appeared on the scene. Amora, ridden by Rajendra, covered ground with giant strides and in a matter of seconds, sailed past the fighting duo impressively. Once ahead, Amora dominated the homestretch to register one of the most convincing wins of the day. Kimaya ran on to finish second and Money For Nothin covered a lot of ground to snatch the place reward from Gerrad.
For the professionals, trainer Antia and jockey P Trevor scored a double each.
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