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Arabian Knight Loves To Dictate Terms

By Pearcey | 27 Jul 2008 | BANGALORE


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Dr Vijay Mallya's domination of the Classic's during the ongoing Summer Season was emphatically confirmed, when Arabian Knight (Brave Act-Arabian Rose)decimated his opponents and ran away with The Bangalore St Leger on Sunday. After the domination of the earlier part of the season by Pesi Shroff and Set Alight, it was the turn of trainer Dhariwal to display his professional skills. The stout hearted Arabian Knight confirmed his Hyderabad form, where he had won the Stayers Cup over the Invitation weekend. Sundays racing at Bangalore was held in wet conditions. In such circumstances, the gruelling trip of 2800 metres was bound to test the fitness and stamina of all the participants. Noble Prince had good recent form and was installed as an overwhelming favourite to lift this trophy. Sweeping Success was supposed to be his nearest challenger. Steady drizzle greeted the runners as they were paraded in the paddock. The big made Noble Prince was sporting the usual bandages, and it was apparent that the soft underfoot conditions were not ideally suited to his style of racing. The same sentiment was echoed in the bookmakers ring, as the odds against this horse began to expand with every passing moment. Vanquish and Arabian Knight were looking well as the horses were cantered to the starting gates. Dhariwal trained Arabian Knight loves to dictate terms and this race provided him the perfect opportunity to display his skills. Mallesh Narredu eased him into the lead and set a strong pace for this race. Sweeping Success, Bourbon King, Classic Sky and Azureus were seen racing in a pack, while Noble Prince and Vanquish were biding their time at the back. Arabian Knight increased his lead to more than ten lengths as the field started to take the rising ground near the 600 metres marker. The others came under pressure at this stage. The first one to give up was Noble Prince. He dropped right through the field and stopped galloping. Arabian Knight kept up the pressure and galloped resolutely. He passed the winning post almost a distance clear of the rest. Vanquish came with a late surge to beat Classic Sky into third place. Sweeping Success finished a faraway fourth. Noble Prince ran a detached last. Thundershowers greeted the racegoers as they approached race time on Sunday. There was a strong possibility that racing might get cancelled. The authorities decided to wait and the weather relented. They decided to go ahead with the programme. The running of the first race was indicative of the things to come. Horses were finding it difficult to accelerate from behind, and the frontrunners were likely to have the advantage in such underfoot conditions .Rank outsider Fanaa went into the lead and gave no chance to the on-money favourite Valid Expectation as they charged for home. Dash To Cash saved place money ahead of She's Spectacular. The upper division of this sprint race was won by the shortest priced favourite in the day’s card. Byramji's Distinctly Ahead was taken on a start-to-finish mission by Suraj Narredu. Cannavaro was his closest challenger and looked threatening at one stage. The hard ridden favourite was able to hold on to his lead. Prakash ridden Lunar Lust came with an impressive late surge to take the third spot, and should be followed in her next start. The second race of the day was run in blinding rain. Mahesh's ward Running Man was able to get the better of Zangi near the winning post. Wayne Smith rode a neat race on the winner. The favourite Southern Magic was unable to raise a gallop at any stage of the race. Most of the jockeys protested against the conditions and wanted the authorities to abandon the rest of the programme. The weather relented once again and the jockeys decided to carry on with their job. Imran Khan rode a rare winner for trainer Manohar, when he landed a neat gamble with Spirited Angel. This well bred filly seemed to be far superior to the field, as she came from behind and went past favourite Telemacchus without a fuss. The favourite stopped in his tracks and finished a dismal fourth. Star League and Vayuputra came with long stretch runs to figure on the board. Spirited Angel has tremendous potential and should be followed in her future campaign. A seven furlong race for horses in Class II was split into two divisions. Byramji trained The Contender was a hot favourite to win the upper division. Suraj Narredu had this last start winner in box seat, as Queen Rania made the early running and brought the field into view. The Contender was able to assert his superiority over the frontrunner, but was soon challenged and passed by Soberano. Vinod Shinde rode this winner for trainer Irfan Ghatala . Masquenada ran on to finish third ahead of Logan's Run. A tiring Queen Rania faded out to finish a dismal fifth. The day's proceedings ended with the running of the lower division of this race. Raider's Sun was supported confidently and was running a close second behind Andronicus as the runners entered the final stretch. Wayne Smith urged the favourite to go ahead but, found no reserves in the tank. Super Woman and Alejandros made a move from the rear and fought out an interesting finish. Appu managed to keep Super Woman ahead at the all important end. Raiders Sun finished a fair third ahead of Andronicus. The victory of Super Woman enabled Byramji and Appu to complete their doubles for the day.