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Flasher shows rivals a clean pair of heels

By Usman Rangila | 18 Jul 2003 | PUNE


As if to break the monotony of the day, Flasher decided to put his best foot forward to lay his claim on the Squanderer Trophy, the feature event of Friday’s card. The presence of speedy Exploding Wonder and Tasmac in the small field of five led to Flasher being neglected in the betting ring and one more contributing factor was him conceding weight to the rival duo. These facts, however, did not prove to be a deterrent for Flasher who showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals. Both Tasmac and Exploding Wonder were outpaced by Flasher and were forced to eat a humble pie. It must be mentioned here that Exploding Wonder was unable get a clear run in the initial stages of the race and had to weave his way around to get in striking position. It was too late by then as the winning post was already within the grasp of Flasher. Bajrang Singh’s exhibition was flawless astride the Altaf Hussain-trained son of Portroe out of Tin Roof. 
 
Start to finish victories were the order of the day and the first one to set this trend was Seville Star in the opening event. Pramod Belose took charge atop Vijay Kasbekar’s ward and scampered home sparing a length to the late-finishing Taras Bulba. The overwhelming support for Rising Passion in the betting ring appeared misplaced as there were no visible signs of the filly being prepared for this encounter. Not surprisingly, Rising Passion ran a listless race.
 
P. Kamlesh had an armchair ride aboard Ballina as the chestnut filly by Tecorno streaked into the lead and was in no danger of being caught by any of her opponents. Silver Lancer, curiously, was off the mark in the early stages and never in a position to threaten the supremacy of Ballina though Bajrang brought the grey through the shortest way home. Silver Lancer, Eglevsky and High Ridge finished in close order behind the winner. 
 
Supreme Crown’s odds were tested in the bookie’s ring as Whyem and One O One caught the market fancy. The bookies realised their folly only when the half-brother of Arrakis produced a sparkling run to surge clear of his rivals. One O One laboured hard to wrest the runner-up berth from Eternal Beauty. Whyem ran below par to finish a tame fourth. 
 
The aura of uncertainty surrounding the chances of the runners owned by Dr M.A.M. Ramaswamy remained unchanged for the second day in succession and the odds for Royal Celebrity too went up. But Dallas Todywalla seemed to have made up his mind on striking with a vengeance during the opening week and Royal Celebrity exemplified his master’s thought with a runaway victory over Forever Sunshine, Yannis and Star Status. The last named showed zest for racing for the first after coming under the wings of ex-jockey S.M. Johnson and is bound to improve from here on.
 
Favourite Grease Lightning rendered himself hors de combat after showing erratic behaviour inside the gates which left the Incence Plate quite open. Satch Boogie came with a sizzling run to stun Tafeta virtually in the last stride. The Amjad Khan-trainee had almost pulled off an upset when taken on a pillar to post mission by apprentice Abhishek Habbu. But jockey R. Rupesh and the grey filly sired by Green Forest had other ideas in their minds and they spoilt the party of Tafeta.
 
Truffles, from the yards of Mansingh Jadhav, finally got just rewards for the sheer consistency shown at Mahalaxmi when the Placerville filly warmed up to her task and swept past Tarascon and Dillinger in the home straight. Lord of Thunder came with a long stretched run to occupy the second slot ahead of Tarascon with Dillinger finishing close behind. Mister Fixit had a lung-opener and probably a dress rehearsal with an eye on some forthcoming sprint event.