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Dancing Glances Pockets Black Dog Trophy

By Mahendra Mallya | 04 Feb 2012 | MUMBAI


Mr Adar Poonawalla & trainer Altaf Hussain leading Dancing Glances (Dashrath Singh Up), winner of The Black Dog Trophy

Dancing Glances (Placerville – Dancing Greens) owned by the Poonawalla Racing Syndicate II and trained by Altaf Hussian got the measure of Amadeus in the final furlong to score a clean victory and take home the Black Dog Trophy. Dovers Hill was the one to hit the front soon on start and had Amadeus follow her into the straight. Dancing Glances was a couple of lengths behind with the others following in the rear. Dovers Hill could not pull away for long and soon Amadeus swooped upon her to take charge. Dancing Glances, well ridden by Dashrath Singh, started to gain on Amadeus. A brief tussle ensued, but Dancing Glances started to look better, moving in the final 100 and duly surged ahead to score a comfortable win. The 3/4 L margin made it look close, but Dancing Glances always looked good and his victory was never in doubt once he joined alongside Amadeus.

Elena (Alnasr Alwasheek – Intuition) made light work of her three hapless rivals as she won right from the word go, cruising to an emphatic victory start to finish. She showed awesome speed even when held and ran on her own terms. In the straight, she was always well ahead of the rest, who were completely off the bridle and Elena, galloping gloriously in front, Prakash holding her on a tight leash throughout. Persian Lily and Check Her Out went all out in chase and that provided Daffodils, who was tailing the field for most part, to have enough in reserve to get both in the final furlong and finish second. Elena was very impressive and looks the candidate for bigger sprint races that are in the offing in near future.

Jockey P Trevor scored a fine double, picking up back to back races and both races had fairly large fields. Trevor first partnered Zadmal Singh’s Ibis (Puerto Madero – Royal Troon) to a very easy victory in a 22 horse field. The packed front bunch had Beautiful Mind leading them homeward with Cougar and Golden Kingdom right behind. Kalinga Star and Kaskazi then got past the trio while Ibis started to cover ground on the wider outside. Approaching the distance post, Kaskazi and Kalinga Star were locking horns when Ibis breezed past them to run away with the White Mischief Challenge. Ibis won by close to 5 lengths and chalked out a very impressive win. Kalinga Star and Kaskazi took the place positions and Musical Rhapsody filled the frame.

Purple Patch (Alnasr Alwasheek – La Unique) too provided an easy victory but only once Trevor managed to poke through the middle and show him the daylight. Plan B and Mishri brought the field into the straight with Masterofthesky lurking along the rails. Mishri took over shortly thereafter and had Masterofthesly challenging her seriously from the rails. Star Builder started to surge, to join these two and soon Trevor got Purple Patch from the middle. Purple Patch readily shot ahead inside the final furlong and once in the lead, he left them all fighting for the minor placing. Purple Patch drew away to post a convincing victory, finishing on with an impressive gallop. Mishri and Masterofthesky battled on for the second place with Mishri getting the bob of the head right. Saddlers Rule came from a long way back to look threatening at one point but could not sustain, but did well enough to stay in the frame.

Spirit of Mercy (Tirol – Cozumel) pulled off a neat start to finish victory that foxed his rivals and the bookies as well. Available at 30 to 1, Spirit of Mercy showed little Mercy to his opponents as he grew stronger with every stride after leading them in the homestretch. Sergeant Pepper, who chased the Champaklal Zaveri owned colt, had nothing left when they came into the straight. He petered out of contention rather too early and put up no show. El Clasico too couldn’t match the winner’s brilliance and bowed out after appearing to pose a challenge. Haunting Fantasy made some progress but could only emerge second best, while Lake Geneva, who was languishing in the rear, surfaced to take home some place money edging out Glowing Star in the process. Spirit of Mercy, trained by SS Shah, was most impressive and can repeat in his next outing, considering the form he is in.

Supreme Minstrel (Rebuttal-Misteriosa) carried the silks of Dr.M.A.M.Ramaswamy to a pillar to post victory in the Whyte And Mackay Challenge. The speedy son of Rebuttal hit the front as the field was dispatched for the five furlongs dash and was never headed. On the final straight, jockey Chris Hayes kept his hands and heels at work and Supreme Minstrel moved away from Blue Wonder and Serena, to get his maiden victory in style on the busy weekend. Eskimo was withdrawn before the race after being troublesome at the gates.
Faisal A Abbas trained Cent Per Cent (Diffident-Credential) produced a mighty turn of foot to scuttle away from the rest and register her maiden success in the lower division of the Antiquity Rare ‘Fusion of the Finest’ Cup. Suraj Narredu had the filly running in fifth till straightening up for the final run and moved swiftly to assume command. Cent Per Cent stretched away from the rest inside the final furlong. Ocean Amiral, Daughterofdestiny and Flash Forward filled the frame. Rose Heaven was withdrawn before the race.

Richard Hughes pulled off a thrilling victory on Viva La Diva (Diffident-Amazing Girl), beating Fallen Angel in the shadow of the winning post, in the concluding race, the McDowell Signature Trophy. Fallen Angel looked good 100 metres from home but Viva La Diva moved strongly to bridge the lead and surged ahead to spare by a ‘neck’ at the wire.