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Castle Queen Reigns Supreme
By Epsom Ace | 30 Jan 2010 | KOLKATA
There was no stopping Castle Queen at the Calcutta racecourse on Saturday as the crack sprinter by Placerville out of Castle Park made mincemeat of her six rivals in the seven-furlong race for the Police Commissioner’s Cup. The normally forward filly was ridden brilliantly in check by light-weight Ruzaan who brought her with a smooth run on the outside in the straight. Rather surprisingly, the winner was available at lucrative odds of 9/2 as money came on Duke of Windsor, Everybody Salsa and Agility. Earl of Warwick set the early pace. At the bend, it was Agility who shot ahead. That’s when Ruzaan decided that enough was enough and took the matter into his own hands and waved au revoir to the field. The opening race, The Flying Glance Handicap, saw Mark Reuben draw the wrath of the stewards after his heavily fancied mount Fascinating bit the dust. The John Stephens-trained filly was finishing on fast along the rails but fell short of her task narrowly. The stewards were unhappy with Reuben’s handling of the favourite and withdrew his licence. They further ruled that a fresh application next season will not be considered. The ruling seems a little harsh on the lad. The race was won by Tokyo Drift, atop whom Vikash Jaiswal made it start-to-finish. Bankable ran a good race to finish third.
The Stewards also came down strongly on apprentice Shezad Khan who was astride only the second mount of his career on Friday – Raging Bull. He has been stood down for 12 racing days. This must be something of an unprecedented case as the teenager had won his first race with Secret Gallop two days earlier. It was a case of ‘from hero to zero’.
The Indian Champagne Stakes was won by Vijay Singh-trained Hall Of Glory who defied the terms to get the better of stablemate Record Breaker. Christopher Alford made every post a winning one, much in the same manner that he had done in the Indian Produce Stakes on New Year’s Day. Record Breaker had all the chances but fell to a better horse on the day.
The H.H. Maharaja Jagaddipendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur of Cooch Behar Memorial Cup was lifted by Shafiq Khan-trained Cyclades who was given a matured ride by apprentice Babu Singh. The 5-kg allowance proved crucial as she collared stablemate Carmen at the turning for home. The favourite Elegant Road was always there but may have found the trip too sharp. The aged Cosmos was a fast-finishing third.
Trainer Arti Doctor and her rider Kamlesh completed a well-deserved treble with Special Star, Raghuvansh and Snowberry. Special Star won the Showhouse Cup despite shifting off a straight course in the home stretch. Caravaggio came with a great run along the rails but found one better in the winner. Accapella was an unimpressive third while the other fancied runner King Of Rhythm was a poor fifth.
Despite running within a week after a grueling effort in the Indian Champion Cup, Raghuvansh produced an astounding gallop after heads turned for home to lift the Hyderabad Race Club Cup. Top-weight Grand Madame ran a fine race while half the field comprising Rockfeller, Colourful Lady, Azureus and Validate were never in with a chance. They don’t seem to be in the same league as the top-three finishers.
The MB Medhora Trophy was bagged by the ever-consistent Snowberry after a keen tussle with Malikah in the straight. Fancied runner Whispering Wind was seen to run in snatches but nevertheless finished third. The disappointment was C. Alford’s mount Arienzo.
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