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Master Yoda Lands a Nice Gamble

By Pearcey | 28 Jul 2010 | MYSORE


Wednesday was undoubtedly the best day in trainer Md Sajid's racing career, when he saddled four winners including the first one home in the day's feature at Mysore. The young man has now come alongside the long-time leader Bipin in the trainer's championship, and the last three days of the Summer Season should see a fierce battle between this pair of hardworking professionals. The outstanding feature of this performance was the fact that all four runners were supported with confidence, and the victories were gained with a measure of comfort. The bookmakers may take a while to get over the "gambles" landed by the stable with Master Yoda, Callidora and Lyra. The fourth winner, Chakravyuha Bhedak, was always a favourite to score against his modest opposition.
 
The BOL Publication Cup, a mile race for horses in class III, happened to be the day's feature. The race looked fiercely competitive, and the bookmakers were equally confused. They decided to favour Hakuna Matata, Arabian Memories, Mr Sunrise and Boston Ranger ahead of the others. A sudden rush of money on Master Yoda took everybody by surprise. The horse was backed spiritedly by the connections and was soon at the top of the betting boards. The horse had done nothing in recent times to warrant such support. He had last won a race in the year 2006, and had changed hands thereafter. A small indication could be derived from the Aluminium plates that he was sporting today, but then, one had to know more than that to back him with any sort of confidence. At the end of it all, it was Sajid who walked away with the accolades for having done such a wonderful job with this dickey-legged runner.
 
The field was tightly bunched as the runners made their way down the backstretch and moved towards the home turn. While Collateral was prominent at that stage, Master Yoda was third last with only two behind him, and those were Worth a Gold and Boston Ranger. Jockey Ravinder Singh moved with Master Yoda at the bend, and was soon at the helm of affairs. The seven year-old showed remarkable acceleration while darting away from the pack. He strode clear in the final furlong and was eased up much before the winning post. This effortless victory was almost unbelievable. Worth A Gold made a late bid to displace Collateral from the second spot, while Boston Ranger galloped on the wide outside to finish a close fourth.
 
Sajid's Callidora set the tone for the day. The mare was supported to win the day's opener, and she performed accordingly. Ravinder Singh brought her with a sustained run through the middle to get the better of early leader Smile Again. Hero's Dominance ran green and finished a close third. Prowl King and Sauce Piquant played up at the gates and hurt themselves. The two of them were withdrawn before coming under the starter's orders. The next winner for the stable was Chakravyuha Bhedak. He had been extremely unfortunate to have lost his earlier start by a nose to Masurathi. John returned to ride him again today and the favourite ran according to expectations. He tracked Matter Of Opinion and Jugnu till the bend before making his move. The jockey chose to keep him on the wide outside, and the horse loved this path. He got stronger and stronger thereafter to win by a widening margin from Royal View and a tired Jugnu.
 
The fourth and final winner came in the form of Lyra. This last outing winner was attempting an encore, and she succeeded with ease. Md Shoaib raced her prominently till the bend before asking her to quicken. Lyra responded gamely and ran away from the fancied Cafe Coffee, Chief De Mission and Magical Spirit. Lyra's cause was further aided by the fact that Cafe Coffee had burst a blood vessel during the running of this race. This took all concerned by surprise, as the public choice had never done this before.
 
Feroz Khan's Noname was another runner that had come down a lot in Class, and was awaiting his turn to enter the winner's enclosure. Although he had never won over a mile, the quality of his opposition today was quite poor. Chandrasekhar kept him a handy second, before narrowing the gap with Aspiring Seven. Noname came with a flourish near the bend and scored a runaway victory over Briannsta and Jericho. Early leader Aspiring Seven shot his bolt near the bend and ended a poor fourth.
 
The last race of the day was quite intriguing. Swiss Queen, Green Vision and Time For All opened as joint favourites in this race. There was sudden commotion in the betting rings as money came pouring onto Rakesh's Princess Nero. The three year-old suddenly found herself topping the betting charts. Though being ridden by whipless apprentice Santosh, the filly had an army of supporters. They felt that she would be too speedy for this lot, and they turned out to be absolutely right. Princess Nero took a good jump, was held back in third till well into the straight and was pushed thereafter. She enjoyed the allowance claimed by the apprentice while striding away to a comfortable victory. Sun Device came fast in the last furlong to dislodge Swiss Queen from the second spot. Time For All ran on disinterestedly to fill the rest of the frame.