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Guided Missile Wins on the Last Stride
By Pearcey | 03 Aug 2010 | MYSORE
A small card of six events framed for Tuesday's racing at Mysore, featured a rare mile handicap for horses in the highest class. Ten horses, rated 80 and above, got an opportunity to stake their respective claims in this race. Darashah-trained pair of Our Little Savage and Ohiyesa looked better than their rivals, and the presence of Stephane and Sampson astride these two runners, saw them heading the betting charts. The heavy impost of 63 kilos did not deter the followers of form from backing the former. His brilliant effort behind stablemate Ashkan, exactly a month ago, was quite fresh in their memories. He had finished powerfully and taken the third spot over the marginally shorter trip of seven furlongs. The extra two hundred metres were ideally suited to his style of running, and the grey reached the starting gates as a firm favourite today. There was stray support for Looking To Lead and Evanston, but not many were ready to look beyond Our Little Savage while making a choice.
A strong pace set by Join The Party, Dare Don and Looking To Lead saw the field getting spread out, as the runners took the rising ground and started negotiating the home turn. Ohiyesa, Our Little Savage and Evanston were at the head of the chasing pack, while the ultimate winner Guided Missile was gracing the rear. Looking To Lead overpowered the leading pair and made a strong charge towards the winning post. Our Little Savage moved menacingly and joined the leader. Not many noticed the late charge of Guided Missile, who had started picking up a bunch of tired horses. Paswan produced the Rakesh-trained six year-old on the wide outside and made free use of his whip. The light impost on his back enabled Guided Missile to increase his momentum. He devoured ground in the last 50 metres to nail the favourite on the post. Our Little Savage ran a brave race to finish marginally ahead of Looking To Lead and a late finishing Evanston. He had conceded chunks of weight to the three of them.
The winning combination of Rakesh and Paswan completed a double for the afternoon, as they had already scored a popular victory with Bucethalis. The three year-old completed a hat-trick of wins this season and became the first one from his crop to reach Class II. The ease with which Bucethalis handled the mile was a great revelation. Paswan was unable to restrain him in the early stages of this race. The horse asked for his "head", and the helpless jockey allowed him to go ahead. They virtually made all the running and justified favouritism by finishing ahead of a hard-ridden Arabian Memories, last outing winner Master Yoda and Boston Ranger. The last-named refused to budge in the early stages of the race and began to gallop after the race was almost over. He will be a strong candidate to win a similar race in his own age group.
Jockey Sampson made a successful debut on the Mysore track by winning astride his first ride at this centre. He was declared to steer raging hot favourite Mystic Enchantress in the day's opener. The small-made filly had run prominently in a maidens event before flopping as the public choice in a handicap for horses in the lowest class. The back-breaking weight and the heavy underfoot conditions on that day had resulted in her defeat at the hands of her older rivals. Trainer Darashah realized her limitations and chose to race her at a low weight in the higher class. This decision turned out to be perfect, as she reacted positively to Sampson's handling. Mystic Enchantress made steady progress from the tail end of the field, and beat Suave and Bold Success near the winning post.
The next race was a sprint for horses, five years old and over, in Class IV. Speedy customers Chamcha In Chief, Worth A Diamond and Prettyyashyashvini tore away to the front, and set a scorching early pace in this race. It was evident that they had managed to run each other to the ground, as they begun slowing down in the straight. The free-striding Gracian moved strongly thereafter to sail past these runners. The Merchant ridden horse won by a widening margin from Chamcha In Chief and Aspiring Seven. The 50/1 winner shocked most pool hunters, as this happened to be the first leg of the jackpot pool. Some more upsets later in the afternoon, resulted in this pool getting carried forward to the next season.
The only trophy event in the card happened to be a mile race for horses in Class V. The Star Supreme Cup saw a bunch of poor performers facing the starter. Nano Blue, Hero's Dominance, New Pastures and Destiny's Wish were equally fancied by their respective yards. No-hopers Senna and Track Thunder charged to the front and led Hero's Dominance into the straight. Destiny's Wish, New Pastures and Nano Blue were already under the stick at this stage. The bunched up group had a new leader at the bend. PS Chouhan brought Destiny's Wish on the wide outside, skirted the front-runners, and scampered away from them. This Bipin-trained runner increased his lead with every successive stride, and cantered away to win by more than a distance from Nano Blue, Hero's Dominance and Track Wonder. The three of them ended in a heap and finished alongside each other.
Western India import Kapathos brought some relief to the punters by winning as a firm favourite in the last race of the day. The Sajid camp has been blessed with some good fortune in recent times, and this was another example of that phenomenon. Kapathos wasn't too well positioned at the bend and his task looked tough at that stage. He began moving through the middle and suddenly found a clear passage through a pack of horses. He was further aided by the fact that the three front-runners, namely, Master Strategist, Snap Dragon and Free Spirit had shot their bolts and were seen stopping in their tracks. Kapathos led inside the last 20 metres and scampered home by the shortest of margins. He managed to hold Royal View's challenge near the winning post.
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