All the speculations about Ocean And Beyond (Kingsalsa-Sayuri) wouldn’t have it easy and that the Casino Royale Indian 2000 Guineas (GR1) would be a hard-fought race couldn’t have gone more awry. In the able hands of jockey Richard Hughes, Ocean And Beyond pulled off a clinical, matter-of-fact victory without much anxiety. The confidence with which Richard sailed into the lead, combined with the nice rhythmic gallop that Ocean And Beyond eased into inside the final 400, left little doubt that the 2/1 favourite would win with a measure of comfort. Although Star Future managed to narrow down the margin towards the end, Ocean And Beyond never looked in danger at any juncture throughout the race. Batista set a steady pace and led a fairly tightly packed field of fourteen that went to the gates.

Moon Star and Camacho came next. Ocean And Beyond, Immense and Berlusconi raced almost together right in the front bunch. The rest followed close behind with Star Future, Macchupicchu and Eloise at the tail end. Batista led them homeward and faded out. Moon Star soon played the ‘escort-vehicle’ to his more illustrious owner-mate and Richard made all the right moves, first to ensure that Immense stayed on his inside by plugging the possible opening Immense might have dived into. Richard made this smart move without tweaking any law and also without urging Ocean And Beyond. Then he gave enough time to Ocean And Beyond gather momentum revving him nicely for the take-off. He was still on tight reins when he shot into the lead and remained so even as Beautiful Stranger challenged him on the outside.

The moment Richard alerted Ocean And Beyond, the big bay bounded forward readily and spurted ahead to build a healthy lead in quick time. It was clear at the distance post, that Ocean And Beyond was not going to be caught. Star Future, under some hard riding from Suraj Narredu, responded with a strong finish to end a good second ahead of Beautiful Stranger and Su Chaliyo. The later did well to grab a place in the judge’s frame. Richard Hughes got a standing ovation when be trotted back for the lead-in. He acknowledged the accolades and applause tipping his cap and waving his hand to the crowd. “This one was no sweat, mate,"Richard told me, still astride the champion as he waited for the connections to join him.

"He was keen initially but settled down quickly into a fine tempo. Coming into the straight, he was very comfortable and I knew just when to egg him on. He responded fluently and this was sweet victory. I had worked him earlier and that helped. I have no doubt that he will stay the mile-and-a-half trip and yes, he is a good candidate for the longer Classics as well,” concluded Richard. “I was a bit apprehensive that he did not get a lead-up. The race day we had noted in his diary for a prep race got cancelled. That was a last minute let-down so I did the next best thing in having him run a mock race,” said his trainer Shiraz Sunderji. ”He had returned in good shape after his Pune Derby win, a run here early on would have been perfect.

However, Richard was confident after his last gallop and he judged him well too. He rode a perfect race and I am elated at the manner of his victory. I think a run in the Ruia Cup will tune him up further and then we target the Indian Derby. Ocean And Beyond is surely on the right course. I am a lot more confident now.” Star Future ran a good race too. He covered a lot of ground and was the best of the rest. Beautiful Stranger did his best. He looked menacing approaching Ocean And Beyond, but could not sustain the challenge. Su Chaliyo did remarkably well to end a good fourth. But none made an impact on Ocean And Beyond. With the two Indian Classics having gone by, the picture now more-or-less clears up for the bigger Indian Classics.

The main contenders for the Derby may well be Siachen, Ocean And Beyond and Moonlight Romance. Sun Kingdom is bracing for the Bangalore Derby. His performance there will now be closely watched. Finally, the ’Racing For A Cause” statement attached to the Casino Royale Indian 2000 Guineas was a resounding success. The RWITC and Casino Royale donated a sum of Rs 15,00,000/- to the Happy Home & School for the Blind. A choir comprising students from the school performed between races and received a rousing response from the audience and both members and racing patrons alike opened their wallets generously. It was heartening to see the members of the RWITC willingly contribute to the charitable cause.