Vijay Singh trained Romantic Fire recorded a smashing win in the 1600 metres Gayatri Devi Memorial Gold Cup, a race for horses rated 30 to 45, the highlight of Friday’s races. There was never any doubt about the class of Romantic Fire who had won at Mumbai in splendid fashion but a setback kept him out of action for a considerable period of time. As such, he ended up facing much inferior opponents as the well-performed contemporaries had moved up in the scale but the manner in which he recorded his back-to-back wins suggests that he could develop into a top class performer and the poor quality of the opposition in no way diminishes the value of this win.. He should reach a rating of over 50 and there is no doubt he will get a big boost to his rating by this fine win. How well he graduates into being a top performer in graded races will determine his classic aspiration.

The presence of two horses from the Byramji yard has time and again sent punters looking for the winner the wrong way. They seem to relish in keeping everyone guessing. Supreme Power had twice gone down as a favourite during the summer season at Bangalore but with the highly rated Gatling making her debut after her impressive workouts and enjoying a clear pull in weights, the debutant enjoyed maximum support at the expense of the more experienced campaigner barring a few cynics who always look for the ``doosra’’ in such a situation. In the event, Supreme Power who assumed command on turning for home won without being unduly pressed by Gatling. For the record, whenever two horses from the Byramji yard are in the fray, invariably the higher priced one wins either by design or co-incidence. Since this has happened time and again, one cannot help comment on this unhealthy trend. Since this was not a classic race where inevitably they have to run more than one horse, Gatling could have run in any race but by choosing such tactics repeatedly, they are doing a disservice to the hapless punters. The public esteem that they may deserve because of their achievement in the field will certainly not be forthcoming. 

Suraj Narredu drove out three winners to consolidate his hold on the jockeys’ championship stakes. His perseverance enabled Right Status get the better of the front-running Viva Candy virtually on the post. Later, he had to really work hard to get the best out of Continuer for a win over a late-finishing Finest Flare. There was some solid support for Capital Talk but the fancied runner packed up after being prominent at the top of the straight. 

Nothing has gone right for the gold and brown brigade during this season and winners have hard to come by. Robert Foley wards failed to win any race though there were a couple of fancied runners. Tunisia staved off the challenge of Royal Valour to record an encore. Autocop was backed to the exclusion of his rivals and the favourite bounced clear inside the final furlong and shaped to win easily but the finishing burst of Bountiful Pleasure brought an element of excitement to the race. In the day’s other action, Dream Coat and Sans Berg won at lucrative odds though their win caused a dent in the public purse.