A speedy performance from Irfan Ghatala’s Show Time in The Bangalore Turf Club Trophy was the highlight of Saturday’s racing at Bangalore. By utilizing her early speed to advantage, Suraj Narredu managed to make every post a winning one astride this filly. In the process, the leading jockey completed a fine treble for the afternoon. This sprint event was a terms affair for horses three years old and over. Even though the field was small, there were many amongst this group of eight that had a realistic chance of bagging the purse. Top weighted Successor had great credentials but his heavy impost was a dampner. Show Time’s third behind a runaway Sovetskaya and Quick Enough was the medium of an enquiry. It was felt that Anjar Alam had ridden a poor race that day. After lengthy deliberations, the Stewards had decided to forgive the apprentice for the inept handling of his mount. With Suraj guiding her today, there was much optimism in the Ghatala camp. Silken Touch had lost to Immense in a very close finish over 1400 metres. The Attaollahi trainee was reverting back to sprinting, and the connections were hopeful for a smart performance from her. The betting boards reflected the mood of the punters. The wide odds indicated that we were in for a tight finish.

Show Time leapt out of the gates and was soon a couple of lengths clear of Cape Ferrat and Successor. Silken Touch headed the chasing pack as they settled down to running in the day’s feature. Suraj relaxed his hold on the leader and allowed her to travel well within herself till they reached the bend. A hard ridden Cape Ferrat tried his best, but was unable to go past the leader. Traveling in single file, the eight horses entered the straight. While Suraj was content to keep pushing his filly, the others were under the whip at this stage. For a brief while Successor looked dangerous, but he soon faded out of contention. The one that moved impressively thereafter was Silken Touch. She covered more than five lengths in the final furlong, but that still wasn’t good enough to topple the leader. With Suraj waving his whip at her, Show Time succeeded in maintaining her grip over the proceedings and warding off a determined challenge from Trevor and Silken Touch. Successor and Cape Ferrat managed to retain their holds over the minor slots.

Irfan and Suraj had already won a race with Zultanite. This brilliant galloper made a welcome return to racing after a gap of over ten months. After a superb start to his career, Zultanite had suffered a setback in training. Irfan had waited patiently and taken his time to bring him back into racing. The nice looking colt confirmed the high rating assigned to him by the handicapper and beat his class III opponents in his very first start in “open” company last winter. Being enthused by this performance, the connections chose to run him next in the winter Derby. Due to an unfortunate setback, Zultanite returned lame after that race. This second setback kept him away from a race track throughout 2012. Since he was running in Class II on Saturday, there was much hype around his re-appearance. Track reporters were unanimous in their opinion that this horse was back to his best. Even-money favourite Zultanite confirmed that opinion with an easy victory. Suraj had a tough time holding him back in the initial stages as the early pace was moderate. He overtook Migrolino and Cielo Signore in the straight and won as he liked. Drop Of Honey and Sussex Downs rallied late to take the other berths on the result boards. Now that Zultanite is fit and fine, one is sure to see him running regularly this season. The connections are sure to keep their fingers crossed, as Zultanite has the ability to progress much higher than his present mark.

 Suraj’s third victory was the easiest of them all. Dhariwal’s Samara Sun had taken down a lot of money over the last one year. He had started as a favourite on a number of occasions, and had consistently flopped under pressure. Samara Sun would travel comfortably till the bend, but the moment his jockey popped the question, he would lose interest in the proceedings. He continued to shine in his morning work, and it was felt that a mere reproduction of the same would be enough to score today. For the first time in his career, Samara Sun performed on expected lines. Allowing Bold Nature and Nocturnal Hunter to set the early pace, Suraj was content to travel in mid group till the bend. Producing Samara Sun towards the centre of the track, he asked him to “go”. The response was almost electric. The favourite darted forward to score an emphatic victory. The seven length verdict was symbolic of his superiority. Now that Samara Sun has discovered his winning ways, it may be a good idea to support him again in his next start.

 Dhariwal won the very next race with Cecil. The Hoysala Trophy was a seven furlong race for horses rated 60-85. Cecil had graduated to this category after his thumping victory in a sprint over Anonymous and Winds Of Soul earlier in the season. The handicapper had given him a severe penalty of 21 points. Since he had an extra furlong to travel on Saturday, there were many who decided to stay away from betting in this race. Raphire was a formidable opponent, and his recent track trials were equally suggestive. With Sudden Magic and Brabus Speed showing early intent, both Trevor on Cecil and Vivek on Raphire chose to bide their time. Since both these fancied horses were drawn on the extreme outside, their riders were forced to travel wide for most of the way. Brabus Speed led into the straight and moved off the inner rails. He was soon joined by Cecil and Raphire. With the last named ducking inwards, the three horses fought out a tough battle in the final furlong. Ultimately, it was Cecil who proved to be marginally better than Raphire and Brabus Speed. The last named was ridden by Paul Mulrennan in exemplary fashion.

Another trainer to score a double on Saturday was Mahesh. With a modest string of horses, his stable has been finding it difficult to win races at this centre. However, a couple of horses in the lowest category helped him to win both divisions of a seven furlong event. In the day’s opener, it was bottom weighted Segomo that delivered the goods. In a clever move, Mahesh further lightened his burden by claiming an allowance on him. The expanding odds against favourite Turf Fame signaled the fact that the connections of this four year old were not very optimistic about his chances. Despite PS Chouhan’s strong efforts, Turf Fame could do no better than finish a poor third. Apprentice Chetan Kalay brought Segomo with a smooth run in the final furlong, overtook early leader Delilah, and lasted out to score from a fast finishing Autumn Red. The last named ran the first forward race of his career. At this low mark, he gave an impression that a win for him is round the corner.

 The upper division of this race looked extremely competitive. In the absence of a clear favourite, there were a number of runners that were backed sporadically. Spark Of Diablo received late support to climb the betting charts. Despite being ridden by A Velu, there were many who had wagered on him. The five year old went to the front and almost succeeded in landing the “coup”. At the end, it was a feeble effort from the saddle at a crucial juncture of this event  that cost him the first prize. Shobhan Babu had Mahesh trained Midtown Delight positioned right behind the leader. He pulled out all stops in the final furlong and forced Midtown Delight to lengthen his strides. To the delight of his camp, he got up in time to nail Spark Of Diablo at the wire. After a lethargic beginning, morning favourite Sayyonee ambled along to take the third spot. This filly may be a different proposition the day her trainer decides to put blinkers on her.

 Ganapathy trained Assurance was a firm favourite to win a sprint for horses in class IV. In her last outing, she had dragged jockey M Ravi into second place behind the speedy Volcano. With Liam Jones guiding her fortunes today,   and in the absence of a formidable opponent, she became the first choice of most of the punters. Faraz Arshad’s Resurgent looked a bit heavy in the paddock, and in the opinion of many experts, “Resurgent would need this run”. However, the blinkered three year old darted out of the gates and set a strong pace ahead of Assurance and Fire Storm. With Franco DaSilva continuing to urge him further, Resurgent skipped clear of Assurance in the straight. After a minor duel with Sunbeam, Violent Storm succeeded in saving place money for Dominic’s stable. Resurgent is sure to strip fitter after this outing, and it will pay to follow his fortunes this winter. Assurance is an ordinary type that may win an odd race in lesser company.

 The only other race in the day was won by Darius Byramji’s No Doubt. This filly had been performing below her known level in recent months. She would be lethargic in the early stages and make up a bit of ground in the final stages of a race. Darius chose to increase the distance to a mile and entrusted her to Srinath. But the punters seemed to have lost faith in her, since her odds kept increasing as the runners made their way towards the starting gates. Arrabian Gold and Neron were backed ahead of her in the betting rings. Known for his front-running tactics, Arrabian Gold was expected to skip clear in the straight. However, that was not to be.  In a rare happening, Arrabian Gold got stuck in the gates and took no part in this race. With Neron finding it tough to move forward and No Doubt stuck in mid division, we seemed to be headed for an “upset”. Just as Grand Success asserted his superiority over Arun and made his charge towards the final post, he was joined by stablemate No Doubt. Srinath rode her vigorously thereafter and managed to keep his nose ahead at the finishing line. Arun retained his hold on the third place in front of a late rushing Yamas. Both Arun and Yamas should pick up a race before the end of this season.