The Bangalore Oaks (Grade II) featured a long and well filled card of nine events framed for Saturdays action at Bangalore. A small group of eight fillies, including final entrants Snow Bird and Sussex Downs, were slated to face the starter. None of them in this group, except Sussex Downs, had won beyond a mile. There was little evidence about their staying abilities, and this led to a confusing scenario. The mile and a half posed a tricky challenge to most of them, and every single connection hoped that their ward would have the stamina to “stay” this distance. Their relative ratings were misleading, as they had been achieved over shorter trips. Trying to pick up a clue from their breeding was proving to be difficult, as none of them had been campaigned accordingly. Based on her performances in the mile Classic’s in Bangalore Summer, Mysore Main Season and the present Winter Season, 1000 Guineas winner Jersey Girl was installed at the top of the betting boards. Her fans hoped that it would be a slow run race, and Jersey Girl would be able to utilize her final burst to advantage. Satheesh trained Snow Bird’s win a fortnight ago at Malakpet had enthused her camp to bring her to Bangalore. Her final acceleration over a mile had raised hopes of traveling further. With Hyderabad based horses sweeping most of the Classics around the country, Snow Bird was expected to run a big race on Saturday. The “bird” made a successful landing in the Bangalore Oaks, and presented trainer Satheesh with his first Classic victory outside Hyderabad. 

With I Say losing much ground at the start, Cocktail Circuit set the early pace and led by a few lengths from Auburn Beauty, Snow Bird, Ratham, Sussex Downs, Jersey Girl and State Secret. The runners were strung out in single file as they tackled the first half of their journey and moved towards the far corner. With less than half a mile to travel, the race took a serious turn. The first filly beaten at that stage was the favourite Jersey Girl. Chouhan was urging the favourite to improve her position, but she was refusing to budge. She finally ended in the ruck. The action in front was more exciting. Gnaneshwar and Auburn Beauty overtook an exhausted Cocktail Circuit and moved strongly towards the finishing line. Her closest challenger was the Sreekanth ridden Snow Bird. The latter was definitely moving the better of the two at that stage. Apart from a feeble bid from Ratham, who moved into third place, there was nothing within shouting distance of these leaders. Snow Bird got stronger in the final furlong and strode away from Auburn Beauty. This allowed Sreekanth to celebrate much before they crossed the wire. Even in a slow run race, the winning filly had “stayed” better than the rest of the runners. 

The New Year Cup, a seven furlong terms race for horses four years old and over, was the added attraction on Saturday afternoon. Fourteen top class horses had agreed to participate in this event. Since most of them enjoyed a rating of more than a hundred, it was their present form which was going to play a major role in the final outcome of this race. Sprint Star’s last year form was quite imposing, but his last few runs were disappointing. Optimus Prime’s latest runs were good, but he had gone up in weight. Bottom weighted Sovetskaya and Klipspringer were the youngest campaigners in this group, but both of them were ideally suited to a shorter trip. The bookmakers were equally confused, and they chose to play it safe by offering fours and over for the entire field. Klipspringer, Sprint Star and Sovetskaya raced prominently in the back-stretch and were next to each other as they straightened for home. Sovetskaya moved ahead of Klipspringer in the final furlong, while Sprint Star joined the fray. Not many noticed the action at the back. Optimus Prime covered a dozen lengths on the wide outside and loomed onto the scene. Under the powerful handling of John, Optimus Prime got up in the nick of time to beat Sovetskaya and Swift Star on the post. It was a fitting finale to a tough race.

John had scored earlier in the afternoon with Sriram Komandur’s Pack Ur Bags. After the withdrawal of strong favourite Amalfi, Pradeep Annaiah’s Speedy Girl cornered much attention in this sprint handicap reserved for horses in the 40-65 categories. Speedy Girl had performed admirably as a youngster before losing her winning touch. The filly was re-appearing after a longish gap of over four months and was looking well in the paddock. With an in-form PS Chouhan riding her, she became the first choice of the punters. She took off comfortably from her innermost stall and showed the way to Saphira, Pack Ur Bags, Red Admiral and Living Legend. The group was tightly packed at the bend and no one had really made a serious move till that stage. Speedy Girl quickened nicely in the straight and opened up a fair lead over Pack Ur Bags. Red Admiral emerged from the chasing pack to move into third spot, while the others got tired and faded out of contention. The two front-runners fought out a brief duel before Pack Ur Bags asserted his superiority and strode away from Speedy Girl. The latter will definitely benefit from this experience and is likely to strip much fitter in her next start. 

Sriram Komandur shared the day’s honours with John by saddling Scuffle to win on debut. This rank outsider was entrusted to apprentice Saddam Hussain. He was opposing money-back favourite Motivating in this race. The filly had impeccable credentials , as she had finished second in both her starts. Her last effort was outstanding. Running against a short priced Cecil in a maidens event in May, she had all but beaten him in that race. The fact that Cecil is presently rated in class I, gives one a fair idea about her abilities. However, there were a couple of things against her. The first was the long absence from a race track, and the second pertained to her body weight. After moving to Arjun Mangalorkar’s stable, the filly weighed 36 Kilos more than what she had weighed while opposing Cecil. However, those who ignore such factors and like to back strong favourites, paid a heavy price for their decision. Motivating lacked early speed and was seen toiling in mid group. Scuffle, Isle Of Fire and Bella Pinky held sway till the bend and were seemingly involved in a close battle for supremacy. John tried to save ground with Motivating and chose to come on the inside of Isle Of Fire. The filly was sending distress signals under pressure and it was evident that she would find it difficult to win from such a position. A tiring Scuffle raised the hopes of Motivating’s supporters, but the timely arrival of the winning post came to Scuffle’s rescue. He managed to win by a “nose” from Motivating. 

A six furlong race for maiden three year olds was split into two divisions. Irfan Ghatala’s Albertino was a strong favourite in the upper version of this race. The big made horse had attracted a lot of attention by his showings on the training track. Most track reporters were united in their opinion, that at the moment, he was one of the most forward youngsters at this centre. He cornered one-sided support to start as the half-money choice of the punters. With second-in-demand Evraz getting withdrawn at the gates, Albertino’s job became much easier. Paul Mulrennan allowed Man Of Vision and Jersey Shore to lead on sufferance, and made his move astride Albertino only in the straight. Finding galloping room towards the inner rails, he came the shortest way home and moved ahead of the others. Charlatan and Man Of Vision were flat out to finish second and third respectively. 

The lower division of this juvenile event was the day’s opener. In the absence of a clear favourite, there were a number of horses that came in for betting. Smokey Sid, Sur La Tete and Arziki attracted more money than the other seven. Mohd Khan’s Turf Striker dropped his rider and bolted out of the starting gates. This led to a mild delay and it was generally expected that this runner would be withdrawn. However, after a routine check he was stalled along with the others. Smokey Sid, Flashing Colours and Turf Striker took a smart jump and showed the way to a group led by Arziki. Sur La Tete encountered an interference at that stage and the filly took her time to regain her rhythm. Smokey Sid began to send distress signals in the final furlong and this allowed the others to get closer to him. Turf Striker took the shortest way home while Sur La Tete galloped strongly on the wide outside. The pair overtook a tired Smokey Sid and moved towards the final post. Turf Striker held on to win by a narrow margin from Sur La Tete. For the records, the winner paid more than 100/1 at the totalizators.

A start-to-finish bid by Inayathulla’s Volcano ended in a runaway victory for him. He did not give any chance to the others by setting a scorching pace in this sprint. He was strongly fancied alongside Samara Sun to land this prize. With stray support flowing in the direction of Truman and Will Star, it was expected to be a closely fought affair. Valdir De Souza took Volcano to the front and stayed there. All he needed to do in the straight was to push him further. Apprentice Mudassar made free use of his stick on Samara Sun, but was unable to get a response from him. He seems to have reached his mark, and it may be a good idea to leave him alone from a betting perspective in the near future. Will Star improved steadily from the back to end a fairly close third. 

A vastly improved Mountain Range toyed with his rivals and strode away for an easy victory in a mile handicap for class III horses. Much was expected from this well bred horse as a youngster, but he had failed to deliver. It was felt that he was a plodder who knew only one way to run, and that was at a single pace. The five year old had changed stables a while ago and moved into Satish Narredu’s charge. Since he was well weighted against horses in his own age group, Mountain Range was a marginal favourite ahead of Neron, Mi Amor and No Doubt. Suraj took a good jump with him and occupied the box-seat behind Kripa and Apollo King. The free striding horse raced well within himself and held his position till the bend. What happened thereafter was surprising. Suraj gave him a tap in the straight and asked him to “go”. Mountain Range leapt forward and charged ahead of the others. Within the next few seconds he was so far ahead of the others, that a delighted Suraj was able to enjoy the luxury of peeping back at his pursuers. Kripa and Mi Amor were able to save place money for their respective supporters. 

The last race in the nine event card produced another close finish, in which, the public choice Provocateur just about managed to stay ahead of Click, Lucky Sam and A Game To Remember. This on-money favourite from Padmanabhan’s yard had been allocated the widest draw amongst the fifteen runners. David Allan had to use all his skills to bring this top-weighted contender into a comfortable position as this large group tackled the first half of its journey. Rank outsider Click came the shortest way home and enjoyed a healthy break at the bend. Provocateur moved alongside and wore him down as they progressed towards the winning post. Lucky Sam, A Game To Remember and Javanica overcame traffic hurdles before making their final bids. The punters were relieved to see Provocateur crossing the finishing line marginally ahead of the rest. A stronger rider on Click may have succeeded in causing another huge upset on Saturday.