The Karnataka Police Trophy, a sprint race for horses rated 80 and above, featured Saturday’s nine event card at Bangalore. In the hands of Suraj Narredu, Irfan Ghatala’s Chul Bul Pandy finally won his first race in the highest class. He scampered home by half a length from a fast finishing Cecil. The runner-up was gallant in defeat, as he was meeting the winner at terms which were totally against him. Cecil, Chul Bul Pandy, Cape Ferrat and Quick Enough had clashed in a similar event earlier in the season. On that occasion, Cecil had beaten the rest by over two lengths and incurred a large penalty. Those who do serious handicapping were firm in their opinion that Cecil would find it very difficult to finish in the vicinity of those that had ended close behind him. Quick Enough was the best at weights, and was therefore installed as the first favourite in the day’s feature. With the withdrawl of Yourewindsofchange, the only other runner that merited attention was Nickel Chrome. The filly had won twice this season and earned promotion to this category. Since she was receiving weight from the others, and had worked well on the training track, there was fair support for her in the ring. The bookmaker’s odds indicated the “open” nature of this race.

The speedy Cape Ferrat took a fly jump and lost all his chances at the gates. Nickel Chrome showed early speed and settled into a narrow lead ahead of Smooth Glider and Chul Bul Pandy. Thoughts N Action, Quick Enough traveled on the outside, while Cecil bided his time on the rails. They were closely grouped together as they took the bend and straightened for home. Nickel Chrome was first passed by Smooth Glider, and subsequently by Chul Bul Pandy at that stage. Viabhav tried to find room for Cecil on the inside, but there was none available. By the time he pulled him out and showed him daylight, Chul Bul Pandy and Smooth Glider had skipped clear of him. Suraj was working hard at keeping Chul Bul Pandy going and the horse was responding to his urgings. In the last hundred metres or so, Cecil devoured much ground to end a very close second. But for the above-mentioned traffic problems, Cecil could have done even better. Smooth Glider maintained his momentum to retain the third spot ahead of a late finishing Quick Enough.

The only professional to score more than once on Saturday was apprentice Saddam Hussain. He won with Sparkling Star and Cheque Discounter in extremely close finishes. Satish Narredu trained Sparkling Star got up in the nick of time to beat the speedy A Move To Remember on the post. A group of ten runners, five years old and over,  were competing over a sprint. A Move To Remember skipped clear of Sparkling Star and Day Trader, as the field moved towards the winning post. The two behind him were gaining ground with each stride, and it was evident that there was going to be a close finish. While Day Trader was taking his time to quicken under a whipless apprentice, Sparkling Star was moving better than him. The three of them were separated by a couple on “necks” at the wire. Sparkling Star, A Move To Remember and Day Trader finished in that order.

Saddam was entrusted with a piping hot favourite in the last race of the day. Prithviraj’s last outing winner Cheque Discounter received all round support at even-money ahead of Real Steel and Bound By Honour. She was known to possess early speed, and the four year old used it to advantage. Saddam kept her a handy second behind Surprisesucceeding and sent her to the front in the straight. After taking a level jump from an extreme draw, Real Steel was ridden for eventual acceleration. Ryan Marshal chose to bring her towards the inner rails and traveled comfortably in mid group as they moved past the two furlong marker. It became a two horse affair thereafter, as Real Steel moved with giant strides and joined the issue. The two of them pulled away from the rest and fought a stirring duel right upto the winning post. A long neck favoured Cheque Discounter at the finish. Brownie made a late bid to wrest the third spot from Endurance.

The withdrawl of money back favourite Murioi in the Sangam Cup saw second favourite Miracle Memories starting as the shortest priced favourite in the day’s card. His paddock looks justified the price of half-money offered by the bookmakers. Allowing Argiano to lead on sufferance, Paul Mulrennan held back the public choice till the top of the straight. He gave him his “head” at that point in time and got the desired result from him. This progeny of Rebuttal skipped clear of the other ten maidens and scored effortlessly. Light Of Success made up good ground to overtake Argiano in the final hundred metres, and moved into the second berth. She is a nice type and looks capable of winning amongst a similar set of juveniles.

Inayathulla’s Raphire had been extremely unlucky to have lost all three starts this season. He had ended a close second first to Nickel Chrome, thereafter to Cecil and finally over a trip much too long for him to Drop Of Honey.  A short head, a long neck and a head were the  verdicts in those three races. Raphire picked up a marginal penalty on each occasion and saw her rating getting bigger with each effort. He was almost at the top of the scale in a class II race today. The fact that he was tackling a perfectly suited seven furlongs, saw him starting as an  even-money favourite in this race. Valdir DeSouza gave him a good ride and steered him successfully across the finishing line. After a steady jump, he tracked Anonymous for most part of their journey. Once Anonymous moved off the rails under pressure, Valdir pushed Raphire through the gap and seized the initiative. His mount responded gamely to the whip and sauntered clear of a late finishing Miss Ching and Carducci.

The day began on an exciting note with Babu Rao’s Dance With Me getting up in time to beat early leader Starstruck on the post. Early morning favourites Afternoon Delight and Magnanimous were not sighted in this race. Both their jockeys showed a reluctance to move forward and this saw them ending in the ruck. Henrique ridden Starstruck led from the start and enjoyed a healthy advantage at the bend. The low rated Dance With Me chased him throughout the race and ran kindly for Rajesh Kumar. The feather-weight apprentice managed to get Dance With Me to move faster in the straight. It was obvious that she was gaining ground with each stride, but what was in doubt was her ability to catch the  leader before the final post. With just a few metres to travel, she managed to get her neck in front and land a successful gamble.

The Babu Rao stable gambled with another two horses during the afternoon, but both were beaten by their superior opponents. They first tried with a horse named Arun. This horse had performed well against younger rivals earlier in the season and was now running in a race reserved for horses in his own age group. Here too, it was a horse ridden by Henrique that showed early intent. Sharat Kumar trained  Recharged darted out of the gates and led by a number of lengths into the straight. There were many who felt that Recharged, who had used much energy by that stage,  would soon come to a halt. Nothing of the sort happened. Recharged carried on with his good work and passed the winning post with a healthy advantage over Arun, Blue Star and Style Of Signature. All Arun could manage was to improve from the back and finish a respectable second.

Some inspired betting on Indian saw the odds on this horse crashing from 7/4 to 75/100. This Babu Rao trainee had a lot of hype around him as it was reported that he had gone an outstanding gallop a few days ago. The confidence of his camp was further reflected by their choice of jockey. Rookie Shanth Kumar hadn’t ridden a winner in recent times, and yet, he was the jockey aboard this favourite. However, it was no fault of the jockey that Indian failed to deliver. He just wasn’t good enough to win today. He raced comfortably in fourth place and stayed away from any traffic problems throughout this trip. Under some strong riding from Sreekanth, Ganapathy’s Bourbon Rock came like a whirlwind and strode away from Sweet Angel. The pair were so far ahead of the others, that many were left wondering about what happened to Indian. They were forced to look further down the field to see him crawling into third place.