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ZULTANITE MAKES IT LOOK EASY

By Pearcey | 18 Jan 2013 | BANGALORE


Trainer Irfan Ghatala leading Zultanite (Suraj Narredu Up), winner of The F K Irani Memorial Trophy

Irfan Ghatala and Suraj Narredu combined effectively to score a fine treble at the Bangalore races on Friday. They dominated the day’s action by winning with Zultanite, Diamonite and Wind And Flight. Since all three were strong public favourites, the two professionals were cheered by their followers. The FK Irani Memorial Trophy, a seven furlong handicap for horses in class I, was the day’s feature. Over the years, this race has attracted large fields. However, this time there were only six acceptors. With Valahak, Inquisition, Casanova and One Time Magic having very little form to win this race, the final outcome was restricted to Zultanite and Mitraya. Irfan had campaigned Zultanite very carefully, as this good looking horse had shown a tendency to pick up niggles throughout his career. Zultanite had won in Class II this winter and climbed to this category. He had started as an odds-on choice in a mile race subsequently. After taking over the running that day, he had failed to hold Spark Of Silver at the finish. He was now reverting to his winning trip of 1400 metres. On the other hand, Mitraya had won a couple of sprints in the lower classes. The handicapper had given her a stiff penalty for those efforts. With the terms loaded in favour of Zultanite, the bay was a money-back favourite in this race. He sported a nice coat and looked the part in the parade ring. 

Casanova did the front-running and bolted ahead of Inquisition, Valahak and Mitraya. Suraj was a picture of supreme confidence, as he had managed to settle Zultanite comfortably at the back. The runners traveled in single file in the back-stretch and turned for home. The action in front changed marginally. Mitraya was put under pressure to overtake Casanova, and she managed to do so briefly. At just about the same moment, Zultanite was shown daylight on the wide outside. Suraj gave him a single tap with his whalebone, and asked him to “go”.  Without being fully extended, Zultanite swept past Mitraya and sailed home for an easy victory. Casanova and Valahak fought a close finish for the third place. While there is little doubt that Zultanite won this race with ease, he should consider himself lucky. It was one of the poorest class I fields that we have seen in recent times. After receiving a winning penalty, Zultanite may be hard pressed to win another race in the near future. 

Diamonite was the middle leg of their treble. The free striding filly was conceding weight all around and was also drawn on the wide outside. She had lost in a couple of narrow finishes earlier in the season and her connections were hoping that Diamonite would be able to break that jinx on Friday. With a lot of money coming onto Simpleton and some stray support for Sumitomo, the race appeared to be an “open” affair.  Sparkling Image set a comfortable pace ahead of Firelight, Simpleton and Diamonite, as the runners tackled the first half of their journey. Sumitomo was settled at the back. The race took a serious turn in the straight, when Simpleton and Dianmonite went ahead of the others. The latter got the better of Simpleton and marched purposefully towards the finishing line. It was at this stage that Sumitomo appeared on the scene. She came with a smooth run on the wide outside and moved closer to the leader. Despite PS Chouhan’s back-handers, it was evident that the challenge was a bit too late. She closed the gap with each stride, but was still half a length shy of Diamonite at the finish. Simpleton plodded along to retain his third place.

Suraj’s win astride Wind And Flight was perhaps the easiest of the afternoon. The free striding four year old had run only once in his career, wherein, he had finished a good second to Nickel Chrome. While Nickel Chrome had progressed smoothly to the highest category, Wind And Flight had taken a break of over ten months from racing. On his known form and credentials, he should have started as a piping hot favourite, but keeping his long absence in mind, the bookmakers were more than generous to offer 6/4 against him. Suraj did not have to move a muscle while completing a successful treble. The horse darted to the front and gave him an armchair ride to victory. Wind And Flight was on tight reins throughout this trip. It is clear that this winner belongs to a much higher class, and must be supported confidently over a sprint on promotion. For the record, Resurgent and Ballantoy were seen fighting for the second berth. Ballantoy moved ahead of the former in the last hundred metres. The other eight in this race performed poorly to finish in the ruck. 

The upper version of this sprint was bagged by Pradeep Annaiah’s Anfield. Even though this horse had never touched the board, there was much hype around his chances. Track reporters were unanimous in nominating him as a winner of this race. With second-in-demand The Scientist throwing tantrums at the gates, he was declared a non-starter. This somewhat made Anfield’s job easier. Chouhan took him to the front and led marginally from Union Jack, Triple Victory and Boudicca. A closely packed group entered the straight. Boudicca looked extremely menacing, as she all but passed Anfield at this stage. However, Chouhan had something in hand. He roused Anfield to produce a final burst of speed, and the pair strode away for a comfortable victory. Open Page came from a long way back to take the third spot ahead of Union Jack and the others. Now that Boudicca has run a good race, she can be expected to score a point before the end of this season. 

Stunning upsets were witnessed in both the “maiden” events held on Friday. The Dhariwal camp took a strong pounding as both Cherish and Man Of Vision lost their respective events. Cherish was lucky to find herself in the lower version of this race. Because of an earlier run, wherein she had finished down the field, Cherish was running against some mediocre horses in the day’s opener. She looked well in the paddock and this enthused her followers to back her further. Starting as a 70/100 favourite, she took a good jump behind rank outsider Sun Glow, and followed her comfortably till the bend. It was only in the straight that Trevor realized his problems. Under some hard riding from Ashish, Satish Narredu’s Sun Glow was digging deep into her reserves of energy and was managing to keep Cherish at bay. She continued to hold onto her advantage till the very end. Cherish closed the gap in the final stages but it wasn’t enough to nail the front-runner. The pair of them ended far ahead of Winning Story and Star Affair. 

Man Of Vision’s suggestive third behind short-priced favourite Albertino a couple of weeks ago, was considered to be good enough to take care of his present rivals. For this very reason, he too started at almost the same odds as Cherish. Well-bred horses like Evraz, Alcazaba and Triumphant were making their debuts in this race. While Triumphant and Evraz looked slightly gross in the paddock, Alcazaba looked a picture of health. The only question that needed to be answered was whether any of them would be able to match Man Of Vision’s early speed. Those who had backed the favourite were in for a surprise. Trevor made full use of his inner draw and pushed Alcazaba ahead of Man Of Vision. John had no option, but to keep Man Of Vision on her outside. The two of them skipped clear of their rivals and moved strongly towards the finishing line. Man Of Vision’s marginal drift at a crucial juncture allowed Alcazaba to retain her hold on this race. In a mad scramble for the minor placings, Triumphant got up in time to beat Forever Honour and Evraz. The three of them ended within whispering distance of each other.  

A pair of hot favourites won the two divisions of an age group race for horses in class IV. Inayathulla’s Lucky Sam had given clear indication of his present condition by running a nice race in his only appearance this season. Running after a gap of almost five months, he had moved strongly in a similar race a fortnight ago and finished close to the winner. There was a strong possibility that he would improve after the said effort. In the absence of a worthy opponent, Lucky Sam was backed strongly to start as an even-money favourite. Vivek rode him with confidence and steered him home to an easy victory. Allowing Another Voice and A Game To Remember to lead till the bend, Lucky Sam was asked to take a huge gap between the two front-runners. He lengthened his strides and stretched away from A Game To Remember and a late finishing Javanica. In his present form, the five year old has the ability to pick up another race amongst horses in his own age group. 

In the lower division, it was the turn of the Britto trained Shades Of Scarlet to repeat a similar performance. Valdir DeSouza, who had ridden the mare in her earlier start, was spot-on with his judgement. After taking a good jump with the on-money favourite, he settled her comfortably behind Rusty and Bernicia. While Bernicia shot her bolt at the bend, Rusty continued to lead till the two furlong marker. Even though Culhane was making furious attempts astride Rusty, it was apparent that he was fighting a lost cause. The favourite was slowly and steadily creeping towards the leader. Valdir pulled out his stick and urged Shades Of Scarlet to move further. In a matter of seconds, she stormed past Rusty and sealed a popular victory. A late bid from Corleone saw him taking the third spot.