Padmanabhan trained Speed Six displayed a welcome return to prime form by annexing The DP Sharma Memorial Sprinters Trial Stakes at the Bangalore races on Thursday. By virtue of this victory, the talented five year old earned the right to spearhead the Bangalore challenge in The Sprinter’s Cup to be held over the Invitation Weekend at Kolkata. Opposing a dozen high class sprinters based at this centre, Speed Six was tackling this distance after a very long time in his career. Running over his favourite trip of seven furlongs earlier this month, Speed Six had been prominent for most of the way. He was ultimately beaten close home by some late rushing opponents. Seeing the speed displayed by him in that race, the connections were enthused to test him over the present trip. Even though today’s terms were marginally against him, he did well to put it across his rivals. The race had an “open” look, and the same sentiment was expressed on the betting boards. In the absence of a clear favourite, Secret Punch, Optimus Prime and Klipspringer headed the charts. There was little doubt that Optimus Prime had the best form in this set. However, he was known to be slightly uncomfortable over this sprint, and the large number of participants in today’s race ensured that he would have to move around them before making his final charge. That is exactly what transpired. By the time Optimus Prime appeared on the scene, Speed Six had sealed the issue. 

The thirteen runners took off to a level start. Volcano, Secret Punch, Chul Bul Pandy, Silken Touch and Speed Six moved marginally ahead of the others and the field was fairly spread out as they began skirting the final bend. Optimus Prime was quite a few lengths behind this group as they straightened for home. Chul Bul Pandy wrested the issue at this stage and went marginally ahead of Secret Punch. The others were bunching up behind them. We suddenly saw the white colours of Speed Six moving through the middle. Within the next few seconds, he emerged from the pack and skipped clear of his rivals. With Trevor waving his whip at him, Speed Six was getting stronger and stronger.  Bar the shouting, the race was more or less over. It was evident that the others were only competing for the minor prizes. With a strong bid in the final hundred metres of this race, Optimus Prime came charging at Klipspringer and beat her into third place. Secret Punch had to be content with the fourth slot. In this sort of form, Speed Six will be a strong contender for a podium finish at Kolkata. 

Padmanabhan completed a quick double by winning the very next race with Ace Dancer. This nice looking horse was re-appearing after summer and his track trials indicated his fitness to strike. Since most of eleven runners were handicapped within a few kilos of each other, there wasn’t much to separate them at the weights. David Allan did well to keep Ace Dancer within striking distance of a runaway Divine Deliverance, and the two front-runners were a couple of lengths clear of Real Steel and Rich Celebration at the bend. The race took a serious turn thereafter. Divine Deliverance caved-in under pressure and faded from the scene. Aided by the inner rails, Ace Dancer enjoyed a slender advantage in the straight. Under some strong goading from Chouhan, Real Steel galloped strongly towards the centre of the track and challenged strongly. For a brief moment it seemed as though Real Steel was moving better than Ace Dancer, but the latter was refusing to surrender. With both riders going for their whips, it was a well fought duel. In the end, it was Ace Dancer who moved better than his challenger and managed to keep his neck in front as they hit the wire. Rich Celebration ended a respectable third.

 The RWITC Trophy, a terms event for three year olds, was the added attraction in the day’s card. Those amongst them who had won a race were seen conceding weight to the maidens. There were a number of talented horses running in this well endowed event. Albertino, Czar Of Romance and Perfect Soul had impressed on debut and carried the hopes of their yards today. Each one of them had won with a measure of comfort, and were tackling the present trip of 1400 metres for the first time in their careers. Ganapathy trained Murioi was receiving four kilos from them. This horse had won a race before being disqualified by the Stewards a few weeks ago. With a lot of money flowing in the direction of Murioi, the colt started as a strong favourite in this race. It was easy to back the others at 5’s and over in the betting rings. Murioi raised the hopes of his fans by overtaking a pair of no-hopers at the bend and leading into the straight. However, that dominance was short-lived. A number of horses came charging at him. Whilst Albertino slipped through the inner rails, Czar Of Romance moved menacingly on the wide outside. Perfect Soul continued to toil in fourth. Czar Of Romance moved marginally ahead of Albertino as they entered the last furlong. The pair matched strides for rest of the way and were almost together at the wire. A digital print confirmed that Albertino and Trevor had managed to beat Czar Of Romance and PS Chouhan on the post. Perfect Soul got up in time to push Murioi into fourth place. Both Albertino and Czar Of Romance are top class youngsters and we are sure to hear a lot about them in the future. This victory, coupled with that of Speed Six in the feature, enabled Trevor to walk away with the day’s honours. 

Public choices Mountain High and Final Countdown were cheered by their respective fans in the two divisions of a sprint for horses rated 40-65. Mountain High had joined Satsish Narredu’s stable a few months ago and had run only once under his charge. In the hand of R Koch, he had made a late bid to finish alongside on-money favourite Next Move earlier this winter. The quality of this performance was further enhanced by Next Move’s performance a week ago, wherein, he had defied his winning penalty with won on promotion. With Saddam Hussain claiming three kilos on Mountain High, the five year old was expected to win this race. Despite a couple of traffic problems in the back-stretch, the youngster kept his cool and managed to hold his position. Seizing a narrow gap through the field near the two furlong pole, Mountain High was shown “daylight”. To the delight of his numerous fans, the chestnut took little time in opening up a winning lead at that stage. He cantered away and retained his advantage till the finishing line. Bourbon Rack managed to move ahead of early leader A Move To Remember to take the runner-up berth. 

Sriram Komandur’s Final Countdown succeeded in completing a hat-trick by scoring his third straight victory this season. This horse knows only one way to run and that is to go to the front. His catch-me-if-you-can tactics proved to be too strong for his eleven opponents. PS Chouhan urged him from a wide draw and moved ahead of Game Dancer , Catamaran and Superb Style. While Game Dancer spoilt her chances by going wide at the bend, the other two fought till the very end. However, it was quite evident that they would not be able to catch Final Countdown today. He was moving well within himself and refusing to slow down under pressure. In a close scramble for the minor berths, Hillstone arrived late on the scene to finish ahead of Catamaran and Superb Style.  Since this was Final Countdown’s fourth victory in his last five starts, it is difficult to gauge his potential. As the winning margins in all of them have been quite slender, one will have to wait and see if  he can continue to defy the handicapper. 

A class IV handicap, reserved for horses five years old and over, attracted a lot of runners. Resultantly, this race was split into two divisions. Both races witnessed stunning upsets, as Brigades Supreme and Tribal Queen got up in the nick of time to win near the winning post. Pradeep trained Youre A Star was the rage in the day’s opener. On the basis of his smart trackwork and good paddock looks, this bottom-weighted horse was backed down to odds-on favouritism. Rise To Glory and Hatchet Harry had stray support with the bookmakers. A mild groan from those who had backed the favourite greeted the start of this race. Youre A Star walked out of the gates and lost considerable ground in the initial stages of this race. With Rise To Glory setting a good initial pace, the field was strung out at the bend. Despite Vivek’s urgings, Youre A Star failed to make any sort of improvement. He plodded on the wide outside and ended sluggishly to finish off the frame. Rise To Glory and Hatchet Harry led in the final furlong before they were joined by Brigade’s Supreme. Under some relentless pressure from a whipless Kiran Rai, this Babu Rao trainee came with a good run to beat Rise To Glory on the post. Hatchet Harry was content to save place money for his followers. 

The victory of B Puttanna’s Tribal Queen was even closer. Babu Rao’s Magic Wave was once again partnered by Kiran Rai, and the pair made a valiant effort to win both divisions of this race. However, the commanding lead that they enjoyed till the distance post was quick to disappear. A number of runners moved strongly towards the leader. Top-weighted Sparkling Star made a valiant bid to go ahead of the others, but he had no answers to the final onslaught of Tribal Queen and Superior Edge. Since the two of them moved simultaneously on the wide outside, and took their time to gain momentum, it was difficult to spot a winner. Apprentice Mudassar managed to push Tribal Queen ahead of Superior Edge, Sparkling Star and Youre Chilubuli. There wasn’t much between the four of them at the finish. 

The day ended with a popular victory for Arjun Mangalorkar’s Applejack, who justified the strong support that he received in the betting rings with a powerful performance against his fourteen rivals. Even though he was running after a long break from racing, Applejack looked outstanding in the paddock. With the odds against early morning favourite Petite Fleur rising alarmingly, the chances of Applejack looked rosier in this race. John rode a neat race astride the winner. Taking off comfortably from a wide draw, he waited patiently till the bend. Seeking a wide opening through a tired bunch of front-runners, Applejack seized the initiative at the bend. A couple of back-handers saw him quicken further. His closest challenger in the straight was Open Page. This consistent performer retained the runner-up berth ahead of Petite Fleur and the others. In this sort of form, it would be fair to assume that Applejack could repeat on promotion.