Tharun Thimmaiah’s seven year old mare Drop Of Honey stunned a group of highly rated horses in The Stayer’s Trial Stakes, the feature in a long card of ten races held at Bangalore on Saturday. The manner in which she “whizzed” past them in the final furlong was extremely commendable. Tackling a mile and a half for the first time in her long career, Drop Of Honey displayed both speed and stamina. This event is traditionally conducted during this stage of the winter season to select the nominees from this centre to spearhead the challenge in The Stayer’s Cup to be held over the Invitation Weekend. Only eight runners accepted to face the starter in the 2013 edition of this race. While the rest of them had raced against each other on a number of occasions, Drop Of Honey was a new entrant to this category. Even though her rating was much below the other seven, the confidence of her connections was reflected by the fact that they had paid a hefty amount to ensure her participation as a final entrant. Her victory in a nine furlong race in Class II during the month of December had enthused her owners. Southern Bay, Nadia, Spearhead and Spark Of Silver had all performed creditably at the highest level, and were fancied ahead of the others. Nadia had run a couple of nice races over extended trips at Pune, but a longish absence from racing had seemingly blunted her chances. Since most of the others had limitations of stamina, this race had an “open” look. However, the betting charts revealed that Drop Of Honey was the rank outsider in the day’s feature.

With Mountain Range getting withdrawn at the gates , only seven of them took off to a level start. The speedy Camorra shot into a long lead and powered away from Spearhead, Southern Bay and Nadia. Drop Of Honey and Spark Of Silver kept each other company in fifth and sixth, while Golden Viper graced the rear. The field was spread right across the track as Camorra led by almost ten lengths as they took the rising ground at the four furlong marker and made their way towards the home bend. With most of the riders pulling out their whips, the field began to bunch up in the straight. The first ones beaten at this stage were Southern Bay and Spearhead. They failed to quicken and faded from the scene. The pink colours of Drop Of Honey were the only ones prominent at this stage. Under some hard riding from John, Drop Of Honey made up much ground on the wide outside and sailed past a tiring Camorra. Within the next few seconds, she lengthened her strides and stormed clear of the rest. Nadia made up a bit of ground towards the inner rails and managed to beat Camorra into third place. The winning margin of a widening four lengths tells the complete story. This brilliant effort from the seven year old earned her the right to represent Bangalore at the bigger event to be held this year at Kolkata. Tharun Thimmaiah deserves credit for his mare’s performance.

Apart from pocketing the day’s feature, John had already won both the maiden events held earlier in the afternoon. He started the day by steering Neil Darashah’s Nabisco to an effortless victory in the day’s opener. This was a chance ride for him, as the declared rider Jimmy Fortune failed to arrive in time from Mumbai to fulfil this engagement. The big made colt stood out on paddock looks and received all round support to start as an odds-on favourite. Allowing Royal Rein to lead briefly, John had Nabisco in striking position at the bend. John allowed him to move ahead at that stage and took over the running. It ceased to be a race thereafter. Nabisco strode away from a tired bunch of horses and wasn’t unduly pressed to cross the winning post ahead of Super Start, Blackbird and Whimsical. After a lethargic beginning, Super Start made up a bit of ground to end a fair second. The others may take a long time to emerge from the maiden ranks.

Prasanna Kumar’s three year old Wings Of Fortune won the next maidens event in the day’s card. This first timer, bred as a full brother to the immensely talented Déjà Vu, was a late foal that was quick to come to hand. The fact that he was testing his skills against a pair of experienced rivals ensured some healthy odds in the bookmakers ring. Socrates and Madame Bovary had run against the likes of Solitaire Royale, Duma and Murioi in an earlier event and figured close behind them at the finish. With Jimmy Fortune donning silks on Socrates, this Satish Narredu trainee was the first choice of many punters. The Byramji camp was equally optimistic about Madame Bovary’s chances.  With Assiduous setting a strong pace, the horses were strung out in single file as they tackled the back-stretch. While Socrates stayed in touch with the leader, Madame Bovary got into traffic problems and went out of contention. The one that moved steadily in fourth spot was Wings Of Fortune. Assiduous stayed close to the inner rails and maintained his early advantage . Socrates shot his bolt at the bend and faded out of contention. Just as Assiduous was being hailed a winner, John ridden Wings Of Fortune appeared on the scene. Moving with giant strides thereafter, he overtook Assiduous with a measure of comfort and strode away for a remarkable victory. Madame Bovary picked up late momentum to canter into third place ahead of a tired pair of Tiger Eyes and Socrates. The winner is a good type and is sure to relish this experience.

The shortest priced winner during the afternoon was Irfan Ghatala’s Wind And Flight. This last outing winner defied the handicapper by carrying a stiff penalty to a comfortable victory. For most track reporters, he was the day’s best betting proposition. The manner in which he had won in a lower category a few weeks ago had shown them that he had the ability to repeat. Paul Mulrennan  kept him away from traffic problems by utilizing his early speed. Taking him to the front from a wide draw, he led at a steady pace from Samara Sun and Hard To Pin Down . After shaking off his closest pursuers at the bend, he skipped clear in the straight and opened up a winning lead thereafter. By the time Truman and Stellar Ambition found their galloping shoes, the race was over. Wind And Flight scored by a dwindling margin from the pair of them. The winner is sure to get another stiff penalty for today’s victory, and it may not be out of place to say that he will find it tough to score against higher opposition. Amongst the beaten brigade, Stellar Ambition gave signals of an early success.

B Puttanna’s Sudden Magic was a handsome winner of the top division of a seven furlong race reserved for horses in Class II. With quite a few stable’s having fancied participants in this race, one could back anything at 4’s and over. Rank outsiders Ice Mint and Gun Salute set a strong pace ahead of Sudden Magic , Thoughts N Actions and Free Law. With the leading pair going wide at the bend, Sudden Magic took the shortest way home. With the aid of the inner rails ,Sreekanth utilized his known turn-of-foot and sent him to the front. Taking no further chances, he put his head down and rode strongly. Sudden Magic burst clear of the pack and sealed the issue much before he actually passed the winning post. The others were only fighting for the minor places. Free Law moved the best of rest and took the second berth ahead of a late rushing Atlas Power and Thoughts N Actions.  The one that impressed  most was Atlas Power. The seven year old made up much ground from the back and was the fastest finishing horse in the closing stages of this race. He looks capable of winning amongst a similar set of horses later in the season.

After winning the lower version of the above event on the race track, Darius Byramji’s Matias had to re-confirm the result in the Stewards Room. In an open betting affair in which there was strong support for Mark Of Genius and Wild Nexus, a number of horses had an equal chance at the bend. A tightly packed group led by Balas Glory entered the straight and almost six of them made their moves at the same juncture. The two market fancies were nowhere to be sighted. Matias emerged from the pack, but she too was under pressure to retain her advantage. Ashish goaded her relentlessly and ensured that she was the first across the wire. Astounding Gallop moved menacingly towards the inner rails while Aztec Gold made up much ground on the wide outside. They were close to each other as they flashed past the final post. Astounding Gallop’s rider Mudassar raised an objection against the winner. He contended that his mount had suffered an  interference at a crucial juncture of this race. Finding no evidence of the same on tape, the Stewards took very little time to over-rule the same. 

A sprint race for horses rated 20-45 was also split into two divisions. There were further shocks awaiting racegoers in both of them. The upper division had a strong favourite in Boudicca. This filly had almost toppled on-money favourite Anfield in her previous start and shown that she is ready to strike. On the other hand, Nityanand’s Loyal King had performed poorly all winter and was available once again at 50/1 in the betting rings. Boudicca tracked a runaway Magic Wave till the bend before making her final move. Under some vigorous riding from Ashish, she established a clear advantage in the final furlong. However, her dominance was short-lived. With Loyal King looming large towards the centre of the track, the public choice was in for a fight. With Ashish dropping his whip, the fight became closer. N Rajesh managed to nudge Loyal King further and the pair won by a whisker at the end. Boudicca was undoubtedly unlucky today.

A similar finish in the other division saw top-weighted Indian getting up in the nick of time to beat Youre Gorgeous into second place. The favourite Air Display put up a pathetic show to finish off the frame. Vivek and Youre Gorgeous got off to a flier at the gates and led at a steady pace from Indian, Air Display and Shared Heart, as the runners tackled the first half of their journey. She maintained a firm hold on this event even at the bend. With Air Display and Shared Heart fading out of contention, it was left for Indian to do the “chasing”. Apprentice Rajesh Kumar got him onto an even keel and gave him a couple of back-handers. Indian moved strongly thereafter and went marginally ahead of the front-runner. Finally, it was the winning post that came to the rescue of Indian. The tiring five year old clung onto his slender advantage and added another point to trainer Babu Rao’s tally.

The only other race in the day’s card witnessed a brave performance from Samar Singh’s Apollo King, who literally came from “nowhere” to post a seemingly impossible victory. It was a  mile handicap for horses five years old and over in class III. On the basis of his late second behind Cinnamon Rush over a shorter trip on Derby Day, the connections of Apollo King decided to run him in this race on Saturday. He was set to oppose a strong favourite in Rich Radiant, who too had been searching for an elusive victory. While rest of the runners flew out of the gates, Apollo King lost a lot of ground at the start. After walking for the first few yards, he started to canter. There was a yawning gap between him and the front-runners as the field approached the far corner. Grand Success and Ground Marshall made most of the running as they approached the straight. A couple of things were noticed at the final bend. Favourite Rich Radiant made a quick move from mid-division to challenge Ground Marshal, while Apollo King moved steadily on the wide outside to join the fray. The three of them were almost alongside at the distance post. With apprentice Noornabi continuing to use his stick, Apollo King moved the best of the lot and scored a decisive victory. Rich Radiant and Ground Marshal ended at regular intervals to take the minor slots. In his present condition, and with a relatively better start, Apollo King is capable of defying the handicapper.