Ganapathy trained Light Of Success made every post a winning one in The P Dayanand Pai and P Sathish Pai Bangalore Winter Million at the local races on Saturday. The filly put it across her seven rivals and just managed to get home in the nick of time. This prestigious race had attracted a small field of eight runners. Since winners were seen carrying the statutory penalty of four kilos more than their maiden rivals, we had three winners opposing five maidens in this race. Turf Striker and Light Of Success had scored on this track , while after winning a race at Mysore, Absolute Pleasure had made the trip to compete against them. There was much hype  around Irfan Ghatala’s Absolute Red. This well bred debutant had done some good work and was expected to put up a good performance. The confidence of his connections was reflected by their choice of jockey. Even though Paul Mulrennan was carrying two kilos more than the allocated weight, they had chosen him to partner this nice looking horse. Absolute Red was a strong favourite to land the first prize. Light Of Success and Lagoona were quietly fancied by their respective yards.

Liam Jones took a good jump with Light Of Success and used her early speed to advantage. The pair opened up a healthy lead ahead of Absolute Red and Absolute Pleasure as the runners tackled the first half of their journey. Pacific Blue held fourth , while the others led by Turf Striker were seen maneuvering for advantageous positions. The order remained the same till the top of the straight. Light Of Success continued her good work in front and managed to shake-off Absolute Red at the bend. With the public choice fading out of contention, it was Absolute Pleasure who moved into second place. A little more than a furlong to travel, it seemed as though the leader was home and dry. Light Of Success enjoyed a two length advantage at this stage. But the scene changed suddenly. Turf Striker came with fluent strides and moved towards the leader. With John using his whip freely, the grey moved menacingly and narrowed the gap with every stride. However, the winning post came to the rescue of Light Of Success. The filly got home by a diminishing margin to lift the day’s feature. In fact, the second placed Turf Striker went past her within a couple of strides after the finishing line. Absolute Pleasure ended a tame third. Interestingly, the first three places were cornered by earlier winners. Turf Striker was distinctly unlucky to lose this race. The traffic problems he encountered near the three furlong marker had definitely hampered his progress.

Ganapathy and Liam Jones were again seen to advantage in the very next race of the day. The S Rangarajan Memorial Trophy was a seven furlong handicap for horses in the highest category. Fifteen runners had accepted to face the starter. The field looked so competitive, that it was difficult to nominate the favourite. One fails to recollect in recent memory when the first favourite in a race at Bangalore has been available at 6/1. Quick Enough, Celebrity and Yourewindsofchange headed the betting charts. The field got of to a brisk start. Bryant Park, Magnitude Star, Quick Enough, Sunstone and Chul Bul Pandy raced in close order, and headed a tightly packed bunch till they entered the straight. It was at this stage that Liam Jones made his move astride Quick Enough. Displaying unbelievable acceleration, this Ganapathy trainee spurted to the front and opened up a yawning gap ahead of the others. Those who expected him to get tired in the straight were in for a surprise. He continued to respond to his jockey’s whip and retain a strong hold on this race. The others were spread right across the track and it was difficult to say who would finish second. Finally, it was Valahak who made up much ground on the wide outside and took the second spot ahead of Chul Bul Pandy and Inquisition. Both Valahak and Inquisition made up acres of ground in the straight to finish within whispering distance of each other. The official verdict confirmed that Quick Enough, who had been eased in the final stages, had scored by over four lengths from the rest of them.

An enthusiastic ride from apprentice Noornabi enabled the Dominic stable to dock another point this season. Entrusted with the speedy Clever Trick, the youngster rode a neat race to score a thrilling victory. Having finished close behind Ratham and Diamonite in her last start, Clever Trick headed the betting charts in front of Whistlejacket and Sweet Secret. Making use of her innermost draw, Noornabi pushed Clever Trick into an early advantage and led at a modest pace from a bunched-up group of chasers. Game Dancer and Sweet Secret showed good intent thereafter and were soon clear of Clever Trick and Whistlejacket. The runners began to bunch up at the bend. While Game Dancer and Sweet Secret shifted out under pressure, it was Clever Trick that hugged the rails. At almost the same juncture, Whistlejacket made her move on the wide outside. With about 300 metres still to travel, the four of them were almost abreast. Subsequently, it became a two horse affair. Clever Trick and Whistlejacket moved strongly towards the wire and matched strides with each other. Clever Trick was distinctly lucky to retain her advantage till the very end. Sweet Secret ended a tame third.

Apart from Liam Jones, the other rider to score a double was David Allan. Riding with great confidence, he steered JS Pillay’s Rich Celebration to a comfortable victory in the lower division of the above event.. Irfan Ghatala’s Spiritual Star was the rage in this sprint. Even though she had flopped as an odds-on favourite in her previous start, the presence of Paul Mulrennan  in the saddle seemed to energise her backers. Her odds continued to shrink as the runners entered the starting gates. Spiritual Star was a bit slow out of the gates and her jockey decided to hold her in mid group till the bend. Point Taken, Union Jack and Firelight did the early running and brought them into the straight. Both Rich Celebration and Spiritual Star were travelling close to each other till that point in time. While David Allan saved ground and brought Rich Celebration through the middle of the pack, Paul Mulrennan chose to travel on the very wide outside. Within the next few seconds, the race was more or less over. Under some strong urgings from her rider, Rich Celebration opened up a winning lead and strode away from the rest. Spiritual Star did some good work at the end to move into second place ahead of Divine Deliverance and Point Taken. This was the second time in a row that Spiritual Star had taken down a lot of money, and it may not be a bad idea to leave her alone from a betting perspective in the near future.

David Allan got an armchair ride to victory astride Decorated in the concluding event of the afternoon. Nityanand had chosen to run her in a lower category after her suggestive second last month against class II rivals. The heavy impost did not bother her in any way, and she relished her new found freedom. David eased her into an early lead from the word “go”, and the mare proved to be too good for the other thirteen. Hugging the rails, she kept increasing the tempo and never allowed anyone to come close to her. Viva Diva moved into second place at the bend, but she too was outpaced thereafter. It was finally left to Living Legend and Super Surprise to save place money for their respective yards. In case Decorated gets away with a marginal penalty, she has the ability to repeat before the conclusion of this season. Incidentally, Decorated enabled Nityanand to complete a well backed double today.

Nityanand had already won the day’s opener with Brave Cat. With the withdrawal of hot favourite Novel Approach, a seven furlong race for horses six year old and over looked like a “gift” for Brave Cat. With the quality of her opposition being extremely poor, she was backed at almost all prices to start as a short-priced favourite. Gnaneshwar gave her a comfortable ride and breezed past the rest to score an expected victory. Allowing Six Shooter and Mystere to lead on sufferance, he made his move in the straight. Brave Cat lengthened her strides and went clear of the others. Indravati and Cash Is King made up ground from the back to take the minor placings ahead of a tiring Mystere and Six Shooter. It is learnt that the winner is being retired to stud after this race.

An unfortunate incident at the gates resulted in the defeat of half-money favourite Scuffle in a class IV sprint on Saturday. The colt jumped awkwardly from the gates, almost came to his knees thereafter and was lucky not to have parted company with John in this race. The four year old had made a belated start to his career this winter, and had stunned racegoers with a pillar to post victory under an apprentice. His paddock looks confirmed that he had stripped much fitter after that day. The only other horse to receive some sort of support against him was Key Of Knowledge, while punters could literally write their own card on the others. With Scuffle losing all his chances after that early accident, it was Lightning Express and Jeyem’s Pride that showed the way to Affrikah and Key Of Knowledge. Scuffle managed to raise a fluent gallop to come close to the leader, but had nothing in the tank when they straightened for home. Apprentice Mudassar urged Jeyem’s Pride to overtake Lightning Express, and the filly moved ahead of the others. Even though Key Of Knowledge and Affrikah looked dangerous in the closing stages of this race, they were unable to catch the Puttanna trained Jeyem’s Pride. For the records, Scuffle stopped in his tracks to end a dismal last.