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King of the Turf brings off a stunning upset

By Sharan Kumar | 24 Jun 2006 | BANGALORE


King Of The Turf (M.Kharadi up) winner of the Karnataka Sub-Area Cup, being led in by owner Mr.B.L.Sanjeev Kumar & trainer Mr.G.Sandhu

Trainer Gregory Sandhu certainly deserves credit for the remarkable success he has had with Mumbai import King of the Turf who claimed the 1400 metres Karnataka Sub-Area Cup, a race for horses rated 40 and above, which featured Saturday's races. An average performer at Mumbai and not exploited to the full by his erstwhile trainer, King of the Turf has reeled off a few wins at Mysore and he proved his mettle even against top class opposition in Bangalore, albeit with the help of a slice of luck. King of the Turf beat a creditable field quite convincingly except Aashirwaad who could have edged out the eventual winner but for the luck of the race going against him. Romantic Getaway and Green Bax were more fancied than the rest, with muted support for Aashirwaad and no visible support for King of the Turf. Soon after the start, the saddle on Fioredoro slipped and jockey Paswan was a helpless passenger on the horse and the horse caused quite a few headaches to others in the fray as he came in their way. Imran Khan on Aashirwaad found himself behind Fioredoro and again he found no opening when he swiftly moved through the rails in the homestretch and had to switch wide which cost him a certain race. Green Bax held the initiative till the final furlong but he failed to sustain and King of the Turf came up with a flourish and went clear and held on to win from a late-finishing Aashirwaad. Green Bax was third while Romantic Getaway was a disappointing fourth. Jockey Malcolm Kharadi, who guided King of the Turf to victory, had earlier won on Mumbai challenger Lahinch who justified the short price on him with a fairly comfortable win though the margin of victory did not suggest this. Kodava Fire led the field from the word 'go' and battled on but Lahinch who got strong close home, surged ahead quite easily. Arturo was a suggestive third. Jockey Kharadi feels that Lahinch is more effective over longer trips and the Bangalore track puts limitations on his actual abilities. Jet Fire who had showed out in a mock race, won the High Commission Cup (Div.I) despite a slow getaway. Jet Fire was none too well placed at the top of the straight but covered ground swiftly and went past the front-running Elmwood close home. Billy Blackjack was third. Amazing Look disappointed. The lower division of the race went the way of Appeasing who won quite impressively. Though the breeding suggests that Appeasing would be more at home over long trips, the fact that she won over a sprint in fine fashion, augurs well for the Razeen progeny. Jaggy Dhariwal trained Carra Mia recorded a facile start to finish win in the B R Ram Memorial Plate, a race for horses rated 40 to 70. There was strong support for Maximise but the Hyderabad challenger was flat-footed, unable to cope with the speed of Carra Mia. Game Fighter who ran prominently held on to the second ahead of Cote D'Azur who beat Maximise to the third spot. Hidalgo was supported with conviction and the son of Local Talent obliged with a late flourish, to down the front-running Nano Blue in the dying moments of the race. Favourite Sir Creek failed to sustain despite being at the busy end right from the start. Bullet Proof let down his supporters with a listless performance and Worth A Diamond was the beneficiary who won at the expense of a late-finishing Okinawa. Spring Fair got a good opening along the rails in the final furlong and won the concluding race quite capably from Key To Relax and Sarvaguna Sampanna. The last named could do well if campaigned over a longer trip. Graduate who received strong support, packed up without a trace when the race was on the boil.