Irfan Ghatala’s Chul Bul Pandy put up a brilliant display while sprinting away with The Kanteerva Cup, the feature in an eight event card conducted at Bangalore on Saturday. This regularly campaigned horse won his third race this season, and showed that he is one of the best sprinters at this centre.  Even though there were only eight runners in this race, the competition was intense. Cecil, Chul Bul Pandy, Cape Ferrat and Smooth Glider had faced each other on a number of occasions, and the weights had been changing after every meeting. Irfan Ghatala altered this equation by claiming an allowance on Chul Bul Pandy. With four kilos off his back, he ran with more than a realistic chance of beating Cecil and Cape Ferrat. Those who doubted the abilities of a relatively inexperienced Arshad Alam to handle this fluent galloper, decided to stay with Cecil. The Dhariwal trainee was accordingly backed down to firm favouritism ahead of Chul Bul Pandy, Cape Ferrat and Smooth Glider. Since Cape Ferrat had beaten Cecil in their most recent meeting at Malakpet, there were some who decided to support him. What looked like an “open” affair before the start, turned out to be a one horse race. Chul Bul Pandy lived upto his fine paddock looks and trounced his opponents.

The race got off to to swift start with Cape Ferrat and Smooth Glider fighting for the early lead ahead of Chul Bul Pandy and Bryant Park. Cecil was caught wide and was seen traveling in mid group at this stage. With Chul Bul Pandy joining the leaders, the three of them were almost abreast at the bend. Mudassar released his hold on Cape Ferrat and asked him to “go”. The chestnut did his best, but it wasn’t good enough. He was soon joined and passed by Chul Bul Pandy. With Arshad Alam pushing him hand-n-heels, the latter got stronger at the finish. He strode away comfortably to register one of the easiest victories of his career. A tired Cape Ferrat was good enough to hold Cecil and Sunstone at the finish. Cecil ran below form and took down a lot of good money along with him. On the other hand, Sunstone ran one of his best races in recent months. Another runner that caught the eye was Atlantus. After gracing the tail end of the pack till well into the straight, he was seen gaining ground on Cecil and Sunstone.

On a day when most favourites took a pounding, the only one to emerge unscathed was Dhariwal’s Agostini. Running in The Ardent Knight Trophy, he was opposed by a nice set of maidens. A number of them had already had a start and figured on the result boards. Quietly fancied Bering Sea was the only one amongst them that was making his debut. On the basis of his second to Czar of Romance, Agostini started as the even money favourite in this race. This was the first time that he was being partnered by the retained jockey of the stable. Unlike in his earlier starts, wherein he had led from the word “go”, Trevor chose to play the waiting game. He allowed Peter Parker, Bering Sea , Assiduous  and Supreme Regime to do the early running. Holding Agostini in restraint till the bend, he made his move only in the straight. The colt moved steadily towards the leading group and overtook them comfortably. With Trevor waving his whip at Agostini, the bay  lengthened his strides to post a handsome victory. Bering Sea, Supreme Regime and a late finishing Noble Path were huddled together while filling the minor placings on the result boards. Agostini clocked a smart timing over seven furlongs today and confirmed that he will be even more comfortable over an extended trip. With this sort of improvement, he is sure to run prominently during the summer season.

Since Trevor had won the previous race in the day’s card with Fantastic Strike, Agostini’s victory completed a quick double for him. Ganapathy’s Fantastic Strike had run five times this season without success. Even though he had been figuring regularly on the board, there was little to suggest that he could win over a mile today. The betting was restricted to Alianz and Beautiful Life in this race.  Trevor adopted unusual tactics astride Fantastic Strike and took him to the front. The five year old enjoyed his freedom in front and galloped well within himself till the bend. Vega tried to keep pace with him till that stage, but got tired thereafter. Beautiful Life and Alianz made strong bids in the final furlong, but were unable to get the better of him. Fantastic Strike dug deep into his reserves of stamina and won by a diminishing margin from the two market fancies.

The other professional to do well was trainer Sharat Kumar, who saddled a couple of long priced winners on Saturday. His decision to entrust Perfect Attitude to A Imran Khan paid rich dividends in the day’s opener. This horse had been tried from the back in all his past runs. Imran made use of his inner draw and pushed him to the front. The pair set a steady pace ahead of Claara, while joint favourites Independence Day and Turf Fame were seen struggling at the back. With nothing really getting close to him, Perfect Attitude carried on his good work in front and added another point to Sharat Kumar’s tally. Independence Day moved well at the end to wrest the second spot from Claara.

With Carlos Henrique reporting sick, Ryan Marshall got a chance ride on Sharat’s Ground Marshal. His third a month ago to Apollo King and Rich Radiant showed that Ground Marshal was running back into form. Here again, front running tactics proved to be decisive. The six year old darted out of the gates and opened-up a three length lead over Grand Success and Saratoga Spring. Favourite Miss Ching found the pace too hot to handle and finished in the ruck. The action in front got interesting in the straight.  Grand Success and Mi Amor looked threatening near the distance post, but with Ryan making free use of his whip, Ground Marshall clung onto his early advantage. He was distinctly lucky to hold on by a very narrow margin from Grand Success. Mi Amor and Saratoga Spring fought gallantly for the third spot. Now that Saratoga Spring seems to have got over his “blood-vessel” problem, one can expect Satish Narredu to pick up a similar race with him.

B Puttanna’s Sweet Secret shocked the followers of form by scoring as a 40/1 outsider . She was running against horses that had beaten her repeatedly this season. Even her paddock looks gave no sign of this victory as she showed a marked deterioration in her physical condition. Mudassar claimed two kilos off her back and used her initial speed to advantage. The fancied trio of Whistlejacket, Stellar Ambition and Truman showed little urgency as they expected Sweet Secret to come back at them. However, they were taken by surprise. The filly quickened further and opened-up a four length lead at the bend. Only one runner quickened from the back, and that was Whistlejacket. With David Allan urging him strongly, he devoured ground to finish within a length of the leader. Truman accelerated on the wide outside to beat Next Move into fourth place. Whistlejacket is in great heart, and he will be too good to miss the day he is campaigned over a sprint at a low weight in the higher category.

Narayan Gowda’s Indian joined the list of those who had scored a hat-trick this season by winning his third straight race within a span of six weeks. He had won a sprint with a late bid last month, and since the margin of victory was very small that day, he had escaped with a light penalty. The connections felt that the seven furlong trip would be better suited for him, and therefore, pitched him over that distance today. Their decision paid rich dividends, as Indian lived upto their expectations.He tracked a runaway Purple Glow till the bend before assuming command of the proceedings. Not bothered about what was happening behind him, he sped past the finishing line. Public choice Adonis came through a troubled passage to finish ahead of A Game To Remember. Well supported Living Legend put up a doleful show to finish in the ruck.

The shortest priced favourite to bite the dust was Prithviraj’s Balance Of Nature. The four year old filly had been carefully brought down in handicap to have a serious touch on her. The fact that the opposition appeared very weak today, added to the hype around her chances. She was backed all morning at 2/1 , and the odds on her shortened to 70/100 as the runners stepped towards the starting gates. Vaideeshwaran took a good jump with her from the innermost draw and the pair settled down in second spot behind a runaway Magic Wave. Balance of Nature made heavy weather of catching the leader and took her time to overhaul him. She succeeded in doing so near the distance post, but did not accelerate as expected. Even though there was nothing that looked threatening from behind, Balance Of Nature was definitely shortening her strides. To the dismay of those who had wagered on her, Satish Narredu trained Deep Blue Sea got up in the nick of time to nail the favourite close to the winning post. Boudicca, Jeyem’s Pride and Magic Wave ended side by side to occupy the minor berths in this race.