A long card of nine events was held on the concluding day of The Bangalore Winter Season 2012-13 on Saturday. The traditional running of The Bangalore Juvenile Million (Grade III) highlighted the day’s proceedings. With almost Two Million on offer to the winner, this race attracted the best three year olds based in this part of the country. The arrival of Bipin Salvi’s Ace Bucephalus from Mysore, added further interest to the day’s feature. A majority of the runners had posted impressive victories while emerging from the maiden ranks, and since most of them were tackling the seven furlong trip for the first time in their careers, it was difficult to separate them on paper. As there were no penalties for having won earlier, the dozen runners were set to compete at level terms. After a fine effort on debut, Neil Darashah’s Miracle Memories had been doing some great work. According to most track reporters, he was in good condition and the extended trip would not be a problem. The presence of leading jockey PS Chouhan in the saddle was an added advantage. He was accordingly installed as the 2/1 favourite to land this coveted trophy. Ace Bucephalus had run and won twice at Mysore, and both times over 1400 metres. The timings that he had clocked were commendable and there were many who felt that he was a top class horse. Padmanabhan’s Artorius had shown a nice turn-of-foot a few weeks ago, and he was another one that roused interest in the betting rings. All in all, this race had an interesting look about it. But at the end of it all, there was only one horse that could be sighted near the winning post.

First-timer Accuracy leapt out of the gates and set a strong pace ahead of Miracle Memories, Artorius. Light Of Success, Agostini, Turf Striker and Ace Bucephalus were a few lengths behind the leaders, while the others came off the bridle as the runners took the rising ground near the three furlong marker. It was at this stage that Chouhan decided to take Miracle Memories to the front. He realized that a number of jockeys were looking for a clear passage from behind, and he wanted to stay clear of traffic problems. Miracle Memories enjoyed a slender advantage over Agostini, Turf Striker and Artorius at the the final bend. Ace Bucephalus was forced to travel the widest of all and he was seen doing some good work towards the centre of the track. The race came to a boil thereafter. Each and every runner was under pressure to move forward. The one that showed sparkling acceleration was Miracle Memories. He responded gamely to Chouhan’s urgings and skipped clear of the pack. Despite being eased up near the winning post, he won by a widening margin from Artorius, Ace Bucephalus and Turf Striker. A mere “head” separated the three of them at the wire. This was a praiseworthy performance from Neil Darashah’s colt.  He is a compact looking specimen with a “strong engine”, and we are sure to hear a lot about him in the Bangalore Summer Season.

The Seasonal Honours were presented by the Chairman of the Club to the various winners. Veteran trainer Dhariwal , who had led from the beginning of the season, was able to retain his advantage till the very end. It was the same with jockey PS Chouhan. He ended up winning double the number of races as compared to his nearest rival. There is no doubt that he is in the best form of his life and is obviously much sought after by his patrons. He signed-off in style by scoring a treble on Saturday, with Arjun Mangalorkar’s Talita’s Girl being his final winner of the season. Sheer perseverance paid rich dividends for Chouhan’s efforts astride this on-money favourite. What looked like a hopeless cause at the bend , was successfully achieved near the winning post. Slow starter Abba’s Dream had made up much ground from the back to lead into the straight. The top weighted four year old got the better of Simra near the distance post and looked poised for a narrow victory. However, that was not to be. Chouhan brought Talita’s Girl with a flourish towards the inner rails and the pair got up in time to claim the first prize.

The middle leg of his treble was the victory astride  Dominic’s Love Is Life. Despite four runs this winter, the three year old had failed to emerge from the maiden ranks. He was lucky to run into some mediocre opponents today. Debutant Southern Emperor from Ganapathy’s yard looked good in the parade ring. This well-bred colt had been subjected to some strenuous preparation, and his fans were hoping for a fine performance from him. But Southern Emperor ran “green” during the early stages of the race and took a lot of time to discover his rhythm. By the time that happened, the race was over. Love Is Life tracked rank outsider Raj Guru into the final furlong and overwhelmed him thereafter. Dofantasy, who was holding the third spot throughout, was beaten back into fourth by Southern Emperor on the post.

It could very well have been four for the day for Chouhan, had Rumour Has It managed to collar Rock With U in the day’s opener. It was the upper division of the above mentioned race. Rumour Has It started as the clear favourite ahead of Fioroloco and Winged Foot. Khurshad Alam took  Britto trained Rock With U to the front and opened up a large lead at the bend. Winged Foot and Fioroloco got off to a tardy start and lost most of their chances by running erratically  in the back-stretch. Rock With U got tired in the straight and began to slow down progressively. However, Rumour Has It took her time to quicken. Even though she managed to chip away at the lead, she was still a bit “shy” at the wire. Rock With U had managed to hold on to his initial advantage. Winged Foot and Strike The Stars were seen doing some good work in the closing stages of this race, and both of them can be ear-marked for early successes in the summer months.

The other professional to do well on Saturday was trainer Satish Narredu , who scored a double through Mountain Range and Mountain High. The Leading Stud Trophy, a mile handicap for horses in Class I, saw Mountain Range making a winning debut in the highest category. After picking up an age group race in the middle of class III in early January, this big made horse showed a lot of improvement to win amongst top class opponents today. With favourite Maths Baby losing precious ground at the start, Mountain Range’s task became a bit easier. DK Ashish waited patiently behind Severstahl and Lad King , and hoped for an opening on the rails. The same materialized at the bend. Seizing the opportunity, he pushed vigorously and asked Mountain Range for an effort. Making free use of his whip, he managed to wrest the intitiative and score ahead of Lad King, Valahak and Maths Baby. There was no doubt that the last named was distinctly unlucky today. Had Maths Baby taken a level start,  we may have seen a different result.

Mountain High had injured himself in the starting gates , when he was carrying the public purse in a class III sprint a few days ago. The trainer picked up a similar race in the higher class for him on Saturday. As a result of this move, Mountain High was assigned the bottom weight in this race. The presence of Lads Ability and Smooth Glider , saw Mountain High starting as a relative outsider. Saddam Hussain allowed the two fancied runners to lead him into the straight. Since Smooth Glider got tired and rolled off his track, Mountain High was lucky to  be presented with a clear opening . The five year old relished his postage stamp weight and powered past the leader. He skipped clear of Lads Ability and won comfortably. In a close finish for the third place, Smooth Glider clung onto that spot, marginally ahead of a late rushing Hillsboro.

Suleiman Attaolahi’s Cirque Du Soleil thrived under Shahnawaz’s guidance to gallop away with a seven furlong handicap for horses rated 40-65. It was a chance ride for the boy, as declared apprentice Samad had met with an accident on Friday. For the third successive time, Irfan Ghatala’s  Spiritual Star took down a lot of public money. Cirque Du Soleil went to the front and the bandaged four year old enjoyed a slender advantage over Spiritual Star at the bend. With jockey Sandesh in the saddle, Spiritual Star looked poised to overtake the leader. But nothing of the sort happened. While Cirque Du Soleil continued to move strongly towards the winning post, Spiritual Star rolled sideways under pressure and caved-in without a fight. Despite veering towards the outer portion of the grass, quietly supported Go Green hung onto her third spot .

The only other race on Saturday witnessed the closest finish of the afternoon. In a four way affair, Pradeep trained Anfield managed to win by the narrowest of margins from The Muse, Boudicca and Cool Hand. After his easy victory in a lower class, Cool Hand was expected to defy the handicapper. With the four kilos claimed by apprentice Ramu, this horse was running close to his winning mark in this race. A late surge of money in the direction of Anfield , saw this horse climbing to the top of the betting charts. The Muse was another runner that was quietly fancied by her connections. The Muse darted to the front and established a strong grip on this event. While Arshad Alam’s mount Anfield stayed in touch with her, Cool Hand was seen gracing the rear. Ramu made little attempt to improve his position as the runners came into the straight. The Muse continued to hold  sway as they moved towards the finishing line. A number of runners were gaining ground on her. While Boudicca was rallying towards the inner rails, Anfield was moving menacingly on her outside. Not many noticed the movements of Cool Hand, as he was literally out of the race at the bend. The four horses finally ended within whispering distance of each other. Only half a length separated the four of them. It was obvious that Cool Hand had lost a race that he could have won easily. He will be an early winner next season.