An eight event card postponed from last Saturday was conducted at the Bangalore Turf Club on Tuesday. Heavy rains over the last week or so had rendered the track unfit for racing. With the penetrometer readings coming down from almost 8.0 to a more manageable 5.4, the authorities decided to go ahead with the announced programme. The Dharmaprakasha LS Venkaji Rao Memorial Cup, a 1400 metres handicap for horses rated in the highest category, was slotted as the day’s feature. The ten runners in this race lacked current form, and with many of them searching for their first victory in class I, this race had the makings of a potboiler. The bookmakers were equally confused and were happy to offer 5/1 and more for the entire field. Since Raphire had carried the top weight in a lower class to a second place finish behind Cirque Du Soleil during the opening weekend this summer, he was a marginal favourite ahead of the others.

Vijays Conquer used his early speed to set a strong pace in this race. He moved ahead of State Secret, Talisker, Silken Touch and Raphire as they tackled the rising ground near the three furlong marker. Archibaldo and Zultanite crept towards the outer portion of the track as the runners straightened for home. State Secret overtook the early leader and managed to open up a nice looking advantage at that stage. With Talisker, Raphire , Silken Touch and Zultanite failing to make any impression , it was left to a Archibaldo and Atlantus to improve their positions. While Archibaldo came through the middle, Atlantus was forced to switch to the wide outside. Under some strong riding from Ashish, Prasanna Kumar trained Archibaldo moved the best of the lot. He galloped resolutely to settle the issue. Atlantus found late foot to beat State Secret into third place. The one that is sure to benefit from today’s exercise is State Secret. Despite looking slightly gross in the parade ring, she ran a very nice race.

It is not often that a race generates too much hype at the acceptance stage. The Speaker’s Cup, a seven furlong handicap for horses in Class II, was one such event. Three “Classic” hopefuls were using this race as a lead-up to their summer campaign. While Neil Darashah’s Miracle Memories and Deshmukh’s Decathlon were unbeaten, Dominic trained Czar Of Romance had also won two out of his three career starts. All of them were facing older horses for the first time in their careers. The local handicapper had rated them within a couple of kilos of each other. With the track racing a bit slow because of heavy rains, it was clear that these youngsters would be tested for stamina. Apart from Czar Of Romance, who had won The Governor’s Trophy over a mile, the other two had never run beyond a seven. A rumour about Czar Of Romance’s fitness led to a strange scenario in the betting rings. With loads of money coming onto Miracle Memories, the colt started as an even-money favourite in this race. Decathlon was available at 3/1, while Czar Of Romance was friendless at 6’s and over. Those who chose to ignore his chances paid a heavy price for their decision.

Mister India led the nine horse field and set a strong gallop for the first half of their journey. He was chased all the time by Miracle Memories on the rails and Czar Of Romance on his outside. Decathlon was noticed to be under pressure and was seen being niggled at that stage. An opportunistic move by Zervan before the bend , led to an altered scenario. He overtook Miracle Memories and moved within striking distance of Mister India, as the runners entered the straight. Jagadeesh astride Miracle Memories was caught napping, and the youngster had to switch lanes to loom on the wide outside. Both Czar Of Romance and Miracle Memories were put under pressure by their partners. While Czar Of Romance put his head down and galloped straight towards the finishing line, Miracle Memories tried to move outwards under pressure. By the time Jagadeesh could straighten his head, the race was over. Under some powerful riding from Mumbai Champion Zervan, Czar Of Romance stole a march and won comfortably from Miracle Memories and a late finishing Decathlon. The last named made heavy weather of tackling the uphill track at Bangalore. If the rumours about Czar Of Romance’s fitness are taken at face value, then he is the one who has the maximum scope for improvement. Dominic’s yard will be hugely optimistic about his chances in The Colts Championship that will be run in about two weeks from today.

A mile handicap for older horses in class IV produced a dead-heat. Due to a technical glitch, the photo finish camera was not in operation and it was left to the Judge to make all decisions. Not wanting to take any chances in a close finish , he chose to announce such a verdict. It was a rare moment to see top riders Zervan and Suraj Narredu scoring their first wins of the season in the same race. Zervan rode another Dominic trainee named Rebuttal’s Hope in this race, while Suraj partnered Amit Caddy’s Royal Admiral. There was strong support for both of them with the bookmakers. Making use of his innermost draw, Zervan pushed Rebuttal’s Hope to the front and set a fair pace ahead of Royal Admiral and the others. Only a length separated them as they took the final bend. With both riders working ceaselessly on their respective mounts, it was a pleasure to see them in the straight. Moving side by side, the pair was locked together as they flashed past the winning post. Alianz made a late bid from the rear and ended within a length of the two joint winners. Incidentally this result ensured that Dominic, Zervan and Amit Caddy were credited with personal “double’s” for the afternoon.

 Amit Caddy had already won the day’s opener with Bank On Me. After making all the running, the four year old filly had held onto a diminishing lead from the heavily gambled The Muse. In fact, the morning favourite in this event was Nayan Star. After a couple of second placed finishes amongst three year olds, the filly had failed to emerge from the maiden ranks. Neil Darashah decided to run her against older horses on Tuesday. With money pouring onto The Muse, Nayan Star was quickly displaced from the top of the betting charts. To add to the woes of her fans, Nayan Star took off lethargically and left most of her chances at the starting gates. She made up a bit of ground to finish a distant fifth at the end. The action in front involved Bank With Me and The Muse. Ably handled by apprentice Ramu, the former continued to fight bravely till they sailed past the finishing line. The winner has apparently overcome the problems that she faced after an “operation” that she underwent about four months ago. Haute Ecole rallied along the inner rails to save place money for her followers.

 The upper division of the above race was won by a short-priced favourite named Jersey Shore. The bay colt had trounced a bunch of maidens in his previous start, and was running in “open” company for the first time in his short career. Like so many other youngsters who have already won such races this season, he was another lucky one that had been retained in class IV by the handicapper. Making full use of this opportunity, trainer Puttanna had little hesitation in entrusting him to Srinath. The jockey was totally unconcerned by the fact that Twinklingofaneye had established a long lead at the bend. Srinath knew that he was astride a talented horse that would respond favourably to his “call”. The pair made their move in the straight. In a matter of seconds, Jersey Shore overtook the leader and cantered away to justify the short odds quoted on him by the bookmakers. While Twinklingofaneye retained her second spot, there was a mad scramble for the third place. Active Grey and Jeraleine came with a late burst to go past Bold Nature in the final furlong. Jersey Shore has the potential to mature into a top class sprinter.

 A speedy performance by Whispering Gallery enabled her to waltz away with the Smart Chieftain Trophy. It was a scurry for maiden three year olds based at Bangalore. Darius Byramji’s Salzburg had failed to match strides with Jersey Shore in winter, and after starting as an on-money choice of the racing public, had caved-in tamely on that day. Despite her jockey’s strong urgings in the straight she had failed to make up any ground on the winner. Salzburg had been subjected to steady preparation thereafter. The light-framed filly had been blazing the track in recent times, and with Franco DaSilva astride, was strongly fancied by her connections. On the other hand, Neil Darashah’s camp had an ace up their sleeve in the form of Whispering Gallery. She had been a very expensive purchase, and her recent gate practice was outstanding. Not wanting to push her any further, Neil had gauged her potential perfectly. Being satisfied with what he had seen, he chose to enter her in this race. Taking off like a scalded cat, Whispering Gallery made every post a winning one. Jagadeesh had the pleasure of riding her hands-n-heels in the straight.She never gave  a chance to the heavily punished Salzburg. The other nine were totally out-classed in this event.

 The day ended on a dismal note for the punters when Lokanath’s Magnomical performed like a damp squib and took down a lot of their money. Having run well in a younger set of runners a couple of weeks ago, Magnomical was pitted against horses of her own age today.  Moreover, she had a stronger rider to guide her fortunes. None amongst her ten rivals had the form to win this race, and based on the abovementioned facts, she was backed down to even-money favouritism. Her backers got further enthused by the fact that her vanquisher Catamaran came out and defied a winning penalty earlier in the afternoon.Taking a good jump from an outside draw, Arshad Alam was able to bring Magnomical into a forward position in the early stages of this event. She tracked Game Dancer, Affirmative and Living Legend till the bend before making her move. Instead of overtaking those in front of her, she ducked inwards under pressure. It was obvious at that stage itself that the favourite was in trouble. In the midst of all this, Living Legend slipped through the inner rails and sped away to record an easy victory. Vaideeshwaran rode this Sharat Kumar trainee with a lot of confidence. Starista appeared late on the scene to finish a comfortable second ahead of  Magnomical and a totally exhausted Game Dancer.