The Chief Justice’s Cup (Grade III), a terms race for horses four years old and over, featured Saturday’s racing at Bangalore. Over the years, this nine furlong event has always attracted large fields. Some of the best four year olds have been seen fighting for the top spot, and the race has never failed to produce interesting results. This year’s edition attracted only eight participants. The first two finishers in the Indian Turf Invitation Cup, namely Tintinnabulation and Ocean And Beyond, were among them. Four year olds An Acquired Taste and Hemisphere, who had failed to make the frame at Kolkata , were better served by the terms today and they were seen receiving weight from the others. Tintinnabulation had been given a mock race a few days ago, and the connections were satisfied with his looks in the parade ring. An Acquired Taste had already won a class I handicap last month, and this was his first attempt to match strides with those in “graded” company. There were many who considered him to be a worthy challenger to the favourite Tintinnabulation in the day’s feature. There was stray support for Ocean And Beyond and Hemisphere with the bookmakers.

A poor jump cost Tintinnabulation about six to seven lengths at the start. While those in front had already settled into a rhythm, this horse was seen stepping out of his gate. Field Marshal and Camorra did the hard work and set a good pace ahead of Panamera, An Acquired Taste and Hemisphere. Ocean And Beyond and Ambrosia chose to race behind them, while Tintinnabulation was struggling at the back. The eight runners took the rising ground and began to get close to each other.. Panamera and An Acquired Taste made their moves at the same juncture, and were at the helm of affairs as they turned for home. Hemisphere moved steadily towards the inner rails and tried to weave his way through the smallish opening, but Zervan ran out of luck once Field Marshal closed the gap. With nowhere to go, he had no option but to drop out of contention. With less than a furlong to travel, An Acquired Taste rallied brilliantly under Sandesh and took over the running. With nothing looking threatening from behind, he enjoyed a safe passage past the finishing line. Panamera and Ocean And Beyond saved place money for their respective supporters. The highly regarded An Acquired Taste was looking much better than what he had looked in his last start. He has it in him to improve from his present mark. It may not be fair to write off Tintinnabulation after this one poor effort, and he must be given another chance. The Altamash Ahmed trainee presented Sandesh with his first winner of the season.

Trainers Suleiman Attaolahi and Babu Rao cornered the day’s honours by saddling a couple of winners during the afternoon. The Ali Asker Memorial Trophy was an added attraction in the eight event card. The sprint handicap for horses in class III saw some older horses conceding weight to a pair of youngsters. Both Alcazaar and Absolute Majority were running for the first time this year. Despite a long lay-off from racing, the pair attracted bulk of the support in the betting rings. With late money coming onto three year old Skylight Express, the race appeared to be headed for a thriller. Suleiman did well to entrust Absolute Majority to Zervan. The champion professional had been working on this horse for almost six weeks and his track trials showed that he was ready to strike. With no-hopers Twinklingofaneye and Sweet Secret fighting for an early advantage, Zervan did well to settle Absolute Majority in box seat. Trevor and Alcazaar were right behind him as the runners moved towards the straight. It became a two horse affair thereafter. Absolute Majority made a smooth move to take over the running, while Alcazaar loomed on his outside. Both Zervan and Trevor got busy astride their respective mounts and those present at the course were treated to an exciting finish. Zervan’s finely balanced ride astride Absolute Majority ensured a safe passage for his mount. The four year old traveled straight as an arrow and succeeded in keeping Alcazaar at bay. Now that Suleiman has nursed Absolute Majority into peak fitness, one can safely assume that this talented horse will win again for his master.

Suleiman’s Charlatan had emerged from the maiden ranks with a top class performance in a seven furlong race a fortnight ago. The timing that he clocked that day had confirmed that he was destined to climb up the ladder. The trainer chose to run him in a nine furlong handicap on Saturday. He was pitted against some talented youngsters like Fastest Finger, Perfect Soul, Archie and Scenic Warrior, all of whom were being tested over this trip for the first time in their careers. Charlatan, who was known to play up in the starting gates, was relatively calm today. He walked-in comfortably and took a perfect start. Trevor eased him into an early lead in the back-stretch and showed the way to Super Start, Fastest Finger and Perfect Soul. Not wanting to push him further, he allowed Fastest Finger and Super Start to go ahead of him. They raced in similar order till the bend. It was at this stage that Trevor  moved him outwards and made a bid towards the centre of the track. Charlatan responded gamely to Trevor’s urgings and sped away to record a facile victory over a late finishing Scenic Warrior, an exhausted Fastest Finger and Perfect Soul. Archie ran poorly to finish off the frame.

Trainer Babu Rao and his stable jockey Rajesh Kumar began the day’s proceedings with a quick double. The day’s opener was a sprint event for horses rated 0-25. In the absence of a clear favourite, this race had the makings of a jigsaw puzzle. Not one amongst the ten runners had done anything of note in recent months, and their paddock looks were equally unimpressive. Shared Heart utilized her early speed to lead from Absolut Chiqui and Cheddar Face, while the others were closely huddled in a tight group as they moved towards the final bend. It was almost impossible to spot the winner, as each one of them was plodding at that stage. The one that was seen making slow progress from the back managed to sneak ahead near the distance post. Under some hard riding from Rajesh Kumar, rank outsider Arthur moved ahead to get the better of Shared Heart, Absolut Chiqui and Summer Sensation.

Their second winner was far more impressive. Despite figuring on the result boards in his last ten starts, seven year old Alianz had been unable to win a race. He had a decent chance of doing so today, but a flurry of activity in the bookmakers ring confused his supporters. With money flowing in the direction of Narayan Gowda’s Shoot Out, that horse started as the 60/100 choice of the punters. Those who had backed him felt that the favourite would carry Sreekanth to an easy victory. However, it did not pan out the way they expected. Shoot Out and Mystere brought the field into view and seemed to be in control of the proceedings at the bend. But both of them were found flat-footed once Alianz appeared on the scene. Weaving his way through the inner rails, he galloped strongly in the straight and won by a widening margin of over eight lengths at the finish. In fact, it was Rajesh Kumar and not Sreekanth, who had an armchair ride to victory in this race. Babu Rao needs to be complimented for turning out Alianz in immaculate condition today..

The Chaitanya Chakram Trophy , a scurry for maiden three year olds, appeared to be a match race between Darius Byramji’s Zenica and Suleiman Attaolahi’s Artic Attraction. While the former had run a couple of forward races in winter against higher class opponents, the latter was beginning her racing career. Both were drawn side-by-side towards the inner rails. Even-money favourite Zenica carried Imran Chisty to the front and showed the way to Grand Applause and Artic Attraction. The three of them kicked clear of the other nine in this race. The order remained exactly the same as they turned for home. While Oscar Chavez and Grand Applause moved steadily alongside Zenica, PS Chouhan tried to bring Artic Attraction towards the inner rails. With Zenica beginning to slow down perceptibly in the final furlong, Artic Attraction was denied an opening and was forced to switch lanes at that stage. The one that was seen moving the best amongst this trio was the Dominic trained Grand Applause. With Oscar waving his whip at him, the chestnut got stronger near the finishing line and skipped clear of Zenica and Artic Attraction. Both the placed horses should succeed in emerging from the maiden ranks this season.

Irfan Ghatala’s Ice Storm had won his maiden race last month with a hard pressed victory amongst a poor lot of horses in the lowest category. Even though he had received a fairly large penalty from the handicapper, there were many who felt that he had the ability to win again. His subsequent track trials and the presence of Suraj Narredu in the saddle, ensured support for him in a mile handicap for horses four year olds and over in Class IV. The trainer’s confidence in his staying abilities was justified by Ice Storm on the track. Wanting to give him a clear run, Suraj took him to the front. The pair opened-up a nice looking lead over Supreme, Greyconnection and Sumitomo, as the runners moved towards the bend. A couple of back-handers at that stage was all that was required. The big made horse put his head down and galloped strongly towards the finishing line. Sumitomo made up a bit of ground in the final furlong to take the second spot ahead of Supreme and a late finishing Glycys Bay.

Heavy showers before the last race enabled another son of Burden Of Proof to thrive in wet conditions. Last outing winner Chronicle loved the soft going while trouncing his eleven rivals. The Prasanna Kumar camp was quite sure that this seven year old would be able to be able to defy his winning penalty, and their confidence was reflected on the betting boards. Chronicle was backed down from 7/1 to 3/1 at race time. Another runner that garnered support with the bookmakers was Arun, but he performed pathetically to finish in the ruck. John pushed Chronicle into an early lead and the chestnut raced well within himself till the bend. Most of the others were seen being niggled at the half way stage to keep in touch with the leader. It became a procession thereafter. The jockey relaxed his grip on him in the straight. Chronicle powered home to win by a “street” from Gustavo and Summer Sun. The winner has it in him to win another age group race before the end of this season.