Altamash Ahmed’s Alaindair sported a pair of wings while storming home to a wonderful victory in The Colts Championship Stakes (Grade I) at the Bangalore races on Sunday. The second Classic of the Summer Season was won by this son of Multidimensional in emphatic fashion. It was a great double for the Usha Stud Farm, as a daughter of this stallion, named Amelia, had done the same in the fillies version of this race exactly seven day’s ago. For the owners of Alaindair, and his trainer Altamash along with jockey Sandesh, it turned out to be a memorable week-end, as they had scored with An Acquired Taste in The Chief Justice’s Cup on Saturday. With the withdrawal of Aumento and Nabisco, only thirteen out of the fifteen acceptors reached the starting gates. This group included Ganapathy’s Murioi. The winner of the Poonawalla Multimillion at Mumbai and a Juvenile Million here at Bangalore earlier in this season, was an obvious favourite to win this race. On all known form, his opponents looked modest. Even though the connections of Czar Of Romance, Miracle Memories, Acclaimed and Turf Striker quietly fancied their respective wards, it was difficult to visualize any of them getting the better of Murioi. This son of Dubawi had impressed in his morning trials and confirmed that he was in good shape. The only thing that worried some people was the fact that he did his best while coming from behind. The track had received a soaking the previous night, and this could possibly be a hindrance for those who are ridden for eventual speed. Secondly, the large field would force such a runner to cover more ground than the others. However, there was nothing to stop those who had decided to back Murioi in the day’s feature. According to them, he was a “good thing” in today’s card. There was a confused look on their faces once the race got over, as it was difficult for them to digest that their choice had ended many lengths behind the ultimate winner.

In a fairly fast run race, it was Mister India who used his initial speed to skip clear of Alaindair, Ace Fantasy, Decathlon and Acclaimed. While the others were closely huddled together, it was easy to spot the bright Gold colours of Murioi. He was seen traveling wide in ninth place and was obviously being asked to cover more ground than the others. The thirteen runners were within five lengths of each other, as they tackled the tougher portion of the track near the three furlong marker and turned for home. Most of the jockeys were seen searching for “free spaces” while choosing their final path. Sandesh had no such problems. He nudged Alaindair while overtaking a tired Mister India , and got the first run on the rails. In a matter of seconds, he quickened in breath-taking fashion and stormed clear of the pack. Sandesh rode him strongly right upto the winning post. It was clear that Alaindair’s closest challenger was only Acclaimed, but he too was tired. The Murioi camp had realized by this time that their colt was in no mood to gallop. Sreekanth produced him widest of all, gave him a couple of cracks, and after realizing that there was nothing in the tank, called it a “day”. Murioi was literally cantering at the back and was one of the last to cross the finishing line. Not taking anything away from the winner, it was a real gutsy performance by him. He had come into this race without an actual race run. It is generally accepted that first-timers on the Bangalore track find it difficult to win a race. Alaindair had proved them all wrong while scoring by more than five lengths in a fairly fast timing. Acclaimed lasted out to hold second ahead of the fast finishing pair of Ace Bucephalus and Turf Striker. Both these horses had suffered interference during the early stages of this race and were gracing the rear end of a tightly packed group till the final bend. On this showing, Alaindair is sure to garner much support in the Kingfisher Derby to be held on the second Sunday of July.

The rest of the day’s action included The DM Shivaswamy Memorial Cup, the only other trophy event on offer during the afternoon. The thirteen horse field included a strong contender in Irfan Ghatala’s Spiritual Star. This strongly built filly had found one better in her last couple of starts during the winter months. Since she was opposed by horses in her own age group and was running over her best trip of seven furlongs, Spiritual Star had strong support from the punters. Darius Byramji’s I Say shaped as a formidable opponent, but her habit of getting left at the gates was something that bothered her supporters. The race unfurled on expected lines. In the hands of Zervan, Spiritual Star took a good jump and settled comfortably behind Indian, while I Say lost ground at the start. The favourite stayed in the second place till the bend before assuming command of the proceedings. The moment Zervan asked her for an effort, she responded gamely and opened-up a huge lead into the final furlong. The fight for the second place was won by I Say, who made up much ground from the back and moved ahead of Stellar Ambition and Firelight near the winning post. Spiritual Star is in great heart and the filly can be earmarked for another victory in the near future.

A couple of races for maiden three year olds were run over 1200 metres. The upper division of this event had a number of horses that were strongly supported by their respective yards. Ganapathy’s Authentic Stride was a marginal favourite ahead of Arjun Mangalorkar’s Mantra and Darius Byramji’s Frankness. All three of them had placed in similar events last season and were looking equally well in the paddock. However, this race produced a shocking result. 60/1 outsider My Lakshmi came with raking strides from the back to beat Mantra and early leader Riverdale near the finishing line. Ranjeet Singh held this Padmanabhan trainee in fifth place till they were well into the straight. The moment he showed her “daylight” ,My Lakshmi bounded forward and settled the issue. Both Authentic Stride and Frankness performed poorly and took down a lot of money along with them. A close look at the way they ran indicated that both of them will need time to put up an improved performance.

The lower version ended in a facile win for Arjun Mangalorkar’s Ayrton. The well bred colt was making a belated start to his career. A more experienced Spiritofchartwell and Racing Ahead were the other fancied runners in this race. Spiritofchartwell utilized her early speed and kicked clear of Whimsical. John allowed Ayrton to find his rhythm before easing him into third place as the runners took the rising ground and turned for home. With the front-runners beginning to get tired in the straight, the stage was set for Ayrton to make an appearance. His graceful and fluent strides took him to the front, and with John only having to wave his whip at him, Ayrton went on to justify his odds-on favouritism. He is a nice rangy type with a lot of ability, and is sure to progress steadily after today’s experience. Racing Ahead moved under some hard riding to beat Whimsical into third place. Spiritofchartwell stopped in her tracks to end a poor fourth.

The day began with the eclipse of hot favourite Prince Academy. This well bred three year old had run some poor races in his four previous starts, but was well weighted in “open” company today. Even though retained jockey Sreekanth was available to ride him, Prince Academy was entrusted by Ganapathy to Deep Shanker. Both Prince Academy and Sharat Kumar’s My Favourite Voice started as joint favourites, but in a matter of moments, the former was backed down to on-money favouritism. Simultaneously, the odds against My Favourite Voice expanded to 8/1. Prince Academy ran prominently behind a runaway Magic Wave, and overtook him in the straight. Just as the backers of the public choice were about to get up and hail the winner, My Favourite Voice began his charge. The manner in which he responded to Christopher’s handling and whizzed past Prince Academy was very impressive. The three year old ran the best race of his career and suggested that he could turn out to be a useful handicapper for Sharat’s yard.

The other division of the above race was won by another three year old named Triumphant. This Neil Darashah trained colt was extremely unfortunate to have crossed swords with Alcazaba in his previous start. With nothing worth of note amongst his eight rivals today, Triumphant was available at unbackable odds with the bookmakers. Srinath rode a relaxed race astride this winner. He knew that he had the choice of pressing the accelerator whenever he wanted. After tracking Spark Of Harmony and Nocturnal Hunter till well into the straight, Triumphant was popped the question. He sped past the leaders and sailed away for an easy victory. Brigade’s Supreme appeared late on the scene and managed to get the better of Nocturnal Hunter near the finish. The placed horses are sure to do well, the day they are raced against those in their own age group.

The last race in the eight event card witnessed a stirring duel between Smokehead and Simra, at the end of which, the former held onto his marginal advantage and brought joy to his supporters. The race had a strong favourite in Amit Caddy’s Afternoon Delight. This filly had finished purposefully from behind and ended second to Our Love. There were a couple of factors that enhanced her credentials today. For one, Our Love had come out and won her next start on promotion. Secondly, Afternnon Delight was being partnered by Suraj Narredu instead of a whipless apprentice named A Ramu. The filly received strong support and reached the starting gates as an even-money choice of the punters. Suraj kept her in a striking position behind Lepton Pennatus and Simra, and the pair traveled comfortably till the bend. The filly suddenly lost interest in the race and crumbled under pressure. This allowed Smokehead to come from behind and engage Siimra in a two way finish. Under some strong whipping from Rajesh Kumar, Babu Rao’s Smokehead went onto land a successful gamble. Morning favourite Shivalik Beauty found late foot to end a close third.