Form went haywire at The Bangalore Turf Club on Saturday, when race after race was won by long priced horses and punters were seen running for cover. Overnight rains had rendered the track on the softer side and timings were more than a couple of seconds slower than normal. In most races, those that raced prominently till the bend were able to score today, as coming from way off the pace was a difficult proposition.  The YS Surender Memorial Cup, a class I handicap over seven furlongs, was slated as the day’s feature. Even though there were thirteen runners, most of them seemed to have little chance of winning it. On her fair fifth behind Immense, Ridgeway and Machiavellianism in a graded mile event earlier this month, Padmanabhan’s Chase The Sun was an obvious favourite in this race. She topped the betting charts ahead of Zultanite and the others. A winner in three out of his last five starts, Prasanna Kumar’s Archibaldo was carrying the top weight today. Since horses like Zultanite, Atlantus and The Leader  had ended behind Archibaldo ,and were better weighted in comparison to him in this race, there weren’t many at the course who gave him a chance. They felt that the handicapper had finally caught up with him. Archibaldo proved almost everybody wrong by defying his winning penalty and galloping away with the nice looking trophy.

Jersey Girl, Talisker and Silken Touch displayed early intent and showed the way to Mountain Range, Archibaldo and Zultanite. The rest of the runners, including Chase The Sun , were finding it tough to stay in touch with the leaders. The order remained exactly the same till they reached the final turn. The heavily bandaged Talisker moved off the inner rails at this stage and led for the next few strides. His dominance was short-lived as he was soon passed by Archibaldo on his inside and Mountain Range towards the centre of the track. With John making free use of his whip, Archibaldo got stronger in the final furlong and strode away from Mountain Range. Talisker plodded along to retain his third place. Chase The Sun performed pathetically to finish off the frame. Trevor failed to elicit any sort of response from her. It is possible that she did not relish the underfoot conditions. Prasanna Kumar’s hard work with Archibaldo was evident on the race grass today. For a horse that had almost retired from racing because of a physical impediment, and was rested for a couple of years, this was a truly commendable performance. 

Rank outsider Volans brought another smile to Prasanna Kumar’s face, when this 100/1 runner dropped the biggest bombshell of the afternoon. With the withdrawal of Amazon Bay, only fourteen runners faced the starter. This seven furlong event had a firm favourite in Amit Caddy’s Trust Me Boy. Since the punters had been losing all day, they chose to use this opportunity as a “recovery bet”.  In the hands of Suraj Narredu, he started as the only on-money favourite in the entire card of eight events decided on Saturday. Trust Me Boy did everything right till the final furlong. He tracked early leader Prince Of Darkness till the bend, overtook him in the straight and moved steadily towards the finishing line. Suraj was unaware of what was happening behind him. While Wrekin and Prince Of Darkness had thrown-in the towel, it was Volans that was seen weaving his way through the pack. Loving the slight “give” in the ground, Volans produced a sparkling gallop in the last fifty metres of this race and strode away from Trust Me Boy and Wrekin. Jockey Shiva Kumar scored a rare point astride this winner.

On a day of upsets, Imran Chisty was the lone jockey to score with a pair of “outsiders”. The RS Nagendra Kumar Memorial Trophy, a sprint for horses four years old and over in class III, was the added attraction in the day’s card. Last outing winner Wind Of Soul was expected to win this race. This filly from Satish Narredu’s yard had won her previous start with ease, and it was felt that since she was retained in the same category by the handicapper, Wind Of Soul would perform similarly today. Neil Darashah’s Divine Deliverance had done well in a seven furlong trip three weeks ago. While carrying the top weight in a lower class, he had looked threatening at the top of the straight before he had petered out to finish a tame second to Prince Of Darkness. Neil decided to change a couple of things for his ward. He elected to shorten the trip by a furlong and reduced his burden by running Divine Deliverance at a low weight in an upper class. This move turned out to perfect. Imran Chisty nursed Divine Deliverance into a narrow lead ahead of Wind Of Soul and Cielo Signore for the first three furlongs of their journey. He relaxed his hold at the top of the straight and asked his mount to “go”. Divine Deliverance increased the tempo and got everybody else “off their bits”.  He powered home to win easily from Frenemee, a late rallying Meghalaya and a totally exhausted Wind Of Soul.

Imran’s other winner for the day was Real Steel. This four year old from Darius Byramji’s yard came with raking strides to nail Hillsboro in a sprint for horses in class II. Hillsboro was another strongly backed horse that bit the dust on Saturday. Bottom-weighted Flying Tricolour utilized his early speed and showed the way to Nickel Chrome and Hillsboro. Real Steel and Sun Divine chose firmer ground on the wide outside and traveled a couple of lengths behind the leading trio. The eleven runners began to get closer at the top of the bend. Under some strong pushing from Suraj, Hillsboro quickened his strides and established what looked like a winning lead into the final furlong. Imran Chisty and Real Steel emerged from the chasing pack and joined the isuue. With both top jockeys riding brilliantly, racegoers realized that they were headed for a close finish. Despite veering out slightly near the winning post, Real Steel managed to pip the favourite on the post. Under a whipless Prabhakaran, Sun Divine improved on the very wide outside to take the third spot. The last named seems to have re-discovered his rhythm and can be earmarked for an early success in the near future.

The only event for maiden three year olds happened to be the first race of the afternoon. Darius Byramji’s Ademaro was a strong favourite ahead of Placerville’s Glory and Castle Stuart. Once second-in-demand Placerville’s Glory got withdrawn at the gates, the odds against Ademaro shortened further. Dhariwal’s Rumour Has It, who had done well to run a good second to Lovely Lady a few weeks ago, was strangely neglected by the punters. PS Chouhan showed some urgency by sending Rumour Has It to the front. She was chased by Summer Gold, Ademaro and Cardigan Bay till the bend. C Alford was seen struggling to keep Ademaro within striking range of the leader, and with less than two furlongs to travel, Ademaro was literally out of this race. Rumour Has It enjoyed her solitude in front and kicked away to win comfortably from a late finishing Seven Of Hearts, Ademaro and Cardigan Bay. The well-bred Ademaro will need some more time to emerge from the maiden ranks.

Shyam Habbu’s Gerome had disappointed his fans by running listlessly and finishing fourth behind Agostini, Fastest Finger and Ace Bucephalas in his only start this season. Despite getting weight from the field that day, he had ended almost ten lengths behind the winner. Since that was his first start after being gelded, and also because he was running over a trip that was considered to be slightly short for him, the trainer did not lose hope. He elected to run him in a lower class over a mile today. With money flowing in the direction of Stimulate and Bronzino, the odds against Gerome expanded with every passing minute. He was freely available at 7’s and over as the runners entered the gates. In a slow run race, he tracked Zagato and Strike The Stars till the bend, and was  alerted only in the straight. Zervan gave him a couple of cracks and asked him to “go”. The response that he gave was good enough to come alongside Strike The Stars and get the better of him at the wire. Royal Salute and Bronzino ran on to occupy the minor slots on the board. Despite looking well in the parade ring, Stimulate ran poorly to finish off the frame. The winner is capable of doing well over longer trips in his future starts at Pune and Mumbai.

The day ended with some relief for the punters, when Irfan Ghatala’s last outing winner Esteban came out to defy his winning penalty and score with a measure of comfort. He headed the betting charts till a couple of minutes before the start of this race. However, some strong support for Padmanabhan’s State Secret at race time saw her starting as a favourite ahead of the others. With Nessie setting a good initial pace, the field was fairly strung out as the eleven runners made their way towards the bend. State Secret, Catamaran and Will Star followed at regular intervals, while Esteban traveled a few lengths behind in fifth. On a day when the going was difficult and it was difficult to come from behind, it appeared as though Esteban had little chance of winning at that stage. It all changed in the final furlong. State Secret overtook Nessie and tried to move ahead of the others, but her heavy impost was making it difficult for her to do so. Suraj Narredu chose the shortest way home and brought Esteban through the inner rails. The four year old responded gamely to stride clear of Catamaran and State Secret. After losing astride many public choices, Suraj finally succeeded in adding another point to his tally. In this sort of form, Esteban looks capable of scoring on promotion in the highest category.