The Juvenile Sprinter’s Million (Grade III) featured a long card of nine events held at the Bangalore races on Sunday. Some of the best youngsters participating in the Summer Season had accepted to face the starter. Since this was a terms event, in which winners of more than one race were expected to carry penalties, we saw a number of them giving weight to the others. Their comparative ratings showed that many of them had almost an equal chance of landing this prestigious trophy. After an impressive debut a few weeks ago, Malesh Narredu’s Lovely Lady was fancied ahead of the others. This speedy filly wasn’t extended while romping home to an unextended victory ,and  according to most track reporters, had improved after that run. The confidence of her connections was reflected in the fact that Suraj had chosen to carry an overweight on her. By trouncing class III opponents last month, Cristoffe had achieved the highest rating in this set. The colt looked the part in the paddock and his fans expected him to triumph today. Magical Spell and Whispering Gallery had stray support with the bookmakers. The “open” nature of this race was reflected on the betting charts, as one could back anything at 7/2 and over.

With the withdrawal of Noble And Nice in the morning and Whispering Gallery at the gates, the other eleven runners took off to a smooth start. While Light Of Success, Ultrasonic, Assasin and Cash My Way fought for an early advantage, the fancied pair of Lovely Lady and Cristoffe were seen struggling to maintain their mid-group positions. Fast horses like Magical Spell and Solitaire Royale were noticed bringing up the rear. The runners were closely grouped till the top of the straight. It was here that the scene began to change. Those in front came under pressure and literally stopped in their tracks. The one’s coming from behind had to search for a clear passage. While Srinath and Jersey Shore found an opening through the middle, PS Chouhan had no option but to bring Magical Spell on the very wide outside. Franco DaSilva suddenly realized that his mount Solitaire Royale was full of running. He too chose the safer option of moving outwards. With whips flying, the three of them moved strongly towards the winning post. Jersey Shore showed the best turn of foot and responded gamely to Srinath’s handling. He sped to the front and took a firm hold of the proceedings. The top rider guided Jersey Shore safely across the finishing line. Magical Spell, Solitaire Royale and Santa Monica finished at regular intervals to take the minor placings on the boards. One could empathize with the connections of Magical Spell. The small made filly had run her guts out to do what she did today, and there is little doubt that she traveled the longest distance amongst those that participated in the day’s feature.

The Manitou Trophy, an 1100 metres event for maiden three year olds, was the added attraction in the day’s card. Because of the large number of acceptors, this race was split into two divisions. The top section appeared to be a match race between Shehzad Abbas’s Dancing In The Rain and Tharun Thimmaiah’s Assiduous. Dancing In The Rain had made the running in a seven furlong race before finishing third behind Charlatan and Arrogant Approach. With both of them going onto win their next starts, Dancing in The Rain was expected to perform well over this more suitable trip today. On the other hand, Assiduous was also known to be blessed with a lot of ability. But for the bandages that he sported today, Assiduous looked equally well in the paddock. Dancing In The Rain carried Zervan to the front , and not wanting to restrain her unnecessarily, he allowed her to go ahead of the others. Within a matter of seconds, she opened up a huge gap over Maths Professor, Guts And Glory and Assiduous. The 5/4 favourite accelerated further and established a winning lead into the straight. Assiduous moved well under Imran Chisty to get closer towards the end, but that was all he could manage. Maths Professor and Guts And Glory fought a close battle for the third slot. The winner is sure to do well over short sprints after her return to Hyderabad.

The lower division of this scurry saw a pair of first-timers taking on some fairly ordinary youngsters. Most of them had run earlier in their careers, but had failed to figure on the board. Laxman Singh’s Policy Maker had been doing some good work on the training track, and his last start fifth had been quite suggestive. On the basis of this little evidence, the colt received one-sided support in the day’s opener. Policy Maker tracked Spanish Moon till the bend. The others were strung out in single file at that stage. Tograllu waited a bit longer before moving astride the favourite. He brought Policy Maker with a nice looking run in the straight and assumed command of the proceedings. Not many noticed what was happening at the back. Debutante Jackie Oh , who was traveling last of all till the turn, began to move on the wide outside. Responding nicely to Ashhad Asbar’s handling, the Irfan Ghatala trainee covered acres of ground to saunter past the leader. For a first run, this was a tremendous performance and the trainer is sure to exploit her potential in the future. Spanish Moon plodded along to save place money for her backers.

Irfan was the only professional to score a double on Sunday. The other runner that helped him do so was a four year old named The Scientist. This horse had been withdrawn a number of times last winter, as he would refuse to enter the starting gates. A long rest and some practice seemed to have changed his habits. The Scietist was tested a fortnight ago, and seeing that he had been comfortable under Qureshi , Irfan chose to retain the partnership. The only difference was the fact that this time the connections chose to back him with confidence. The Scientist took a smooth jump and went straight to the front. His long and fluent strides enabled him to stay clear of his rivals. A couple of reminders in the straight was all that was required to keep him going. The Scientist won capably from a hard ridden Volt and Thejaguar.

Another interesting race for maiden three year olds was contested over seven furlongs on Sunday. A number of talented youngsters elected to participate in this race. Ace Angel Star, Arrogant Approach, Force Ensign, Glorious Reward and Winged Foot had all figured on the result boards in their earlier starts. The respective yards were confident about their ability to tackle the present trip, and most of them looked well in the paddock. Flashing Colours went to the front and set a strong pace ahead of Glorious Reward. The other eleven led by Force Ensign, Ace Angel Star and Arrogant Approach raced well within themselves, as the field entered the straight. Zervan took Glorious Reward to the front and put him under pressure to move strongly towards the finishing line. He was soon joined and passed by Arrogant Approach. This chestnut from Suleiman Attaolahi’s stable displayed a remarkable turn of foot and cantered away from Glorious Reward, Force Ensign and Ace Angel Star. Regal Boast ran all over the place before finishing an impressive fifth. The winner is a nice staying type that will revel over a longer course.

Both divisions of a sprint for horses in class IV were won by three year olds who had elected to run in open company. The upper version was annexed by Darius Byramji’s Salzburg. This filly had been beaten for speed by Whispering Gallery in a maidens held a few weeks ago. Since the winner was subsequently disqualified on the grounds of “medication”, Salzburg had technically been declared as the winner of that race. She was opposed by a pair of Hyderabad based youngsters named Coral Springs and Roses In Bloom, both of whom had come to Bangalore after winning at their home centre. The three of them appeared to be closely matched and the same sentiment was evident on the betting boards. Bottom-weighted Perfect Speed and Roses In Bloom fought for the early lead and were ahead of Salzburg and Coral Springs at the turn. The three market fancies, with top jockeys aboard, went on to figure in a closely contested finish. PS Chouhan extracted that little bit extra from Salzburg and managed to hold Coral Springs and Roses In Bloom at the final post. Just about a length separated them at the wire.

The lower division had a runaway winner in Sweet N Smart. The speedy filly from Ganapathy’s yard proved to be too fast for her eight opponents. The trainer had lightened her burden by claiming an allowance on her. Apprentice Sahanawaz was unable to take a level start with her, and the on-money favourite had to be pushed to make up the lost ground. She was soon alongside Youre Rocking, and the pair was many lengths ahead of Joey and the others. With Youre Rocking running out of gas in the straight, Sweet N Smart had no problems in going to the front. Being pushed hand-n-heels, she strode away for an easy victory. Joey and Cool Baby made up a lot of ground from the back to get the better of an exhausted Youre Rocking near the winning post.

An unbeaten three year old named Alcazaba finally tasted defeat when she was beaten in a very close finish by Warren Singh’s Lad Star. The filly had run only twice in her short career and shown that she was a top class performer. During the early part of this season, Alcazaba had won a class IV sprint with ridiculous ease. Carrying much more weight than the winner of a similar race in class II on that very afternoon, Alcazaba had clocked a much faster timing. The handicapper was equally impressed and was quick to saddle her with a huge penalty. She was carrying the bottom weight over an extra furlong amongst horses rated 60-85 today. Suleiman sent her out in good condition and she carried the public purse by starting as an even-money choice of the punters. Trevor was unable to settle Alcazaba in the initial stages and she was still searching for a clear passage, as the others led by Sudden Magic, Lad Star, Diamonite and Casanova moved towards the final bend. Lad Star and Diamonite emerged from a closely packed group and led into the final furlong. At just about the same juncture, Alcazaba wove her way through a crowd and came charging on the wide outside. She made a valiant bid by covering a lot of ground and coming besides Lad Star. The two of them fought a minor duel and crossed the line almost together. It was clear that Arshad Alam had managed to push Lad Star successfully across the winning post. Alcazaba lost a race that she should have normally won. As regards leading jockey P Trevor, this is one race that he would like to forget in a hurry.