Suraj Narredu won his fourth Maharaja’s Cup at Bangalore by guiding Patrick Quinn’s Ocean And Beyond to a very close victory on Sunday. The six year old got up in the nick of time to beat Hemisphere into second place. In a relatively short career, Suraj had already won this race astride Classical Act, Alekona and Toroloco, but today’s win was undoubtedly the most thrilling. Since Ocean And Beyond had carried the public purse to victory, there was a huge applause for the jockey and trainer as they returned to the unsaddling enclosure. The 2013 edition of this race attracted nine runners. Many of them had run at identical terms in The Chief Justice’s Cup a few weeks ago, and had finished close to each other. Panamera had performed the best that day, but the present trip of eleven furlongs seemed to be a bit too long for her. Hemisphere had raced prominently till the bend before he had run into a traffic jam in the straight. Furthermore, Ocean And Beyond had given more weight and a beating to Hemisphere in The Turf Invitation Cup at Kolkata and there was no reason why he could not do so again. Since Ocean And Beyond had already carried the top weight over 2400 metres and finished an impressive second to Tintinnabulation that day, there was no doubt about his staying abilities. His track work after his only start this summer had been suggestive, and it was generally accepted that it would take a good horse to beat him in the day’s feature. The betting charts indicated that Ocean And Beyond and Hemisphere were carrying most of the punters money.

Borsalino showed early intent and spurted to the front. He led at a decent pace from Hemisphere, Spearhead, Ocean And Beyond and Ambrosia. There were no traffic problems, as each horse had chosen to stay away from the others, and most of the riders were biding their time before making a final assault. The field began to get closer, as the runners took the rising ground and turned for home. Hemisphere came alongside Borsalino and wore him down with each successive stride. While Zervan had already shown daylight to Hemisphere, Suraj and Ocean And Beyond were right behind them. The pair got down to business in the last 300 metres of this race. Ocean And Beyond joined Hemisphere in front, but refused to pass him. Even though he seemed to have a marginal advantage, he hung out a bit under pressure. Suraj put away his whip and pushed him vigorously. On the other hand, Hemisphere kept responding to Zervan’s whip and continued to rally along the inner rails. The two of them were locked together at the final post. The camera print confirmed that Ocean And Beyond had beaten Hemisphere by a short head at the finish. Ambrosia and Panamera made up a bit of ground from the back to take the minor placings. Patrick Quinn must be complimented for taking good care of the winner. He had taken over this horse last winter, and in a short period of time, the champion trainer of Kolkata had transformed him into a stout galloper.

Suraj and Irfan Ghatala enjoyed a brilliant Sunday by scoring personal trebles during the afternoon. By doing so, both of them have stormed ahead of their professional colleagues in the seasonal championships. They paired-up to score twice through Strombolite and Ice Storm. Strombolite was participating in the only event reserved for maiden three year olds today. Her couple of seconds in winter confirmed that she was the best amongst the seven acceptors. The bookmakers had little hesitation in installing her as an odds-on favourite. Allowing Jolie to lead on sufferance, Suraj settled Strombolite into second place and raced ahead of Scorching Vulcan and the others. Strombolite came with a smooth turn of foot in the straight and sailed away for a bloodless victory. Scorching Vulcan responded to Chouhan’s stick and got the measure of front-running Jolie in the last hundred metres of this race.

Irfan’s Ice Storm started this season with a win amongst horses in the lowest category. He defied the winning penalty by scoring another easy victory in the next class. On Sunday, we saw him attempting to complete a hat-trick in The NM Lingaraju Memorial Trophy in class III. His trainer had increased the distance by a furlong on each successive occasion, and the present race was being run over 1800 metres. Trevor took Sandstorm on a start-to-finish mission , but the horse caved-in under his top weight and faded out of contention. Suraj and Ice Storm raced handily till the bend before assuming command of the proceedings. The big made horse responded to Suraj’s guidance and opened-up a nice looking lead into the straight. By the time Volans and Strive And Serve could discover their rhythm, the race was over. The pair could only succeed in saving place money for their supporters.

Irfan’s third and final winner was even more impressive. A well bred three year old in his yard had “gone wrong” last year. After finishing close behind Showin’Off, Quick Enough and Nickel Chrome as a maiden, Smithsonite had developed a tendon. Since this was troubling him a lot, Irfan decided to lay him off from racing. Eleven months later, he decided to run Smithsonite in an age group sprint on Sunday. It was easy to realize that the horses that he had run against in the past were presently rated in the highest class. Therefore, the present opposition looked fairly ordinary. A look at Smithsonite in the parade ring confirmed that he was looking “heavy”. However, those who chose to retain faith in his class and already proven abilities, were benefited by their decision. Smithsonite leapt out of the gates, stormed into a healthy advantage till the bend and strode away for a comfortable victory over Better Than Ever and Starista. Apprentice Anjar Alam did well to give him a nice and balanced ride. The winner is sure to improve after today’s exercise and must be supported in his next start

Neil Darashah’s Nabisco proved to be too strong for his ten rivals in The Justice P Medapa Memorial Cup. It was a seven furlong handicap for horses in class III. He was another one today, that completed a hat-trick of victories in his short career. In fact, he remained unbeaten after today’s success. Nabisco had been entered in Alaindair’s Colts Championship, but his reluctance to enter the gates had resulted in his being declared a “non-starter”. Since he had been fully tuned for that race, the trainer did not want to miss an opportunity of winning another race with Nabisco. Despite his top weight, Nabisco did extremely well to win this trophy. There were no problems of getting stalled today. He walked-in like a lamb and took off to a brisk start. Tracking Valerian till the final turn, he was asked to quicken in the straight. Imran Chisty gave him a couple of taps to increase the momentum. The response from Nabisco was quick and sharp. He marched resolutely towards the finishing line and finished ahead of Valerian and Scarlet O’hara.

A large sized gamble was landed by the Dominic stable on a three year old named Rock With U.  After winning  a maidens race in winter, this horse had been given an easy start this season.  Knowing that he had the ability to comfortably win in the present category, the trainer decided to declare an ordinary jockey like Shelar to ride him on Sunday. The bookmakers were caught unawares when loads of money came flowing onto him in morning trade, and the horse was backed down from 10’s and over to 5/2. After taking a good jump, Rock With U was content to race behind a runaway Magic Wave till the bend. Shelar pulled out his stick in the straight and urged Rock With U to go ahead. With the jockey hammering away relentlessly, Rock With U managed to hold onto a slender lead over Pacific Blue and Sue Nevell. Both Pacific Blue and Sue Nevell showed, that even though they have modest abilities, they could win amongst a similar set of runners later in the season.

The only other race in the day’s card was won by Sharat Kumar’s Cool Baby. This  three year old had run a fair third last week in an upper class. With a positive switch in the saddle today, the connections were quite optimistic about her chances in the lowest category. She was opposed by another three year old named Summer Sensation. Since Amit Caddy had decided to claim an allowance on the latter, she was favoured marginally ahead of Cool Baby. Most of the runners took a good jump and the field was fairly clustered as they came towards the home turn. Big Copper Penny and Caraway showed the way to Cool Baby, while Balance Of Nature and Summer Sensation raced right behind her. The acceleration shown by Cool Baby in the final furlong was enough to romp home to a smart victory. Cool Baby’s fluent strides enabled her to saunter clear of her rivals. Balance Of Nature and Summer Sensation were flat out to move into the minor slots on the result boards.