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SUPREME REGIME THRIVES IN SLUSHY CONDITIONS

By Pearcey | 13 Jul 2013 | BANGALORE


Supreme Regime (B Sreekanth Up), winner of The Nawab M.Arshad Ali Khan Memorial Cup

Ganapathy trained Supreme Regime thrived in slushy underfoot conditions and romped home to an easy victory in The Nawab M Arshad Ali Khan Memorial Cup on Saturday. In the midst of blinding rain, he was totally oblivious to what was happening around him and it was a treat to watch him galloping away from his nine hapless rivals. The day’s feature, a seven furlong terms race for three year olds, had attracted eleven acceptors. Winners of more than one race were asked to carry a three kilo penalty. There were a few amongst them that had a realistic chance of winning this race, and according to most knowledgeable race-goers, the finish would be restricted to Ayrton, Keukenhof and My Lakshmi. All three of them had won their maiden starts over 1200 metres and their style of winning suggested that the extra furlong would not be a problem. Since Ayrton had scored by a widening eight lengths, it was felt that he had the best chance of landing this prestigious trophy. His form got further franked when second placed Racing Ahead scored a sensational victory in the preceding event. Ayrton was accordingly installed as a firm favourite ahead of Keukenhof and My Lakshmi, as the runners reached the starting gates.

A couple of minutes prior to race time, the skies opened-up and there was torrential rainfall. It was so heavy that at one point the visibility was reduced to almost zero. Since the horses were already at the gates, the authorities decided to load the horses. With the withdrawal of Lagoona, the other ten took off in blinding rain. Paras Money bolted to the front and set a strong pace ahead of Supreme Regime, Noble And Nice, Apparition and My Lakshmi. Because of her wide draw, Keukenhof had to be settled in mid-division as the runners made their way towards the straight. Most of them got tired at the bend and began to slow down thereafter. The only one who handled it perfectly was Supreme Regime. Sreekanth allowed this 25/1 outsider to move ahead at that stage and asked him to quicken. He lengthened his strides and was soon many lengths ahead of the others. It was evident that the winner had already been spotted and the race was only for the minor placings. Keukenhof rallied late on the wide outside to take the runner-up berth ahead of Apparition and My Lakshmi. Jockey A Sandesh, the rider of fourth placed My Lakshmi, raised an objection against Suraj Narredu and Keukenhof. He claimed that Keukenhof had hampered his passage, and therefore, he had been unable to offer suitable assistance to My Lakshmi. The Stewards took little time in over-ruling this frivolous objection.

In the mean time, the rain had stopped. The authorities immediately asked their officers to go and examine the race track. Since this was the Derby week-end, they wanted to ensure a good surface for Sunday’s action. For a change, it was not the jockey’s who were refusing to ride, but it was a cautious approach of the Stewards that led to the cancellation of the last three races in the day’s card. Unlike centres like Pune, Kolkata and Hyderabad, where the availability of a Monsoon track helps them in overcoming such hazardous conditions, the Bangalore track has poor drainage facilities. It is for this very reason that heavy rainfall has often caused disruption of racing at The Bangalore Turf Club.

The four races held prior to the day’s feature were dominated by Irfan Ghatala and Suraj Narredu, who paired-up once again to score a popular double. They won back-to-back events with public choices Spiritual Star and Wind Force. Last outing winner Spiritual Star, was racing amongst horses in her own age group in The RM Puttanna Memorial Trophy. Even though she had been given a seventeen point penalty for her previous victory, and was tightly handicapped in this race, her supporters weren’t worried about it. They breathed a sigh of relief when Spiritual Star lasted out to win very narrowly from Savvy Concept and Bourbon Rock. Suraj allowed Meghalaya and Savvy Concept to lead till the bend before making his final move. He came through the shortest way and wove his path through the two leaders. Finding a nice looking gap near the distance post, he forced his way to the front. Spiritual Star began to tire in the final stages, but was still good enough to hold the other two at the wire. Meghalaya got exhausted in the last hundred metres and faded out of contention.

Irfan’s Wind Force swamped his opponents and strode away majestically to win The Delhi Cup. It was a mile handicap for horses, four years old and over, in class IV. Wind Force had flopped as an on-money favourite in a similar set a few weeks ago. The fact that Divine Deliverance, who had finished behind him that day, had come out and won his next start in a higher category enhanced his chances today. Irfan decided to aid Wind Force’s cause with the help of blinkers and chose to run him over a slightly longer trip. All this worked perfectly for this horse. He settled comfortably behind a runaway Greyconnection and Prince Of Kintyre, and chased then into the straight. Suraj allowed him to find his rhythm before popping the question. A back-hander in the final furlong was all that was required. Wind Force tore away from the pack and sauntered ahead to score by a huge margin from Greyconnection and Prince Of Kintyre. Other fancied runners like Glycys Bay, Sumitomo and Rebuttal’s Hope were unable to save place money for their supporters.

The SN Harish Memorial Trophy, a race held in the memory of a famous commentator of Bangalore, was contested by a group of talented maidens. Many of them had placed in earlier starts, and a few of them had lost narrowly. On paper, Lokanath trained Beauty Is Truth looked outstanding in this set. Her second to Amelia in the Fillies Championship had forced the handicapper to give her a rating of 71. It is extremely rare to see such a highly rated participant racing against maiden three year olds. She headed the betting charts ahead of Arabian Warrior, Glorious Reward and Capitalize. With Arabian Warrior getting entangled in the starting gates and being withdrawn from this race, the backers of the favourite became more hopeful. However, they did not realize that Deshmukh’s Racing Ahead was getting ready to deliver a knockout punch. PS Chouhan took Racing Ahead to the front and set a fair pace ahead of Capitalize and Veritas. Glorious Reward and Beauty Is Truth chose to travel wide and were seen in mid group as the thirteen runners turned for home. What happened thereafter was quite stunning. Racing Ahead skipped clear of the pack and opened-up a huge lead over the others. With Chouhan waving his whip at him, this well-bred horse showed a clean pair of heels to Beauty Is Truth, Glorious Reward and a late finishing Adriphos. The three of them finished within whispering distance of each other. The winner looks like a nice type and is sure to do well for trainer Deshmukh after his return to Hyderabad.

The day began with another event reserved for maiden youngsters. This 1100 metres race had a number of speedy contestants. Amit Caddy’s Cardigan Bay, Suleiman’s Artic Attraction, Padmanabhan’s Placervilles Glory and the Darius trained Wind Surfer had a realistic chance of winning this event. The “open” nature of this race was evident on the betting boards, which showed that all of them were equally fancied by their respective yards. Placervilles Glory showed a lot of speed to charge ahead of Cardigan Bay and Wind Surfer. Artic Attraction had to be urged from her wide draw to come into contention, and the four market leaders skipped clear of the others. Sandesh showed further urgency in the straight and pushed Placervilles Glory into a fairly comfortable lead as they moved towards the finishing line. Cardigan Bay and Artic Attraction got tired and faded out of contention. It was Wind Surfer who started to get stronger at that stage. She responded to Imran Chisty’s urgings and leapt forward. In a matter of seconds, she collared the front runner and moved ahead of her. Wind Surfer showed that she had improved after her last start. Artic Attraction wore down Cardigan Bay in the closing stages of this race and took the third spot.