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UNFANCIED DEEP BLUE SKY STUNS HIS OPPONENTS

By Pearcey | 27 Jul 2013 | BANGALORE


Deep Blue Sky (F K Shabuddin Up), winner of The J. B. Mallaradhya Memorial Trophy

With a majority of the outstation horses returning to their home centres, the fields became thinner and the authorities could only manage to frame a small card of seven events for Saturday’s racing at Bangalore. In the absence of a class I race, The JB Mallaradhya Memorial Trophy, a seven furlong handicap for horses rated 60-85 became the day’s feature. Since it was a race for older horses, a number of modest performers got an opportunity to earn their corn bill. Irfan Ghatala’s Spiritual Star had good recent form and was attempting to make it three-in-a-row. The only question that needed to be answered was whether she would be good enough to defy the handicapper. Radical Attraction’s fourth over an unsuitable 1200 metres behind Esteban was a suggestive effort. Considering her suitability over this extended trip, it was felt that she would also be prominent at the finish. Valahak, Sudden Magik and Sky Train were the others that were considered by the pool hunters. But not many could have imagined what transpired on the track. Satish Narredu’s 65/1 rank outsider Deep Blue Sky showed unexpected improvement over his most recent form and shocked those who had decided to have a wager in this race. 

Shabuddin pushed Deep Blue Sky into an early lead and showed the way to Cool Approach and the others. The chasing group was so tightly packed, that it was impossible to say who was traveling better than the others.  Deep Blue Sky enjoyed a two length lead into the straight, but seemingly lost this advantage by going wide at the bend. By the time his jockey gathered him again and gave him a push, Deep Blue Sky was passed by his stablemate Sky Train. The latter had made up a lot of ground from the rear of the pack and utilized most of his energies while doing so. The other nine had already faded out of contention. Sky Train faltered in the last hundred metres and began to slow down. This provided an opportunity for Deep Blue Sky to renew his challenge. In an unbelievable turn of events, he gained the upper hand once again and stormed home to a facile victory. Radical Attraction made up ground at the end to beat Cool Approach into fourth place. Spiritual Star ran no sort of race and finished in the ruck. 

A seven furlong handicap, for horses four years old and over in class III, saw another runner from Satish Narredu’s yard posting an easy victory. Strive And Serve had served notice of an impending success by finishing a good third behind Ice Storm and Volans. However, with money flowing in the direction of Shivalik Fire and I Say, Strive and Serve had some stray support at 8/1 in the betting rings. Since Saddam Hussain had claimed a couple of kilos off his back, the bottom-weighted horse had little trouble in going to the front. He showed the way to Miss Ching and Kripa . I Say minimized her chances by losing more than ten lengths at the start. The order in front remained more or less the same till the eleven runners turned for home. The grey Shivalik Fire was seen covering a bit of ground on the wide outside and coming into contention. However, once Strive And Serve kicked further in the straight, the race was more or less over. He not only enjoyed a large lead at this stage, but was also traveling comfortably. Despite Suraj’s strong urgings, Shivalik Fire could do no better than end a tame second. 

Last outing winner Ambitious Reward headed the scales in the Alekona Trophy. It was a class IV sprint which attracted a number of three year olds that were running for the first time in handicap company. On the basis of his runaway triumph amongst maidens, this well bred horse received one-sided support with the bookmakers. Those who had chosen to back him at 65/100 were a worried lot for most part of this race. While Game Dancer, Oriental Star and Magic Wave shot away from the rest, Ambitious Reward was seen gracing the rear. Sreekanth had no option to move him towards the outer portion of the track, as the action on the inner rails was closely contested. After getting the measure of his nearest challengers, Game Dancer moved ahead of the others. However, he had no answers to the final acceleration shown by the favourite. Ambitious Reward came with raking strides in the last hundred metres of this race and stormed home to a comfortable victory. What had looked like a tough proposition at one stage, turned out to be fairly easy. Sreekanth rode an over-confident race astride this winner. Game Dancer, Youre Rocking and Smile Stone fought a tight battle for the minor placings. The last named seems to be ready to strike in the near future. 

For the third time this season, Neil Darashah’s Azetic Star failed to carry the public purse to victory. After campaigning him in fairly quick succession, the trainer gave him a nice break of over seven weeks from racing. The dark bay looked extremely well and generated much interest from the punters. He was fancied ahead of Tijuca Forest, Guts And Glory and Madame Bovary. With Tony Montana and Tijuca Forest moving ahead of the others, Zervan settled Azetic Star in mid group and stayed in fourth place till the bend. The race took a serious turn in the straight. Finding a lot of galloping space on the wide outside, Imran Chisty showed daylight to Tijuca Forest and asked her to “go”. The Dhariwal trained filly responded gamely and burst clear of the pack. Azetic Star ducked towards the inner rails and made a belated charge towards the leader. He did succeed in bridging the gap, but that was just about all that he could manage. Madame Bovary and Other Song sailed into the minor slots on the result boards. The more impressive run was that of Other Song, who was seen doing some good at the end. She looks like a ready-made winner after her return to Pune. On the other hand, Azetic Star must be left alone till his trainer decides to run him over a longer course. 

The other race for maiden three year olds on Saturday was over 1100 metres. Most of the acceptors in this ten horse field had already run a few times in their short careers and failed to put up much of a performance.  A well-bred colt named Shinnecock Hills was making his debut, and based on some able track work, the Arjun Mangalorkar trainee headed the betting charts. One look at him in the paddock was enough to realize that he had the first chance in this race. This full brother to Sovetskaya was expected to be too strong for the other nine. John rushed this on-money favourite to the front and settled him into a smooth rhythm ahead of Czar Rule and Zizzi. The race turned out to be a procession and the order remained exactly the same till the very end. Since he had beaten a modest set of horses today, there wasn’t much that you could read into this result. But the colt is bound to improve after this experience and Arjun can be expected to do well with this fluent galloper during the winter months. Those who finished behind him today may take a while to emerge from the maiden ranks. 

Amit Caddy’s three year old Rubi Rey made a successful re-appearance in open class by picking up a scurry for horses rated 0-25. She had shown signs of running into some sort of form by ending a fair fourth in an upper category. The trainer eased her burden by entrusting her to four kilo claimed Ramu. The chestnut filly was installed as an on-money favourite ahead of Himavari and Maracana. But the scene altered once Himavari was backed by her connections. Ramu kept Rubi Rey on a tight leash behind early leader Maracana, and the two of them were ahead of Himavari and the others. Rubi Rey went ahead in the straight and kept increasing her lead till she crossed the finishing line. Maracana and Glamour Boy were able to save place money for their connections. Himavari performed poorly to end an exhausted fourth. This was the third time that she had disappointed her camp this season, and it may be a good idea to leave her alone from a betting perspective till she comes down a bit further in handicap. 

A rare turn of foot displayed by the small-made Caraway, enabled the Britto trainee to take the opening race of the afternoon. It was the bottom division of the above race, and some of the lowest rated horses stationed at Bangalore were seen parading in the paddock. Star Of Desire, who had steadily come down in the ratings, was the first choice of the punters. The six year old received further support at race time , as it was felt that he would be too fast over this scurry. Low-weighted Mountain Train tried to make every post of winning one, and almost succeeded in doing so. Saddam Hussain pushed him to the front and set a strong pace ahead of Star of Desire. The pair strode out freely in front and seemed to have the race between the two of them. Once the favourite got tired near the distance post, the front-runner appeared to be in control of this race. At this juncture, Caraway arrived on the wide outside. She galloped resolutely, made up more than six lengths in the straight and got up the beat him near the winning post. Noornabi rode a strong finish on this five year old..Star of Desire was seen plodding at the end to finish a very tame third.