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ARCHIBALDO STAMPS HIS AUTHORITY IN GRADED COMPANY

By Pearcey | 02 Aug 2013 | BANGALORE


Trainer Prasanna Kumar leading Archibaldo (S John Up), winner of The Bangalore City Gold Cup (Gr.3)

Prasanna Kumar’s Archibaldo produced a sparkling gallop in the final furlong to pulverize his five opponents in The Bangalore City Gold Cup (Grade III) on Friday. He put it across some really talented horses with a superb display of speed and stamina. For a horse that had actually retired from racing as a four year old, and was away from a race track for almost two years, this was a fantastic performance. Friday’s racing witnessed a number of “doubles” being scored by various professionals. Trainers Prasanna Kumar, Prithviraj and Arjun Mangalorkar were joined by A Imran Khan and John in sharing the day’s honours. It was also a day on which the authorities at The Bangalore Turf Club chose to felicitate A Imran Khan and Imran Chisty. Both these young men had achieved a landmark in their careers by crossing the coveted figure of 1000 winners. In a brief ceremony held in the paddock, the Chairman of the club presented trophies to the two jockeys. But the highlight of the day was definitely Archibaldo’s showing in the day’s feature. It was a terms race in which each contender was assigned an identical weight.  Sovetskaya was allowed a sex allowance of one and a half kilos. Each one of them was a top class sprinter, and most of them had clashed with each other on earlier occasions. If one was to consider their most recent form, Ancient Wonder, Speed Six and Archibaldo were closely matched. The same sentiment was expressed on the betting boards, as there was equal support for them with the bookmakers.

The speedy Sunday Storm bolted to the front and set a good pace ahead of Ancient Wonder, Speed Six, Chul Bul Pandy and Archibaldo. A totally relaxed Sovetskaya was a close last as they traveled towards the final bend. The order remained exactly the same as they turned for home. It was at this stage that things became clearer. Public choice Ancient Wonder was the first horse beaten in this race, as he failed to quicken and dropped out of contention. Speed Six and Sovetskaya appeared to be traveling better than the rest, and seemed to have the race between the two of them. Not many noticed the movements of Archibaldo , who was looking for an opening towards the inner rails. Even though he was still last of six, he was full of running. John gambled by waiting for a gap to “open”, and to his luck he got the opportunity. The brave horse seized it immediately and charged ahead of the rest. It was smooth sailing thereafter. He got stronger with each subsequent stride and went away from a heavily whipped Speed Six and Sovetskaya. With this performance, the seven year old announced his arrival in graded company. He confirmed that he is in the best form of his career. Prasanna Kumar has done really well with him, as this was his third win this season. It would be fair to assume that Archibaldo is destined for further glory in the coming months.

Prasanna Kumar was further elated when Ensatus Elegans shocked the followers of form by winning the concluding race of the afternoon. This four year old filly had never troubled the judges, as the closest she had ever come to a winner was a distant sixth. The only thing in her favour was some good track work and a low handicap. Narayana Gowda’s Shahraan was the rage in this race. He was backed at every price and sent to the gates as the 75/100 choice of the punters.  Sreekanth did well to position Shahraan in third place behind Tic Tac Toe and Balance Of Nature, and the favourite was traveling comfortably till the top of the straight. It was hereabouts that he came under pressure. Despite a slender advantage at that stage, he failed to quicken any further. Shahraan was passed by Ensatus Elegans on the wide outside and thereafter by Volt towards the inner rails. The two challengers went ahead and fought bravely for rest of the way. It was finally Ensatus Elegans who prevailed by a slender margin over Volt and a tired Shahraan. Fire Storm came from way off the pace to finish a fair fourth.

A rare class III race over a mile and a quarter witnessed a pair of three year olds clashing with their older rivals. Based on their runs over a mile, Southern Sky and Bright Lady carried most of the public money. This sort of support was based on an opinion that they would be equally comfortable over an extra 400 metres. It was also confirmed by the connections, that if Southern Sky ran well today, she would soon be on her way to have a tilt at the Fillies Classic at Hyderabad. A small group of seven took a level jump at the gates. Supreme and Transcendental showed some urgency and went ahead of the others. Bright Lady and Southern Sky settled comfortably behind them and remained in strong contention for most of the way. Applejack ambled along on the wide outside and was never more than three lengths away from the leader. The entire group began to bunch up at the bend. While Southern Sky came under pressure and rolled outwards, Supreme and Transcendental were seen shortening their strides. There was only one horse galloping at that stage, and that was Arjun Mangalorkar’s Applejack. Under some hard riding from John, he breezed past those in front of him and strode away for a fluent victory. Bright Lady “stayed” the best of the rest and moved into second place. The other five were totally exhausted and were seen plodding past the final post.

Arjun had already won The Commanche Trophy with Capitalize. This scurry for maiden three year olds had attracted a small group of eight runners. Three out of them were strongly supported by their respective yards. Capitalize and Malesh Narredu’s Ancient Warrior shared favouritism, while Irfan Ghatala’s Vigorous carried the hopes of her connections. After failing, first over a sprint and thereafter in a seven furlong race, Capitalize was reverting to a shorter trip. Like his earlier runs, he was being partnered once again by Imran Chisty. Both Vigorous and Ancient Warrior were known to possess a lot of speed, and an eagerly awaited contest was about to begin. Capitalize got straight down to business and led marginally from Ezee Go Lucky, Ancient Warrior and Vigorous. With Ezee Go Lucky fading out of contention near the final bend, the three fancied runners got down to fighting a close finish. Capitalize managed to shake off Ancient Warrior near the distance post and enjoyed a two length lead over Vigorous at that stage. However, PS Chouhan had still not given up. He asked Vigorous for one last effort and used his stick. The filly responded gamely and all but overtook the leader. Capitalize managed to hold onto his slender advantage till the very end. A heavily punished Ancient Warrior could do no better than plod into third place.

Another pair to strike with a confidently backed double was trainer Prithviraj and A Imran Khan.  They struck in the first race of the day with Blues Legend. This maiden four year old was running in the second division of an event reserved for horses in the lowest category. Because of his front-running effort last week in a similar race, Satish Narredu’s Mountain Train was installed as the favourite. He had been a trifle unlucky that day, when he had been caught on the post by Caraway. With Saddam Hussain claiming two kilos off his back, Mountain Train tried once again to run away with this race.  He was chased most of the way by Blues Legend and Lightning Express. It became a one horse affair in the straight. Under some relentless pressure from Imran Khan, Blues Legend overtook Mountain Train and charged strongly towards the finishing line. Rank outsider Gur Kripa improved towards the final stages and moved ahead of a tired Mountain Train to take the runner-up berth. Most of those at the back look incapable of winning a race in the near future.

Their victory with Igah igah Igah was even more impressive, as this chestnut was seen making mincemeat of his class IV opponents. The four year old had won a nice race late in the winter season, and had been kept under wraps all summer. In her recent starts this season, she had finished leisurely to stay away from the result boards. Since she was running over a perfectly suited trip of seven furlongs, and being ridden by a top class jockey, there was tremendous support for her with the bookmakers. Once second-in-demand My Law lost ground at the start, there was much optimism in the Prithviraj camp. They realized that while their horse was traveling comfortably, those around her were already under pressure. Igah Igah Igah took over the running in the straight and was soon many lengths clear of Rising Sun. Imran Khan looked back a couple of times before easing her in the final stages of this race. She went on to seal an expected victory over a tired Rising Sun and a late finishing Serengeti. The last named ran much below her known form and performed poorly today.

The only other event in the day’s card was annexed by the Dominic trained Stellar Ambition. After some fine performances last year, this four year old had lost form in recent times. Having come down a lot in handicap, this horse was entered in an age group race for those rated between 20-45. There was little doubt that he had seen much tougher company, and on his best form, he had the beating of this present group of runners. However, his bandaged legs failed to enthuse his fans, and they allowed him to start as a third favourite in this event. With money being wagered equally on Ice Stone and Cheque Discounter, the pair headed the betting charts. Sreekanth ridden Fantastic Strike led at a steady pace and showed the way to Cheque Discounter. The others headed by Ice Stone and Stellar Ambition were seen being niggled to stay in touch with the leaders. Cheque Discounter overtook Fantastic Strike and led into the final furlong. His domination was short-lived, as he soon had Stellar Ambition for company. Being ridden vigorously by PS Chouhan, this horse moved comfortably towards the finishing line. With Cheque Discounter slowing down perceptibly, the fight for the second place was confined to Zermatt and Ice Stone. They ended close together while taking the remaining places on the result boards.