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Eloise Carves Out a Sizzling Win

By Mahendra Mallya | 18 Nov 2010 | MUMBAI


Mr. Vijay B Shirke, Mr. A S Narielwalla & trainer P Shroff leading Eloise (C Rajendra Up), winner of The Sir Charless Forbes Trophy

Eloise (Glory of Dancer - Confiding), from the Shroff School, won the Sir Charles Forbes Trophy, the feature of the day, with a brilliant finish. Seeing Superior Quest pass her soon on start, jockey Rajendra who replace an indisposed B Prakash on Eloise, showed no hurry and settled back to be a close fourth. At the turn, the on-money favourite Star Warrior looked to be on the right course gaining to be a close second at the crucial juncture. Living The Dream moved up to be prominent as they readied themselves for the final finish.

Living The Dream gave it all and even headed Star Warrior briefly and stayed in the fight for a while. Star Warrior was certainly travelling better than Living The Dream, but when Eloise came alive, none had an answer. Eloise produced terrific acceleration and simply sailed past Star Warrior to spare a length at the wire. Got To Go finished well to end up on the haunches of Star Warrior. Rajendra, in the earlier race, The JV Shukla - Ashwamitra Trophy, had guided lesser fancied River Blitz (Ikhtyar - Eubee) to a thumping victory.

The race was in memory of the late JV Shukla, a respected and a senior racing journalist and an ardent race horse lover. It was a fitting tribute to this gentle contributor by the Club. Dante Rossetti was slowly off and lagged some distance behind the field. That he covered up a huge deficit and managed to end a good third was creditable and this effort should be remembered.

Highland Warrior made the early running with Serenity in tow, the rest followed in a close bunch with River Blitz tailing the front bunch well ahead of Dante Rossetti. Serenity easily dismissed Highland Warrior’s presence and shot into the lead. Batista was hard-pressed but getting nowhere as River Blitz cruised past. Rajendra had a good momentum going and looked the winner past the distance post. He literally leaped ahead and squarely beat the favourite with surprising ease. Now that he has tasted victory, he indicated more can be expected from him. Suraj Narredu made his presence felt by notching up a good double. He won the two races in contrasting style. While Moonlight Beauty was a start to finish triumph, Legionaire, in the last race, was a breathtaking ’come-from-behind’ labour.

Moonlight Beauty, who had failed twice in Pune when the connections were confident, made it this time and handsomely at that. Taking charge right at start Moonlight Beauty galloped along with Golden Orra and Hickory alongside. Favourite Lyrical Symphony ran close on the fence in fourth but failed to quicken. Jockey Prakash reported sick immediately after the race and that could have something to do with her failure. Moonlight Beauty (Captain Rio – Ektebaat) got into top gear early in the straight and Suraj pushed for home. The Katrak-trainee responded well and in a trice Suraj was getting elusive. Both Endless Horizon and Marudhara Ratan were a bit slowly off, yet managed to grab the next two slots respectively.

Endless Horizon covered good ground in the straight but the real reason for her to narrow the margin vis-à-vis Moonlight Beauty, was Suraj easing up the winner. Legionnaire (Diffident - Lawn Order) was a different cup of tea. Legionnaire was in the front bunch alright, but Enchanted first and Drama Queen next broke away from the bunch. The lead established by the fighting duo appeared massive. Legionnaire had a lot to do, so too favourite Satyamev Jayate. The scramble began in the final furlong and Suraj confidently went for the kill and posted a well-calculated victory. Satyamev Jayate was all out but lit up late. I feel she deserves one more chance.

Debutante two-year-old Our Chieftain (Diffident – Amazing Girl) made his first outing count and produced a fiery gallop to outrun his rivals, winning by a widening margin. Sitting close behind the leader Swift Memories, Our Chieftain made his presence felt shooting through the rails past Swift Memories in the straight. Once ahead, Our Chieftain quickened smartly and in the last furlong had the turf all for himself. He won easing up and although the timing was anything to write home about, his manner of victory suggests that he is a decent sprinter. Swift Memories did well to ward off Martinique for the second slot. Jockey A Sandesh too has let his rousing Pune form spill over to Mumbai. He Started off the day’s proceeding with a bang winning the first two races that had a large following.

Equality (Broto – Unbiased) jumped out well and took the lead and galloped on his own terms. Reinstate strangely veered out and took no part in the race after galloping the first furlong. Equality entered the straight with a handy lead and that proved critical as Saddlers Rule, the prime fancy, was closing in the latter half of the straight. Equality, however, kicked on and Sandesh never let him relax. In the end, Equality scored a decisive victory and confined Saddlers Rule to the runner-up slot. Rodrigo did well to recover from a shoddy jump out to finish a close third.

Tattenhoe (Warrshan – Streak) was a rage in the betting room particularly after it was announced that Ran Banka had been withdraw. Without much cajoling, Sandesh moved smoothly atop Tattenhoe and joined leader Mypethoney before the turn. The pair entered the straight together, but soon Tattenhoe displaying remarkable superiority gathered momentum briskly to dart away from Mypethoney. By the time they hit the last furlong, Tattenhoe was well clear and Blades Of Glory could only hope to get as close as possible. Mypethoney held on to the third. For the professionals, Trainer CD Katrak saddled a lucrative double. Jockeys Rajendra, Suraj and Sandesh scored a double each as well.