Ganapathy’s Light Of Success made full use of her early speed while claiming The Hoysala Trophy, the feature in a card of eight events held at Bangalore on Saturday. The three year old filly traveled the shortest distance by going to the front, hugging the inner rails and marching straight towards the finishing line. Those who finished behind her were forced to weave their way through traffic problems before making their final bids. The days feature had attracted eleven runners. Irfan Ghatala’s Wind Wonder was an expected favourite in this race. He had begun his career at the age of four in summer, and had posted back-to-back victories before graduating to his present mark. Even though the handicapper had given him stiff penalties, there weren’t many who were willing to look beyond him while selecting a winner. The timings that he had clocked while winning on a tight leash were indicative of his form and class. With Suraj continuing his partnership with Wind Wonder, the horse was supported at  70/100 with the bookmakers. Light Of Success and Cristoffe were obviously his nearest challengers. Both had clashed in the Juvenile Sprint Million in summer, and based on that performance , Light Of Success was clearly better placed than Cristoffe today.

Making use of an inner draw and an ability to go to the front, Sreekanth pushed Light Of Success into an early advantage over Divine Deliverance, Volcano, Wind Wonder and Cristoffe. Those at the back were finding it tough to keep pace with the front-runners.  While Light Of Success came the shortest way home, the others were spread right across the track. She enjoyed a fairly large lead into the final furlong. With Divine Deliverance shortening his strides and dropping through the field, Suraj was forced to bring Wind Wonder on his outside. At just about the same juncture, Ryan Marshall ducked inwards with Cristoffe, and the colt began to rally along the inner rails. However, both these horses were feeling the pressure and were failing to produce the desired acceleration. None of them looked good enough to get the better of the leader. Light Of Success continued her good work and stayed ahead of a heavily whipped pair of Wind Wonder and Cristoffe. Sreekanth deserves full marks for riding an impeccable race astride the winner.

The Gangavathi Trophy, one of the last few races this year for maiden three year olds, was the added attraction in the day’s card. This race generated a lot of excitement, as there were two runners that were expected to figure in a close finish. Lokananth trained Hidden Hero was yet to reveal his true potential. It was heard that he had been kept under wraps and was targeted at this event. With Rajesh Babu astride, the colt was backed at every price. On the other hand, Tharun trained Conrod had given signals of an impending victory by finishing a very close second to Vigorous. He was sure to have benefited after that run in early November, and was seen looking extremely well in the paddock. There was stray support for Scorching Vulcan , as the runners began to enter the starting gates. The race actually turned out to be a straight-forward procession. With Arshad Alam in the saddle, Conrod went rocking to the front and showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals. The expected challenge from Hidden Hero failed to materialize. Despite Rajesh Babu’s strong whipping, all Hidden Hero could manage to do was to hold on to his second berth. With Scorching Vulcan losing a lot of ground at the start, it was left to Ace Shineon and Bolts Colt to figure on the result boards.

After a nice double yesterday, trainer Padmanabhan continued his good work by leading-in a similar number of winners today. A pair of three year old fillies named Santa Ana and Sur La Tete, both ridden by Dasarath Singh,  added another two points to his tally. He has wrested the early initiative in the trainer’s championship this season, and with this sort of momemtum, will be a strong contender for the top prize. Santa Ana had displayed a lot of speed over a sprint , when she had led Shinnecock Hills and Artic Attraction into the final furlong. Satisfied with her third place effort, the trainer chose to run her over a slightly shorter trip today. Dasarath Singh brought her with a flourish from an outer draw, and the pair settled into a comfortable lead over Jeyems Pride and Jaanvi till the bend. A few who were worried that she had gone a bit too fast, were soon satisfied with her eventual acceleration. She completed the formalities by scoring ahead of Jaanvi and a late finishing Oriental Image. This daughter of Placerville is sure to win her share of short distance races in future.

The well-bred Sur La Tete had disappointed her camp with some fairly ordinary performances in summer. The spark that she had displayed on debut was somewhat missing in those few months. Realizing that she was sure to “stay’ a longer trip, the trainer chose a mile handicap as her first target in open company. This was the first time that she was running at a mark allotted by the handicapper. Last outing winner Castle Stuart was the first choice of the punters. He had won a similar race on the opening day of the season, and since he was running as a top weight in the same category, Castle Stuart was confidently backed by his supporters. Those who continued to repose faith in Sur La Tete were richly rewarded for their judgement. Sur La Tete tracked Castle Stuart and Czar Rule for most of the way. While those on front were under pressure at the final bend, Sur La Tete was seen cruising on the wide outside. The moment Dasarath asked her for a final effort, the race was over. She darted ahead and skipped clear of a late finishing Bronzino and a totally exhausted Czar Rule. With this run under her belt, Sur La Tete can be expected to climb up the ladder.

A couple of “knock-out” blows were landed in the first two races of the day by horses trained by Prithviraj. Darius Byramji’s Faith And Toil was expected to win the day’s opener. In the hands of an apprentice, she had done well to finish a good third in her previous start. If one considered the amount of ground she had lost that day because of a sluggish start, it was clear that Faith And Toil had a great chance of winning the first race of her career.  However, that was not to be. In the hands of Ryan Marshal, she took a good jump and settled comfortably in second spot behind a speedy Oriental Star. But her progress in the last couple of furlongs was fairly laboured. She literally came to a crawl and faded out of contention. Apprentice Kiran Rai kept nudging Prithviraj’s Oriental Star in front and the filly was successful in holding on to her early advantage. Attractor and Tic Tac Toe emerged from the chasing pack to fill the rest of the frame. After an hour or so, it was announced that Faith And Toil was found to be “lame” after the first race of the afternoon.

The next event had an extremely short-priced favourite in RR Byramji’s Clever Trick. Even though this four year old filly was assigned the top weight, her form last winter was much better than her present opponents. Starting as a 45/100 favourite, she ran no sort of a race and ended in the ruck. Imran Chisty settled her comfortably in third place behind Boudicca and Better Than Ever. The three of them were almost abreast  as they entered the straight. Not many noticed the yellow colours of Salsa Touch, who was moving strongly on the wide outside. Once Boudicca and Clever Trick began to slow down, it was the turn of Salsa Touch to dominate the proceedings. In the hands of Jagadeesh, the Prithviraj trainee strode clear of the rest and went on to post one of the easiest victories on Saturday. Better Than Ever, Resurgent and Shoot Out ended at regular intervals to complete the procession. Incidentally, this was the worst-ever performance by Clever Trick in her fairly long career.

After failing  astride his first four mounts, jockey Suraj Narredu signed-off in style by winning the last two races on Saturday.  While Sovereign Rule literally carried him to victory, he had to use all his skills astride Pack Ur Bags. Sovereign Rule had emerged from the maiden ranks in summer with a sublime performance over 1400 metres.  Trainer Dhariwal chose to run him over the same trip amongst  class III opponents today. Even though there were a number of three year olds in a ten horse field, he was a money-back favourite to land the spoils. Once Suraj took him to the front and settled him comfortably on the rails, Sovereign Rule did the rest. He was chased all the time by Triumphant and Tony Montana. While Triumphant retained his second spot at the finish, it was a late bid from All Proof that enabled him to move ahead of Tony Montana at the wire. The result of this race confirmed an opinion that Sovereign Rule is definitely headed for the highest class. Even those who took the minor berths on the result board today, are likely to pick up races in similar company later in the season.

Sriram Komandur’s Pack Ur Bags was well handicapped in an age group sprint for those rated 40-65. He had ended a good second to Impressive Bolt in his previous start in summer and was re-appearing after a nice rest of over three months. His recent track trials indicated that he was in good condition, and keeping the quality of his opponents in mind, Pack Ur Bags was installed as a favourite by the bookmakers. Suraj did well to settle him comfortably behind a speedy Scenic Blast, and the pair showed the way to Wrekin, Cool Hand and a well-backed Abbas Dreams. Scenic Blast did the customary front-running till the bend and called it a day. Pack Ur Bags went ahead at that stage and powered away to complete the formalities. Wrekin maintained his momentum at the back and just about to managed to hold the second spot ahead of a hard ridden Abbas Dreams. The run of Lads Gladiator showed that he was there only for an “outing”. He seems to be getting ready to win amongst older horses once his rating comes down by a few more points.