A superb burst of speed in the straight enabled Md Khan’s Turf Striker to score a brilliant victory in The P Dayananda Pai and P Satish Pai Bangalore 2000 Guineas (Grade II) on Saturday. The grey re-produced his summer form to account for his eight rivals. Srinath deserves full credit for guiding him patiently for most of the way, before exploiting his turn-of-foot in the last two furlongs. Considering the fact that this was the first time Srinath was riding Turf Striker, the pair seemed to have enjoyed each other’s company. The second Classic of the season had a firm favourite in the Ganapathy trained Southern Emperor. This horse had displayed tremendous improvement  while romping home to a spectacular victory in the Mysore Derby. For the followers of form, that was good enough to win this race as most of those opposing him today were amongst the beaten brigade in that event. There were a couple of recent winners in the form of Sovereign Rule and Invincible Prince, who were considered by the punters. Since both of them had scored over a slightly shorter trip, there were doubts about their staying abilities. The only other “danger” to the favourite was Turf Striker. During the summer months, he had shown some good form to finish a very close second to Alaindair in The Kingfisher Derby. At that point in time, it was generally accepted that he would be a strong contender in the Mysore Classics. However, a setback in training was the main cause for his poor performances during the monsoon months. Even though he came out to win a mile handicap for top class horses earlier in this season, racing patrons were still not satisfied with quality of that victory. Since he had lost ground at the start, it was felt that this horse had started to develop some “bad habits” in recent months. It was perhaps for this very reason that jockey Suraj Narredu chose to ride Sovereign Rule despite being requested to partner Turf Striker by his connections. It is pertinent to note that Suraj was a mute spectator astride an exhausted Sovereign Rule as he sat and watched Turf Striker record a well deserved victory.

With Southern Emperor’s stable-mate Supreme Regime darting to the front, the race was run at a fairly good pace. To the dismay of the Turf Striker camp, the grey lost a few lengths at the start and was seen trailing a tightly packed bunch as they settled down to race. Sovereign Rule, Southern Emperor and Triumphant tracked the leader,  while the others headed by Nabisco were seen being urged to stay in contention. The only one who was being held on a tight leash at the back was Turf Striker, who had only one behind him and that was Ambitious Reward. The fairly strung out field was in the same order as they entered the straight. The first horse beaten at that stage was Sovereign Rule. He ducked towards the inner rails and was totally exhausted at the bend. This allowed Southern Emperor to come alongside Supreme Regime. After a brief duel, the favourite assumed command of the proceedings. Under some strong whipping from Sreekanth, he moved marginally ahead of the others. It was at this juncture that a couple of horses made their moves from behind. Turf Striker and Ambitious Reward loomed large on the wide outside and were seen picking up a bunch of tired front-runners. The best moving amongst all of them was definitely Turf Striker. He breezed past Southern Emperor and romped home to a comfortable victory. Ambitious Reward also rallied late to push Supreme Regime into fourth place.  Now that Turf Striker has begun to show glimpses of his last season form, one can fairly assume that he will start as a strong contender in the Winter Derby that is scheduled to be held on Republic Day. As regards Sovereign Rule, Rock With U, Nabisco and Invincible Prince, one can safely say that neither of them will be able to get a mile and a half.

The rest of the day’s action on Guineas day saw a number of first favourites disappointing their respective camps. The Dariya Daulat Cup, a class I handicap to be run over nine furlongs, attracted some modest runners.  The betting boards indicated the “open” nature of this race. Top-weighted Sun Kingdom attracted late support to start alongside Auburn Beauty as the two prominent ones amongst a small group of eight contenders. An unfancied Deep Blue Sky did the job of a pacemaker and led Nadia, Auburn Beauty and Ratham for most of the way. He got tired at the bend and faded out of contention. Nadia led briefly into the straight before she was over-powered by Auburn Beauty. With Arshad Alam making free use of his whip, the free striding filly got stronger and stronger. She won by a widening margin from Nadia, Ratham and Sun Kingdom. Incidentally, both the winner and the second placed runner were trained by Neil Darashah.

The only professional to score a double on Saturday was jockey Imran Chisty. He won astride horses trained by the Byramji family. While Nessie represented the Rashid yard, West Side Story was saddled by Darius. The one that really impressed was West Side Story. It was a baby’s race in which jockeys were not allowed the use of a whip. It was apparent that those with initial speed would make a mark in this event. West Side Story took a good jump from an inner draw and settled comfortably behind a speedy Gold N Money. Other fancied horses like Majestic Opinion, Eragon and Rulers Secret were seen taking their time to progress towards the leaders. It became a one-horse-affair in the straight. West Side Story charged to the front and kept increasing her margin of victory. This daughter of first season stallion CP West is a useful type and we are sure to hear more about her in the near future. Majestic Opinion made a late bid in the final furlong to take the second spot ahead of Gold N Money and Eragon. Majestic Opinion will be too good to miss over a slightly longer trip in maiden company.

Imran’s win astride Nessie was more labored.  She was attempting to carry a heavy impost against horses in a lower category. With money flowing in the direction of Sans Frontieres and Samara Sun, Nessie had stray support with the bookmakers. Barring Lads Gladiator, who got stranded at the gates, the other eight took a level jump from the six furlong marker. Once early leaders Sweet Secret, Sans Frontieres and Magic Wave began to make heavy weather of their progress in the final furlong, Nessie appeared on the scene. She devoured ground on the very wide outside and got up in time to score a capable victory. Sans Frontieres, Sweet Secret, Samara Sun and Amazon Bay ended within whispering distance of each other. Only a long neck separated the four of them at the finish. The one that looks capable of improving hereafter was Amazon Bay. She was seen doing some good work when the race was more or less over.

The lower division of the above mentioned sprint was won by last outing winner Ethophian. This half-money favourite ran true to form while pulverising his opponents. With a hope of getting better odds against him, the Narayana Gowda camp chose to entrust Ethophian to Rajesh Babu. It was felt that with a rookie in the saddle, the bookmakers may get tempted to lay this horse. But, that did not happen. Ethophian tracked Nocturnal Hunter and Simpleton till the bend before making his charge. Within the next few seconds, he was many lengths ahead of Nocturnal Hunter, Starstruck and Shoot Out. One should not read too much into this result as none of the placed horses gave any sign of an impending  victory later in the season. It goes without saying, that Ethophian has a lot of class and is capable of defying the handicapper.

The owner of Ethiphian had already won an earlier race with Dance With Me. This filly from Babu Rao’s yard was able to trounce Irfan Ghatala’s heavily supported Spanish Fly with ease. Not wanting to take any chances , this winner was entrusted by Babu Rao to Dasarath Singh.  Since this leading jockey from Western India was here to ride in the 2000 Guineas, the connections requested him to ride their ward. With Suraj in the saddle, Spanish Fly was a rage in the betting rings. However, the favourite took a sluggish start and the jockey had to niggle her to stay in contention. Once early leaders Joanees Beauty and Jaanvi got tired, it was Dance With Me who went ahead. Those who had backed Spanish Fly were quick to realize that it was not her day. All she could manage in the straight was to finish a faraway second, ahead of a hard ridden Taylor Made and a totally exhausted Joanees Beauty. On the other hand, Dance With Me’s victory was both fluent and impressive.

Another race that cornered a lot of interest was a sprint for horses in class IV. A number of talented three year olds were seen participating in this race. Last outing winners Vigorous and Spiritofchartwell were being opposed by the Padmanabhan trained King Of The Court. The last named was set to receive weight from the two fillies. A mere look at him in the paddock was enough to realize that he was set to make them run. This was incidentally the first ride for retained jockey David Allan, who had just arrived in the country.  A number of no-hopers led by Youre Rocking made the early pace and led the field into the straight. Allan astride King Of The Court and Suraj on Vigorous were seen biding their time in  mid division as the runners entered the straight. With the runners spreading right across the track, there was ample room for everybody to make their progress towards the finishing line. Coming with a strong run towards the inner rails, King Of The Court devoured ground to romp home for an impressive victory. A hard ridden Vigorous was unable to collar Golden Princess, and had to be content with the third spot. A quietly backed Spiritofchartwell was unable to save place money for her backers.

The only other race during the afternoon was the day’s opener. Ganapathy trained three year old Masked Marvel had been relegated to the lowest class, and this was a great opportunity for the filly to show her mettle. Since she had been taking erratic jumps from the gates in earlier starts, Masked Marvel had been given some serious practice in recent weeks. There were a number of people who were wanting to back her, but the only thing that seemed to worry them was the question that “would she take a level jump today ?”  The brave ones amongst them got rewarded for their decision. Masked Marvel took a smooth jump from her innermost draw and strode clear of her rivals. She succeeded in making every post a winning one on Saturday. Aero Star, a late finishing Oceanic Wind and a bandaged Great Secret filled the minor slots on the result boards.