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JOCKEY HANUMANT SINGH DAZZLES WITH A DOUBLE

By Mahendra Mallya | 19 Dec 2013 | MUMBAI


Trainer H J Antia leading Wind And Rain (Hanumant Singh Up), winner of The Rapidash Plate

Jockey Hanumant Singh, rose to the limelight and for one who has not exactly been scoring too many, the Thursday sandwiched between the first two Indian Classics was one to savor.  He was the clichéd ‘bookies delight’ in the first race where Mi Tianmen and Star Fire Lady garnered almost all the betting, Hanumant Singh  defied the odds at booted home Wind and Rain (Strategic Prince – Land Ahead) contributing solidly from the saddle.

Hanumant eased Wind and Rain into the lead and had Star Fire Lady, Mi Tianmen and Agustyna following in a single file. Wind and Rain entered the straight with a slender lead with Star Fire Lady and Mi Tianmen staking him and threatening to take over any time. Hanumant then pushed his mount forcefully and Wind and Rain lunged forward but never was safely ahead.

In the final furlong, Sandesh ridden Star Fire Lady came closer to Wind and Rain and suddenly Mi Tianmen too began to cover ground briskly to challenge the pair in front.  Hanumant rode out with determination and held on to nose the wire in time to give the two top fancies a telling blow.

This was vintage Hanumant Singh who used to ride competently in his early days. “Yes I always thought I was  slightly above average and was happy that my career was taking some shape. But I had a fall in Pune in September of 1995. I was away from the saddle, from my only joy – horses, for a year. A comeback is never easy and I had my share of issues. I wouldn’t get mounts as I used to and many in the circuit felt I was not the same. They thought the fall had affected me negatively. I went down south to Bangalore, had some success there but it was difficult to get regular rides on horses that were in with a chance. So winning became scare. I went to Dubai too and rode there. I still hold that riding license. The last few years have been too tough. My last winner was more than a year ago,” said a jubilant Hanumant Singh.

Asked if it was a fluke or did he really think he would win, Hanumant replied, “Most people would think I am talking on hindsight. I assure you I had told my wife Rekha and my two children to watch me on the rwitc net streaming. I told them that I had a great chance of winning the first race (Wind and Rain) and I was   a lot confident of winning the last race as well (Pretty in Patpong). They wished me luck. In fact my eight year old daughter and six year old son lifted my spirits saying, ‘you must win papa… we will be cheering for you.’ Hanumant Singh could not fight his tears as he overcame with emotions. I did it for my kids and my wife. I am truly delighted to have won both races. I owe a big thanks to trainer HJ Antia. He offered me the mounts and told me if I did a good job, I would win both races. He has kept his faith in me and I am ever grateful to him. I guess this is the break I needed to prove that I am not past my prime. Hopefully this double will get more rides my way,” he added.

Pretty In Patpong (Ikhtyar – Giacosa) was a much easier ride and Hanumant Singh took the confidence into the race. He jumped out and settled to chase leader Plan B all the way into the straight. Once they straightened up, Hanumant got Pretty in Patpong going and didn’t take too long to get past the leader and stretch out well to draw away, winning long way from home.

Sumo (First Samurai – Special Tapestry) stormed back into winning form after a while and he notched up a hard-fought start-to-finish victory. Surprisingly, the bookmakers seemed to have sniffed his return to form and at 3/1 he was the prime favourite ahead of Mon Ami and Step up, both better placed on scales and coming in to this race with better performances than Sumo.

True to the trend, Sumo marched into the straight with a handy lead. Soon Zakynthos and Step Up. The trio was engaged in a grim battle. Zakynthos was the first to blink and bowed out. Step up was putting in a big challenge and Sumo was putting up brave resistance.  Mon Ami was getting nowhere and ended beating Zakynthos to the third spot. Sumo kicked on desperately scampering for the winning post. Step up shifted a stride to the outside and that proved fatal. Sumo nosed the wire a breath before Step up did. Sumo picked up the Maharaja Sir Pratapsingh Geakwad Trophy. It was case of one agonizing false step for the runner up.

The other trophy race – The Simply Noble Trophy, was won by Fabulous Florence (Rebuttal – Hazel Eyes). The Dr MAM Ramaswamy owned filly finished on strongly to overwhelme Summer Eclipse who looked good until in the last 100 meters. Favourite Doc Holiday was not the quickest at the gates, but recovered to be in the mid-bunch. Ace of Heart lead until they turned for home and on straightening up, gave way to Summer Eclipse, who looked good going into the final furlong. All seemed well for Summer Eclipse as he surged ahead to amass a handy lead once in the straight. Fabulous Florence started to gain ground and finished on fast under the strong handling of Franco DaSilva. They zipped past Summer Eclipse impressively and coasted to a comfortable victory. Gran Turismo ended an eye-catching third.

Trainer Pesi  Shroff enjoyed a rare double, rare in terms of market odds. He fired with his debutante Tiger Tops (Tiger Hills – Cockayne) going at 10/1 and followed that up in the very next race with Swashbuckler (Razeen – Exquisite) who was sent out at 11/1 or more. A return of 100/1 on a Shroff-double is unheard of!

Tiger Tops was closer to the wrong end of the field as Ghalib led the way. Favourite Top Commander soon took charge on entering the straight and was quickening well too. Shivalik Showers too progressed but he was squeezed between Al Shamseer and Tiger Tops. Jockey Sandesh had to check his mount at a crucial stage and could not give out his best for sure.

Top Commander was challenged by Tiger Tops inside the final furlong and a grim battle ensued. In the final few strides Tiger Tops was overbearing on the favourite and he nailed Top Commander a couple of strides from the winning post. At the rear end Pure Champion, who was close to the inner rails, for no apparent reason drifted out uncontrollably and unbalanced his jockey badly. Jockey Vikram Jodha must have been confounded as he was dislodged on the stand side in a freak mishap.

Swashbuckler picked up his Pune debut run and came with a similar sizzling finish to shock the field and the punters as well. Ignored in the betting markets, Swashbuckler made sure that he was noticed and hailed at the business end.

Favourite Wentworth travelled nicely into the straight and easily got past leader Negotiator. Soon One Wish pounced on them and shot ahead. Swashbuckler was ready on the outside and came at One Wish with a scorching run. Nush improved from the second position but could not match the blaze of either Swashbuckler or One Wish and finished a tame third. Swashbuckler tore his way to the front to humble the tough effort of One Wish to win at alarmingly high odds.

Two well-backed horses lived up to the strong faith of the punters and they were Zoom Zoom from MK Jadhav’s yard and SK Sunderji’s Brown Dynamite, both firm favourites to win their respective races.

Zoom Zoom (Diffident – Raptures) improved on his last start second and this time he stayed in third and let Magic Star make the running with Blind Date in tow. Magic Star showed some spunk as he galloped at a brisk pace and drew away from Blind Date when the latter tried to challenge him in the straight. Snadesh then switched Zoom Zoom to the outside and got him going. Zoom Zoom produced a sustained gallop and floored the resistance of Magic Star fairly comfortably.

Sunderji’s Brown Dynamite (Home Affairs – All First) pulled a clean-as-a-whistle victory sparing his large number of supporters any suspense or anxiety. He was quick to hit the front and Shrikant Kamble confidently rode him out in the straight. Magic Vision chased the winner all the way without bothering the Brown Dynamite at any stage. Blush came from a long way back to finish a notable third, piping the progressing Thunder Star and relegating Tropical Zone off the frame.

Bourbon Street (Gaswar – Cats Whiskers) was made to work hard for victory as Strategy looked determined to gallop all the way. In the homestretch, it was clear that it would turn out to be a two-way contest with Strategy and Bourbon Street pulling away from the rest. Arusha, the other fancied runner simply did not raise a gallop and was struggling right from the start.

Strategy galloped on gamely and even increased her lead over Bourbon Street in the early half of the straight. Jockey Kavraj Singh was hard at work and gave the Dallas trainee commendable assistance from the saddle. Bourbon Street with allowance claiming S Mosin was up to the task and showed maturity in gathering the Sanjay Kolse ward egging him on. He caught up with less than 100 to go and Bourbon Street too quickened well to make a final dash that saw her through by a neck. Holiday Dancer improved to end a faraway third.

For the professionals, trainers Pesi Shroff and HJ Antia saddled a double each, while jockey Hanumant Singh was the lone jockey to score a double.