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A Rare Mishap Disrupts The Poonawalla Mysore Derby

By Pearcey | 24 Oct 2010 | MYSORE


Mishap Disrupts Mysore Derby

A record crowd of over 10,000 racing enthusiasts were present at The Mysore Race Club to witness the running of The Poonawalla Mysore Derby 2010 (Grade I) on Sunday. Many amongst them had travelled long distances to watch the so-called duel between Sun Kingdom and Immense. Even though there were nine acceptors in this last Classic of the year, it was fairly simple to assess that the final outcome would most probably be restricted to these two runners.

They had clashed twice during Bangalore Summer, and on both occasions, Irfan Ghatala's Sun Kingdom had finished ahead of Arjun Mangalorkar's Immense. However, the latter had shown remarkable improvement in recent months. Immense travelled to Malakpet during September, and won the local Colts Classic before coming back to Mysore. He reversed the result with Sun Kingdom in The Mysore 2000 Guineas, and beat the on-money favourite with a measure of comfort. Those amongst us, who were convinced that this had happened because of a lack of a recent run for Sun Kingdom, were keener than the others to be present at The Mysore Race Club on Derby Day.

The connections of Immense, along with those of Spark Of Atan, had paid a hefty amount of Rs 9 Lakh each to participate in this race as final entries. The rest of the group, led by Ordained One and Balmoral Castle, carried the hopes of their respective camps. Most of the runners appeared well-groomed in the paddock, and the excitement reached a crescendo as they reached the gates in front of the grandstands. Sun Kingdom looked much better than last time, and was extremely calm in the parade ring. He was being partnered once again by Prakash. Immense was getting a bit worked up, and John was having a tough time controlling his movements.

The bookmakers had installed Sun Kingdom as the 5/4 favourite ahead of Immense at 7/2. One could support the others at 10's and over. Soon after, the bugle was sounded and the horses began entering the stalls. Amidst wild cheering and louder catcalls, the start was effected. This was suddenly followed by a hushed silence. There had been an accident at the start and there were a number of riderless horses on the race track. Since the gates were positioned right in front of the public, it was easy to see what had transpired.

Immense had reared up in his gate and managed to unseat his rider. Prakash and Sun Kingdom emerged from the next gate, but the jockey was totally unbalanced. Despite his best efforts to remain aboard, Prakash lost his balance and landed on the turf. Bucethalis was drawn in the next gate. Jockey Vinod Shinde was off the saddle when the gates had opened, and the horse had taken off without his rider. The veterans looked around to see if the "false start" hooter had been sounded, but there was no evidence of it.

Fist Of Rage had charged to the front and was at the helm of affairs for the rest of the way. The ones behind him were involved in a jostling competition, and they kept interfering with each other. For the record, Fist Of Rage continued his unhampered charge towards the winning post, and won untroubled from Balmoral Castle, Spark Of Atan and Deep Blue Sky. What happened thereafter was totally chaotic. Racegoers refused to accept this result at face value, and decided to take the law into their own hands. They expressed their displeasure by smashing the Club's property including TV Sets and furniture. The authorities were quick to announce an enquiry, and made repeated requests to the public to remain calm. Extra battalions of the local police were summoned, and discipline was ultimately restored.

The live telecast of the Stewards Enquiry exposed the entire picture. With slow motion cameras in operation, it was clear that there had been an extremely rare mishap. Immense had reared up in the gates, and John had asked the starter to "wait". Prakash was disturbed by the antics of Immense in the adjacent stall, and he too had drawn the starter's attention. It was quite obvious that Vinod Shinde was off his mount at that very moment. In the midst of all these events, the starter decided to press the button. All three jockeys parted company with their mounts at almost the same juncture.

The Stipes repeatedly viewed the tapes, before talking to the three jockeys and the starter. It was clear that this incident warranted immediate action. The Stewards of The Mysore Race Club declared the race "Null and Void", and all bets made on this event were refunded. Since the whole thing had happened within a fraction of a second, it was termed as accidental. The entire episode was covered by a simple one line sentence issued by the officials.

They said that this action had become necessary because the start had not been "fair". The Winter Season is set to begin in the next two weeks. The trainers have already planned the campaigns of their Classic hopefuls and targeted them at various centres. It is difficult to see the 2010 edition of The Mysore Derby being re-scheduled and held at a later date. Without going into the merits or demerits of the above-mentioned case, it is important to understand that the Stewards took a well-reasoned and mature decision.

Modern technology came to their rescue and helped them in arriving at this reasonable conclusion. The rest of the eleven-event card was dominated by the two champions. Lokanath Gowda and S John won the professional honours for the season. Their victories were comprehensive, as they were achieved by comfortable margins. Both of them scored a double today and signed-off in style. John guided a couple of public choices to victory.

He had to work really hard while coaxing Byramji's Incredible to a thrilling triumph. Front-running Ohiyesa refused to give up, and fought till the very end. Ohiyesa will be too good to miss in the smaller season during the winter months. Incredible (Burden Of Proof – Chill Out) may be targeted hereafter at the "terms" events at Bangalore. John's victory astride Monappa's Rising Rainbow (International – Rainbow Vision) was relatively easier. He allowed the leaders to run out of steam before making his move.

The three-year-old filly devoured ground on the wide outside and completed the rest of the formalities. This Mysore-based youngster has the ability to win on promotion. Lokanath's first success in the afternoon came in the form of Leading Lady (Alnasr Alwasheek – Rave). Champion apprentice Nausad Alam rode another impeccable race on this winner. Lokanath has utilized the services of this boy, and the pair of them has won numerous races during the season.

Even after Jedi Knight had established a winning lead in the straight, Nausad Alam wasn't disturbed. He kept cajoling Leading Lady to move forward, and got the desired result in the final furlong. She increased her momentum, and won near the winning post. Early leader Milagro got tired at the end to finish a poor third. Lokanath's last and final winner came in the concluding event of the day. In the hands of Sreekanth, the six-year-old Born Beauty (Glory Of Dancer – Symphony Of Style) made all the running and gave Lokanath his eighteenth winner of the season.

Refuse To Bend came with gigantic strides at the end to finish an impressive second. This horse can be earmarked for an early success at Mysore. Trainer Md Khan and jockey Deep Shanker had another winner on Sunday. The recently acquired Supreme Arch (Black Cash – Steadfast Love) completed a well-backed double for the weekend. Favourite Liberty Ship made all the running and led into the straight. She travelled nicely till the distance post before getting tired. Supreme Arch, who was sitting second till that stage, moved forward and sailed away for an impressive victory.

Well-fancied Jaanvi was unable to handle the huge penalty that she had received for an earlier victory. The small-made filly needs to shed some weight before striking again. Supreme Arch can win another age group race in the early part of Winter. Sunny Chinoy made the trip from Pune to guide the fortunes of Scimitar (Burden Of Proof – Sabre Dance) in The Gayatri Devi Memorial Gold Cup.

This mile handicap for horses in Class II had a very clear favourite in Caspian Sea. This Byramji-trainee was running over his pet distance and had been subjected to some steady preparation. The well-bred Scimitar, who was known to be a trifle unsound, was running for the third time this season. Md Abbas has only a couple of horses under his charge, and Scimitar happens to be one of them. Despite a tardy beginning, Scimitar made up ground on the wide outside and sailed into an unassailable lead at the bend. John roused Caspian Sea at this stage but the favourite was unable to make any impression on the leader. Scimitar won untroubled from Caspian Sea, Super Spear and Edmondo.

The last named is getting ready for a gamble over a shorter trip. The biggest "flop" of the afternoon was Sharat Kumar's The Contender. He had been studiously brought down a class, and had been sharpened on the training track. He had revealed his true potential in his only start this season. After losing acres of ground at the start, he had come and finished a fair fifth on that day. The stipes had requested the trainer to give a mock race to this runner. The Contender had jumped nicely in that barrier trial. He was facing a bunch of horses in his own age group today, and the six-furlong trip was suited to his style of running. He received all-round support to start as an even-money favourite in this race. To the delight of his fans,

The Contender took a good jump and looked comfortable while cruising in second place till the final bend. He suddenly started to send distress signals and stopped in his tracks. It was left to India Shining (Tejano – Fabulously Bold) to go ahead and win in a close finish from a hard-ridden Preset. The Contender has shown that he is ungenuine, and therefore, it may be prudent to be careful while backing him in future.