Neil Darashah’s Royal Salute put up another fine performance this season while lifting The Bull Temple Trophy at the Bangalore races on Friday. He defied the handicapper by making light of a stiff penalty that he had received for a previous victory, and confirmed that he is a much improved colt. It is a well known fact that winning back to back races in class III and II on the local track is generally a tough proposition. However, there are always exceptions and this was one of them. As a three year old, the bay ran some useful races over middle distances in summer and was subsequently given a well deserved rest. He began his winter campaign with an “outing “ in a sprint event for horses rated 40-65. Since the trip was not suited to his style of running, Royal Salute was unable to figure anywhere close to the result boards. In his next outing in January this year, he was asked to oppose Ayrton and Austin. Not many gave him a chance to do much against the two fancied runners, and the colt started as a rank outsider in that race. In the hands of TS Jodha, he went ahead from the start and showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals. Despite being eased-up in the final furlong, he clocked a very smart timing. The handicapper pounced on him and gave him a 16 point penalty. Friday’s feature was a class II handicap over seven furlongs, and Royal Salute was now opposing a strongly fancied Invincible Prince. The Padmanabhan trainee had won in the same class about six weeks ago and was expected to do the same today. Others like Alcazaba, Solitaire Royale and Valerian had stray support in the betting rings. There was an air of excitement around the course, as the nine runners entered the starting gates. 

Taking off smartly from his advantageous draw, Royal Salute got straight down to business. He led at a steady pace from Alcazaba, Lovely Lady and Valerian. Invincible Prince lacked early pace and he was noticed traveling in mid division as the runners took the rising ground and moved towards the straight. While Royal Salute hugged the inner rails, Invincible Prince was forced to travel widest of all at the final bend. With all the runners being put under pressure, the race took a serious turn at that stage. The one that responded best to his rider’s call was Royal Salute. He skipped clear of the pack and continued to maintain a strong grip on this race. He sailed past the winning post with a measure of comfort and scored from a late finishing Valerian. Under a heavy impost, Invincible Prince could do no better than get up in the nick of time to beat Lovely Lady into fourth place. Both Royal Salute and Invincible Prince are sure to get promoted after this race, and both look capable of making a mark at a low weight in the highest category. On the other hand, Alcazaba seems to have lost form and she should be left alone from a betting perspective this season. 

The added attraction in the day’s card was The KS Premchand Memorial Trophy. Another Padmanabhan trainee named Bering Sea was an overwhelming favourite in this race. She too had won the first race of her career in late December by over nine lengths, and was the recipient of a stiff penalty. Unlike Royal Salute, Bering Sea was unable to defy the handicapper. Suraj took her to the front and tried to make every post a winning one. Strengthandwonder, Refreshed and Kafka remained within striking distance of the leader, and the first four were closely matched as they approached the two furlong marker. It was hereabouts that Bering Sea got tired. She moved sideways under pressure and surrendered her lead to Strengthandwonder. The Prithviraj trainee seemed to be heading for victory, but his hopes were quickly dashed by a late rushing Kafka. Vaibhav brought the four year old with a flourish and helped Dhariwal in adding another point to his seasonal tally. Rakshitha and All Proof cornered the final two spots on the result boards. 

The only professional to score more than once on Friday was jockey Christopher. In a card of eight events, the young man had six rides. Since most of them had more than a reasonable chance of winning, one expected him to do well during the afternoon. While he failed astride a couple of strongly backed favourites, Christopher was able to win with Temujin and Magical Filly. Dominic trained Temujin had already tested his skills a couple of times in maiden company, and on both occasions, had figured prominently at the finish. Even though he opened as a joint favourite alongside Anecdote, his supporters could not match the enthusiasm of the Anecdote camp. The filly was backed with such confidence that her odds came tumbling down from 7/4 to 80/100. On the other hand, Temujin was friendless at 6/1 with the bookmakers. Christopher took the speedy Temujin to the front and stayed there. He led at a steady pace from Nagarjuna and the others. Beuzelin saved ground astride Anecdote, and the pair traveled towards the inner rails as they approached the bend. Even though the favourite was moving comfortably at that stage, the leader was in no mood to give up. With nowhere else to go, Anecdote was forced to find her way through the inner rails. She tried her best, but was unable to collar Temujin before they crossed the finishing line. Flame Of Passion came from a long way back to take the third spot. Anecdote is a nice type, and it will pay to support the small made filly in her next start. 

A seven furlong handicap for horses in the lowest category attracted some fairly modest contenders. None of the eight runners in this event had done anything of note this winter, and one had to look at the action in the betting rings to pick up clues regarding the final outcome of this race. Since there was one-sided support for Darius Byramji’s Silhouette, everyone tried to jump onto the same band wagon. The top-weighted filly was the next on-money favourite to flop today. While Shahraan and Aussiejack set the early pace, Magical Filly and Ruling Passions were seen doing some good work on the wide outside. All this while, apprentice Sarvan Kumar chose to stick to the rails and kept Silhouette within striking distance of the front-runners. However, the opening that he was hoping for in the straight, never appeared. With Aussiejack stopping in his tracks and hampering the passage of Silhouette, the boy had nowhere to go. He waited for the others to move clear of him before pulling Silhouette towards the centre of the track. By that time, both Magical Filly and Ruling Passions were a couple of lengths ahead of the favourite. Silhouette rallied strongly thereafter, but was unable to go past the two of them. Md Khan trained Magical Filly won narrowly from Ruling Passions and Silhouette. Less than a length separated the three of them at the finish. Even though Silhouette possesses very modest abilities, this was one race that she could have won. 

A superb performance from Darius Byramji’s first-timer Alexandra Mills generated much discussion at the races on Friday. While Pippin and Fruit Prince had shown out in their earlier starts and figured prominently at the finish in their respective events, Alexandra Mills was making her debut. Since she looked a bit heavy in the parade ring, racing patrons felt that she would need this “outing”.  She was accordingly available at 5’s and over behind Pippin and Fruit Prince. The two fancied horses got straight down to business and raced close to each other for most of the way. The other ten were seen being urged in the early stages to keep in touch with the leading pair. The scene remained more or less the same as they approached the distance post. At that stage, TS Jodha and Pippin were continuing to remain comfortably ahead of a heavily whipped Fruit Prince and the pair seemed to be headed for a popular victory. However, all that changed within the next few seconds. Coming with a sustained run from the back of the pack, Alexandra Mills devoured ground with each stride and strode past a tired Pippin. Imran Chisty was mighty pleased with her efforts, as she had covered acres of ground in the straight.  After this experience under her belt, we are sure to hear a lot about Alexandra Mills in the coming months. 

The most exciting finish of the day was witnessed in a nine furlong handicap for horses in class IV. The two runners that merited attention in this race were Arjun Mangalorkar’s Stimulate and the Padmanabhan trained Court Dancer. While Stimulate had run a good fifth in the Oaks at Hyderabad, Court Dancer had lost by a whisker in a lower category. Both were apparently comfortable over the present trip and their odds were exactly the same with the bookmakers. Artic Attraction went into an early lead and was about three lengths ahead of Manta Ray, Adriphos, Whimsical and Stimulate.  The others ambled along at a steady pace as they tackled the first half of their journey and began to take the rising ground near the three furlong marker. While the others were retaining their positions, the two favourites came under pressure. The first one beaten in the race was Stimulate. She wilted under her top weight and came to a crawl. On the other hand, David Allan was working very hard on Court Dancer near the final bend, but the chestnut filly was refusing to move forward. The scene in the straight was restricted to Artic Attraction and Whimsical. The first named had opened-up a comfortable lead into the final furlong and her closest challenger was a heavily whipped Whimsical. Court Dancer was trying her best to bridge the gap on the very wide outside. A couple of things happened thereafter. While the first two began to slow down, Court Dancer gained momentum. The three of them were almost abreast at the finish. The digital camera confirmed that Court Dancer had got up in the nick of time to beat Artic Attraction by a “short head”. Whimsical ended a very close third. 

The last race of the day saw a smart gamble being landed on Sriram Komandur’s Clueless. This sparingly raced five year old was running against horses in his own age group. By finishing an unextended second to Prazsky in his previous start, Clueless had served notice of his present form and condition. The six furlong trip that day was a bit sharp for his liking, and the trainer had done well to select a marginally longer race for him today. The only one who looked like a serious opponent in this race was the public favourite Deep Blue Sea. Both Deep Blue Sea and Clueless were seen racing in mid division, as Red Admiral and Affrikah brought them into view. It was hereabouts that both Suraj and Arshad Alam got busy. While Suraj drove Deep Blue Sea to lead into the final furlong, Arshad Alam and Clueless loomed large on the outside. A couple of taps with the whalebone was all that was required to get Clueless “going”. He lengthened his strides and carried Arshad Alam to a fairly comfortable victory. A tired Affrikah just about managed to retain his third spot ahead of Red Admiral and My Law.