Narayan Gowda trained Ethophian carried a back-breaking weight to a popular victory in The Kanteerava Cup, the feature in a long card of nine events framed for Friday’s racing at Bangalore. The brave five year old continued to dazzle by scoring his fourth win this winter. With this performance, he is sure to claim the title of being “the horse of the season” this year. It was a seven furlong handicap for horses five years old and over in Class II. Since he was running against horses in his own age group, Ethophian was tipped as a “good bet” by his connections. By entrusting him to apprentice Kiran Rai, they had marginally eased his burden and claimed a couple of kilos off his back. This boy had ridden Ethophian to victory in one of his earlier starts, and since he had been doing well in the saddle in recent weeks, there were many who backed his mount with confidence. Additionally, the top weighted horse was running over a perfectly suited 1400 metres. There was stray support for Open Page and Nickel Chrome with the bookmakers. The race began with Ethophian taking a firm hold on the proceedings and showing the way to Valahak and Nickel Chrome. Lad King and Open Page tried to stay in touch with those in front of them, while the others found it tough to keep pace with the leaders. Ethophian moved steadily into the straight and continued to retain a firm grip on this race. He strode comfortable towards the winning post. Valahak tried his best to accelerate further, but was unable to do so. Nickel Chrome and Lad King got tired in the closing stages of this race and surrendered the last two places on the result boards to Open Page and Maddox.  

The rest of the day’s action was dominated by jockey Christopher. In the absence of Suraj Narredu, PS Chouhan, S John and Srinath on Friday, he had a ride in most of the races. Five out of his eight mounts were strongly fancied by the punters. Barring Ace Shineon, on whom Christopher had to settle for the runner-up berth, the other four were steered successfully across the finishing line. He began with Britto’s Cattleya in the day’s opener. This filly had been doing well on the training track and was lucky to find herself in the lower division of a maidens event. Most of her opponents had run earlier, but their unplaced efforts were so poor that they too were placed in the present category. In the absence of a worthy opponent, Cattleya was backed at every price to start as a strong favourite. Christopher pushed her to the front from a wide draw and was able to dictate pace for rest of the way. Nearing the two furlong marker, the filly seemed to be going well and was many lengths ahead of her nearest challengers. But once they neared the winning post, she got tired. Her shortening strides enabled Good Fruit and Rock With Us to get close to her. She won by just about a length from the two of them. The one that impressed in this race was Rock With Us. He was the last one to enter the straight, but once Noornabi showed him “daylight” in the final furlong, he did well to cover a lot of ground. Rock With Us looks like a readymade winner in his next start. 

A pair of fancied runners from trainer Amit Caddy’s yard were Christopher’s next two winners. Amit had pitched Royal Rein and Cardigan Bay in a seven furlong handicap for horses in class IV. While the former had won a race in summer, the latter was still a maiden. Once the race got divided, it was clear that the trainer had a great chance to score a double. Both were backed to the exclusion of their rivals and scored in identical fashion. Royal Rein tracked Assiduous and Dofantasy till the bend and was seen traveling well within himself till that stage. Christopher pulled him out on the wide outside and asked him to quicken. Royal Rein swept past the leaders and took a firm hold on the rest of the proceedings. Even though One Of A Kind came with a late bid in the final furlong, he was unable to go anywhere close to the leader. Royal Rein won by a widening margin from One Of A Kind and a tired Dofantasy. 

In the lower division, the scene was slightly different. Most of the runners had extremely poor form this winter and it was difficult to pick someone as a worthy challenger to Cardigan Bay. This horse had been surprised by Triumph earlier in the season, and once his vanquisher won again on promotion, it was easy to realize that Cardigan Bay would be tough to beat at his present mark. That is exactly what happened.  Christopher allowed Abba and Star Kingdom to lead on sufferance, and was content to wait behind them. Cardigan Bay was totally relaxed while cantering behind the leading pair. Once the front-runners got tired near the final bend, the favourite took over the running. A couple of reminders were required to get him going. Cardigan Bay did well to skip clear of the pack and won with a measure of comfort from a late finishing Cheddar Face and Cherry Hinton. The last named seems to be getting into some sort of form and can be noted for an early success. 

Christopher ended the day with an all out effort astride Dominic’s Atmos. This filly was second favourite behind the fashionably bred Remembrance Of You. With David Allan in the saddle, the public choice looked extremely well in the paddock. The punters were cautious about a couple of things. While Atmos was vastly experienced, Remembrance Of You was running for the first time in her career. Secondly, the daughter of Dubawi was bred to “stay” and the present scurry could prove to be a bit short for her liking. Those who restrained themselves fro backing the favourite, were benefited by their decision. While Atmos raced prominently till the bend and led for rest of the way, Remembrance Of You took time to find her rhythm. Even though her fluent strides in the final furlong enabled her to cover a lot of ground, it still wasn’t good enough to win this race. She did well to finish within a length of the winner. With this experience under her belt, the Padmanabhan trained Remembrance Of You can win for the asking. One doesn’t have to be an expert to predict, that should Atmos and Remembrance Of You ever clash in the future, the former may find it extremely difficult to beat the latter. 

Leading trainer Padmanabhan and David Allan had scored a point earlier in the afternoon with Spanish Cannon. The four year old had impressed a lot while winning his first race over a mile this winter, and it was easy to conclude that he would improve after that run. Realizing his ability to tackle a longer trip, the trainer decided to run him over a mile and a quarter on Friday. Prithviraj trained Ancient Title was considered as his main opponent in this race. Even though he had received a 24 point penalty for his nine length victory over seven furlongs in a lower category, Ancient Title was strongly fancied by his connections. They felt that he had enough stamina to tackle the present yardage. With Pearl Reward, Viktor and Ancient Title setting a good pace in front, David was content to settle Spanish Cannon at the back. The order remained exactly the same as they began to take the rising ground near the three furlong marker. It was hereabouts that David made his move.  Picking up his stick, he goaded Spanish Cannon into action. The horse responded immediately. The favourite picked up speed with each subsequent stride and sailed past a bunch of tired horses. After a mild duel with Viktor near the distance post, Spanish Cannon went on to seal an impressive victory. Ancient Title clearly failed to “stay” the trip, and was unable to do any better than finish a tame third. 

The other two races in the day’s card were won by jockey TS Jodha. Sirajuddin trained Secret Touch had tried a number of times to score the first victory of her career, but had failed repeatedly. Because of her poor form, she was friendless in the betting rings. There was one-way support for Dominic’s Ace Shineon in this race. Even he had done nothing of note thus far, but his recent workouts on the training track had been quite suggestive. Making use of an innermost draw, TS Jodha was able to grab an early advantage. He pushed Secret Touch into a two length lead over Brazilian Beauty and Ace Shineon.  The three of them raced in close order for rest of the way, and dominated this race till the very end. Under some strong riding from Jodha, Secret Touch managed to kick-on till the final post. Ace Shineon just about managed to beat Brazilian Beauty into third place. 

Puttanna trained Red Red Rose had scored a runaway victory over Pippin in a maidens event held in early January. The filly had to wait a couple of months before she found another appropriate opportunity to display her skills. Carrying a normal winning penalty of four kilos, Red Red Rose started as a half-money favourite in The Bugs Bunny Trophy. Many out of her nine opponents were first-timers, and it was difficult to visualize any of them getting close to her. Red Red Rose did her usual front-running and sped away from Eternal Desire and Miracles Of Life. The other seven were totally outpaced from the beginning and were noticed struggling at the back. The action in front unfurled on expected lines. With TS Jodha in the saddle, Red Red Rose completed the formalities and registered a comfortable victory over a hard ridden pair of Eternal Desire and Miracles of Life.