Under some able guidance from apprentice Noornabi, four year old Aumento came with a flourish in the final furlong and succeeded in winning The Narasimharaja Trophy at the Bangalore races on Friday. This Satish Narredu trainee re-discovered his old form to put it across some strongly fancied opponents. In his only start this season, Aumento had performed dismally to finish many lengths behind Ice Storm. Since they were clashing over a mile once again, apart from the alteration in weights there was little to suggest that Aumento would be able to do any better today.  He was accordingly allowed to start as the 20/1 outsider in the day’s feature. The betting in this race was restricted to Ice Storm and Summer Sun. The former had won four of his last five starts and shown improvement after every run. Since he had won in the same category earlier in the season, there was a good chance that he would win again. On the other hand, Summer Sun had failed on a couple of occasions in winter and failed both times to carry a heavy burden to victory. Trainer Amit Caddy decided to give him a better chance by running him at the bottom weight in a higher category today. The stable felt that he would “stay” a mile and supported him with confidence. There was stray support for Real Steel and Lad Star in the betting rings. 

Magnitude Star did his usual front-running and showed the way to Summer Sun and Ice Storm. While Lad Star took the fourth spot on the rails, Aumento moved steadily on the very wide outside. Violent Storm, Mi Amor, Real Steel and Maddox brought up the rear. The order remained exactly the same as they tackled the first half of their journey. It was somewhere near the half way mark that the saddle on Lad Star “slipped”. Apprentice Kiran panicked and started to look around for a way out of this mess. Within the next few strides, he fell off his mount. Those behind him took evasive action and changed course. Chetan Kalay astride Maddox was the only one who failed to succeed. He got unbalanced and parted company with Maddox. However, the action in front unfurled on expected lines. Ice Storm on the rails and Summer Sun towards the centre of the track were fighting a grim duel. They were going stride for stride and it was difficult to say who was traveling better than the others. Both Suraj Narredu and Christoher were making free use of their whips. Just as the crowds were beginning to get involved in the action, there was another horse that appeared on the wide outside. The white colours of Aumento overtook the two front-runners and sailed away for a stunning victory. Noornabi had timed his challenge to a nicety and given a very nice ride to Aumento. Summer Sun took the runner-up berth by getting the better of Ice Storm near the winning post. 

Satish Narredu managed to complete his personal double by winning the last race of the afternoon. It was a unique event, in which, horses that had run twice this season but failed to win a race, were allowed to participate. Furthermore, these runners belonging to the lowest category were to be ridden by those who hadn’t won a race since the month of November. Moreover, these boys weren’t allowed the use of a whip. Speedy customers like Super Silver, Yourescintilating and Green Path were the leading contenders for the top prize. With apprentice Akshay Sundaram claiming a four kilo allowance, Super Silver started as a firm favourite ahead of Yourescintilating. Making use of an innermost draw, Yourescintilating skipped clear of the rest and enjoyed a fair lead over Super Silver at the bend. The two of them were a “distance” clear of the chasing pack led by Green Path at that stage. With both the riders continuing to go “hands-n-heels” for rest of the way, the order remained constant till the distance post. It was hereabouts that Super Silver came through the rails and delivered the “knock-out” punch. He overtook Yourescintilating and beat him by a length at the finish. Sacred Heart came from a long way back to save place money for her supporters.  

Trainer Faraz Arshad was the other trainer to saddle a “double”. His two winners during the afternoon were Absolute Red and Hillstone. Both these horses had joined his yard recently after moving from Irfan Ghatala’s stable. Absolute Red was heading the scales amongst a dozen runners that had accepted to face the starter in The Talkad Trophy. Since he was running over a perfectly suited seven furlongs, there was strong support for him with the bookmakers. However, the favourite in this race was Padmanabhan’s Tanganyika. Despite running after a very long lay-off, Tanganyika had ended a fair fourth in his only start this season and there was every reason to believe that this big made colt would improve after that said experience. Debutant Trak On Fire was another fancied runner in this race. Imran Chisty took Tanganyika to the front and led comfortably from Absolute Red and Trak On Fire. The three of them were alongside each other as they turned for home. It was hereabouts that Absolute Red confirmed his superiority. Responding fluently to Trevor’s handling, the chestnut spurted to the front and won by a widening margin from Trak On Fire. Tanganyika ended a very tame third. Both Absolute Red and Trak On Fire showed that they have it in them to win their next start. On the other hand, Tanganyika may need to come down to a lower mark before he wins the first race of his career. 

The victory of Hillstone was quite thrilling. This horse was the second favourite behind Samara Sun in an age group sprint for class III runners. Once Samara Sun got withdrawn on veterinary grounds near the starting gates, there were many who were optimistic about Hillstone’s chances. But once the race started, they were the first one’s to give up hope. While Cielo Signore and Sweet Secret vied for an early advantage and led by more than half a dozen lengths at the bend, Hillstone was found flat-footed at the back.  With apprentice Vishwanath continuing to goad him, Cielo Signore shaped as winner in the straight. Hillstone was about three lengths behind the leading pair as they entered the final furlong. While the front-runners were getting tired, it was Hillstone who was gradually moving towards them. By the time they reached the winning post, it was Ahsan Qureshi and Hillstone who were ahead of Cielo Signore and Sweet Secret. The three of them finished within whispering distance of each other. 

A maiden’s event happened to be the first race of the afternoon. Even though Fruit Prince was expected to improve on his placed efforts in recent months, there was a lot of hype around the chances of Byramji’s Rapid Advance. This well-bred colt had done some good work on the training track and looked well in the paddock. Barring a couple of first-timers, the others in this race had no form to advertise their chances. Rapid Advance was accordingly backed down to 70/100, as the runners reached the starting gates. Debutant Topspot took a good jump and bolted ahead of Fruit Prince and Rapid Advance. While Secret Launch raced fourth, third favourite Fleet Street stumbled after a slow getaway from the widest draw and graced the rear. Topspot continued to dictate pace as the runners entered the final furlong. His two length advantage at that stage encouraged the local commentator to call him as a possible winner of this race. However, that was not to be. While Topspot came to a crawl near the finishing line, both Fruit Prince and Rapid Advance came dangerously close to him. The three of them were alongside each other as they flashed past the post. The camera confirmed that Fruit Prince had won by a “neck” from Rapid Advance and Topspot. Both the placed runners had dead-heated for the second spot. Christopher’s persistence with the Dominic trained Fruit Prince earned him a rich reward on Friday. The runner that impressed the most in this race was Arjun Mangalorkar’s Fleet Street. The filly covered acres of ground in the straight and ended a very close fourth. She will be too-good-to-miss in her next start. 

A sprint for older horses in class IV was split into two divisions.  The upper version witnessed good support for Sriram Komandur’s Scuffle. It was interesting to note that this five year old was being partnered by Indrajeet Singh. This youngster was an apprentice till very recently and had lost his four kilo allowance because of age restrictions. The connections obviously had a great opinion about their horse, as they had chosen to back him with this rookie aboard. Their decision to do so proved to be correct. Scuffle raced prominently till the bend alongside Joanees Beauty and Youre Rocking, and once those around him got tired, the sparingly raced horse moved strongly towards the final post. A late burst of speed produced by Dominica enabled her to finish second ahead of Soviet Melody and Your Rocking. A seven year old named you’re My Life attracted some smart money in the betting rings. After suffering an interference in the back-stretch, this mare was seen doing some great work in the final stages of this race. Despite this hindrance, she still managed to finish fifth and was very close to those ahead of her. She could pick up a similar race before the end of this season. 

The lower division of this sprint was won Pradeep Annaiah’s Jaanvi.  Icecream was installed as a firm favourite in early morning trade, but once money started to pour on Inspirator and Jaanvi, the scene changed dramatically. Top-weighted Jaanvi spurted to the front and set a good pace ahead of a strongly urged Icecream. Inspirator lacked early speed and was totally outpaced from the beginning. Jaanvi continued her good work in front and enjoyed a three length break at the bend. Apprentice Pradeep kept nudging her and she continued to respond to him. She lengthened her strides and won untroubled from Icecream and a late finishing Inspirator. 

A rare event, reserved for horses six years old and over, was touted as a match race between Mountain Beauty and Native Indian. With leading jockeys Suraj and Imran in the saddle, the two of them were supported to the exclusion of their rivals. After receiving a stiff penalty for an earlier victory, Native Indian was seen conceding a kilo to Mountain Beauty. It seemed as though the pair was closely matched. While Mountain Beauty was blessed with a lot of speed, Native Indian was known to be more comfortable over the present trip of 1400 metres. Mountain Beauty tried to set her own pace and went ahead of Magnomical and Native Indian. The small-made mare did the bulk of the running till they entered the straight. After Magnomical got tired and retired from the fray, the stage was set for an exciting duel. However, that never materialized. Native Indian came with a smooth run from the back and whizzed past the leader. With Imran waving the whip at him, Mahesh trained Native Indian got stronger and stronger in the final furlong. He won by a widening margin from Mountain Beauty and a totally exhausted Magnomical.