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ARTA BEATS ACE LEXINGTON ON THE POST

By Pearcey | 21 Mar 2014 | BANGALORE


Trainer S S Attaollahi leading Arta (Imran Chisty Up), winner of The Champion Trainer Trophy

A small card of seven events was held at the Bangalore races on Friday. With the season nearing its end, the fields have become smaller and the quality of those still racing is quite ordinary. The Champion Trainer Trophy, a seven furlong handicap for those rated between 40-65, happened to be the day’s feature. With the withdrawal of Diamond Quest, the eight horse field was reduced to seven. Barring Dance With Me, the other six were all four year olds. A majority of them had won this season and earned promotion to the present level. Faraz Arshad’s Ace Lexington was an obvious favourite in this race. Despite a longish absence from a race track, this well-bred horse had won his only start this season. About a month ago, he had scored without raising a sweat and shown that he was capable of even better. With Suraj partnering him once again, Ace Lexington was installed as an on-money favourite in the day’s feature. Opposing him was Suleiman Attaollahi’s Arta. This filly had arrived from Mumbai and performed consistently this season. A second placed effort was followed by an exciting victory. Even though the handicapper had given her a penalty, the stable was optimistic about her chances. Both the market leaders were well turned out and looked equally good in the paddock.

The speedy Lovely Lady darted to the front and set a good pace ahead of Ace Lexington and Arta. With Kafka leading the chasing group, the seven of them continued to race in the same order as they moved into the straight. With apprentice Akshay Sundaram unable to keep Lovely Lady on the rails, the filly moved towards the centre of the track. This forced Suraj to make his move astride Ace Lexington on the wider outside. The wide opening towards the inner rails was seized by Imran Chisty. He pulled out the stick and goaded Arta through it. Even though Ace Lexington had moved marginally ahead of the others, he didn’t really pull away from them. Suraj gave him a few cracks but there wasn’t anything extra in the tank. This allowed Arta to get closer to him. The filly nibbled away at the lead and got up in the nick of time to beat the favourite on the post. Only a “head” separated the two of them at the wire. Lovely Lady and Kafka claimed the minor placings on the result boards. 

The day’s proceedings began on a fluent note for the Faraz Arshad stable, when a pair of horses from his yard ended one-two in the day’s opener. Darius Byramji’s Silhouette headed the scales in this seven furlong handicap for horses in the lowest category. This filly had been a trifle unfortunate in her previous outing, when she had got caught in a traffic jam ,and by the time her apprentice partner had found galloping room for the filly, the race had gotten over. On the basis of that run, she once again started as the first choice of the punters. Despite being drawn comfortably, Silhouette got into a muddle after a steady start and was soon looking for room to gallop. On the other hand, Big Copper Penny and Bel Esprit shot away from the pack and enjoyed a fair lead over Optimistic and Mr Charm. The field started to get closer near the final bend, and it was hereabouts that a runner darted ahead of the others. Under some strong pushing from Arshad Alam, Optimistic tore away from the rest and won by over ten lengths from Bel Esprit, a late finishing White Snowdrops and a totally exhausted Silhouette. The last named has taken down a lot of money in recent months, and it may be a good idea to leave her alone till she moves towards the lower end of the rating charts. As far as Optimistic is concerned, this bandaged four year old has it in him to repeat on promotion.

The Vijaynager Trophy, a scurry for maiden three year olds was expected to be a duel between first-timer Pure Allure and an experienced horse named Shaft. The latter had placed a couple of times over a similar trip and he looked like the only serious challenger to the on-money favourite from trainer Padmanabhan’s yard. The big made Pure Allure had been doing some good work on the training track and with Western India champion A Sandesh coming down specially to ride her, the odds on her continued to get tighter and tighter as the eleven maidens entered the starting gates. Most of the runners got off to an even start. With Madame Ayesha finding her way to the front, both the market leaders settled behind her. While Sandesh was near the false rails, Imran Chisty and Shaft were moving on the wide outside. In a sudden turn of events, Madame Ayesha changed course. She veered out violently and took Shaft along with her. Both these horses were soon on the sand track and were literally out of this race. This helped the cause of the favourite. The action on the race grass unfolded on expected lines. Pure Allure darted to the front and increased the pace in this race. She won by a widening margin from Hidden Soldier, Oye Como Va and South Pacific. The winner is a nice type and we are sure to hear more about her during the summer season.

After a fairly long time, trainer Sharat Kumar led-in a winner. After ten runs this season, Atlas Power finally won a race for the stable. Interestingly, this was the last season for this eight year old as he wasn’t qualified to race any longer and would be forced to move out of his stables at the BTC. It started as an open-betting affair, but once money came onto Atlas Power, the bay climbed to the top of the betting boards. The Ashwapriya Trophy was restricted to those above the age of five, and this mile handicap had a number of well performed participants. Greyconnection, Midtown Delight and Supreme were silently fancied by their respective supporters. Greyconnection got down to his usual front running and enjoyed a two length lead over Supreme for most of the way. The other six were toiling hard at the back. They raced in similar fashion till the final furlong. It was hereabouts that a horse was seen making his move on the wide outside. With less than hundred yards to travel, Greyconnection on the rails, Supreme in the middle and Atlas Power on the wide outside were almost abreast. It was the better momentum of Atlas Power that enabled him to go past the leaders. Christopher guided him powerfully across the finishing line. Under Srinath’s strong urgings, Greyconnection moved outwards in the final stages of this race and interfered seriously with Supreme. Suraj was forced to pull up his mount and settle for the third spot. However, an objection raised by him against Srinath was upheld by the Stewards and Supreme was allotted the runner-up berth ahead of Greyconnection and Sunny Express.

Last outing winner Clueless got up in the nick of time to claim a seven furlong handicap for older horses in class IV. This Sriram Komandur trainee had to be ridden flat out by Suraj Narredu , and the top weighted runner responded gamely to post an exciting victory. Clueless and Fioritta were joint favourites in this race. In the fifteen minutes leading upto race time, the pair repeatedly displaced each other from the top of the betting boards. The twelve runners were headed by Thunder and Soviet Melody, as they tackled the first half of their journey. Both Clueless and Fioritta were biding their time at the back and waiting for the right opportunity to make a final assault. Nearing the two furlong pole, Soviet Melody took over the running and enjoyed a slender advantage over a hard ridden Clueless. The latter got stronger with each stride and managed to wrest the initiative. He had to be whipped to contain a late challenge from Fioritta and Affrikah. While Fioritta managed to get second behind Clueless, a badly hampered Affrikah failed to get the better of Soviet Melody for third place. Fioritta’s jockey Arshad Alam raised an objection against Suraj Narredu. He contended that the winner had interfered with his filly in the straight and this had cost her a certain race. After careful perusal of the available evidence and hearing the opinions of the stipes present in the room, the Stewards decided to over-rule the objection.

A class IV sprint attracted a large number of acceptors and this race was accordingly split into two divisions. In the top division, a well backed Champakali was the first choice of the punters. This speedy filly had arrived from Mumbai and run only once on the local track. On that day, she had raced prominently till the bend before fading into fourth place. The trainer aided her cause by doing a couple of things today. He shortened the distance and claimed an allowance by entrusting her to apprentice Vishwanath. Sun Glow, Vigorous and Assiduous were recipients of stray support with the bookmakers. With the withdrawal of Secret Touch at the gates, the other nine took off to an even start. In the initial stages, the speedy Magic Wave led narrowly from Assiduous and Sun Glow. Vigorous and Champakali raced a couple of lengths behind the leading trio as they entered the straight. With Magic Wave and Assiduous shortening their strides, it was Sun Glow who went ahead of the others. Enjoying her freedom in front, this Satish Narredu trainee lengthened her strides and carried Saddam Hussain to a very comfortable victory. Vigorous and Champakali appeared late on the scene to save place money for their respective connections.

The lower division of this sprint saw a heavily supported Luc Divine scoring  a narrow victory over a fast finishing Ruling Passions. This horse had ended third in both his starts this winter and shown that with some smart placing, he could win the first race of his career. After Neil Darashah’s suspension, this four year old had moved to trainer Manohar’s stable. Ryan Marshall made use of Luc Divine’s early speed and took him on a start-to-finish mission. Anmol Hira, Ruling Passions and Super Silver followed at regular intervals, and the nine runners were spread right across the track as they turned for home. Equally supported Prosperity was distinctly feeling the pressure of a long absence from racing, and the filly was toiling hard at the back. Luc Divine quickened further and sealed the fate of this race, With Ryan waving the whip at him, Luc Divine put his head down and galloped resolutely towards the final post. Even though Ruling Passions made a determined bid close home, it wasn’t enough to topple the leader. Anmol Hira retained third ahead of a late finishing Prosperity.