Mysore challenger Fink asserted his class and superiority over his eight opponents in The Bangalore Juvenile Million (grade III) at the local races on Saturday. In the capable hands of Srinath, this colt  from Michael Eshwer’s stable produced a sparkling gallop down the length of the straight  and dug deep into his reserves of stamina to withhold a strong and determined challenge from Darius Byramji’s Alexandra Mills. By winning his fourth consecutive start, the son of Phoenix Tower maintained his unbeaten record. Horses bred at the Manjri Stud Farm have been doing really well  in recent times  and this was another notable success for the establishment. Being an event in which there were no penalties for earlier triumphs, there were a number of well performed horses that had accepted to run in this race. Having won three times each, Hyderabad challenger Dare To Dream and Fink came into this race with the best record. Both had won over the present trip of seven furlongs and clocked timings that were really impressive. Since Dare To Dream had shown better acceleration in the straight, he was fancied strongly by his connections. After his arrival at Bangalore, he had been doing well on the outer sand, and it was generally felt that he was the one to beat in the day’s feature. He was accordingly installed as a strong favourite ahead of  the others. The local challenge was headed by a couple of nice looking fillies. While Alexandra Mills had impressed while winning her only start, the Padmanabhan trained Remembrance Of You was still a maiden. Even though both looked a bit “underdone”  in the parade ring, there was ample evidence about their class and abilities. The additional presence of Supreme Dominator and Bold Majesty ensured that  racing patrons were going to witness the best race for three year olds this season..  Each one rose to the occasion and participated in a fast run race, but once Fink went to the front, there was no stopping him from claiming this coveted trophy.

Barring Smoking Bell, the other eight took off to a level start. By the time the field settled down to race, it was the favourite Dare To Dream who was ahead of the others. He led at a steady pace from Apollo Star, Supreme Dominator and Fink. A  couple of lengths further behind were Remembrance Of You and Alexandra Mills. The order remained exactly the same for the first half of their journey ,as most of the jockeys were content to hold their positions till the home turn. Dare To Dream was the first into the straight , but his lead was shrinking by the second. It was apparent that he had run out of gas and was gradually slowing down towards the inner rails. With the others around him coming to a halt, Srinath was quick to seize the initiative. He found a nice passage towards  the centre of the pack and pushed Fink through it. The colt was alert to his task and was soon a couple of lengths ahead of the others. At about the same juncture, Imran Chisty astride Alexandra Mills decided to make his move. Since those in front of him were getting tired, he chose to traverse the path on the wide outside. Even though he lost a few lengths by this manoeuvre , the rider ensured that he did not break the strides of his filly. Alexandra Mills devoured ground thereafter to move menacingly close to the leader. With both Srinath and Imran making free use of their whips, Fink and Alexandra Mills pulled away from the others. Fink retained a three-quarter length advantage till the very end. Bold Majesty did some good work in the closing stages of this race to end a respectable third. Dare To Dream came to a crawl in the final furlong and faded away from the scene.  Fink and Alexandra Mills confirmed their abilities to tackle a galloping course, and we are sure to see both of them racing prominently in the summer classics.

The victory astride Fink happened to be the first leg of a superb hat-trick that was achieved by jockey Srinath on Saturday.  The upper division of The Champion Jockey Trophy, a sprint for maiden three year olds, saw him partnering Arjun Mangalorkar’s Merion to a bloodless victory.  In fact, Arjun had entered a colt and a filly sired by Win Legend to participate in the two divisions of this race. Interestingly, both displayed immaculate temperament and blistering speed while overwhelming their rivals. Anecdote, Merion, Expert and Anarosa were equally fancied by their respective yards. One could back any of them at 4’s and over with the bookmakers. Even though there was a rush for the early lead, it was Merion who made his way from an outside draw and stole a march over the others. Those who had backed him were a bit concerned, as they felt that he had gone a bit too fast for their liking. However, Srinath’s posture in the saddle confirmed that he was yet to make a move with him. Anecdote and Expert were under pressure to keep pace with him. Merion quickened further in the straight and the winner was sighted a long way from home. The chestnut stopped the clock in a very fast timing. While it is accepted that with the ground being firm at this time of the year the timings are faster than normal, but a youngster clocking One Minute and Thirteen Seconds in his very first start is something very rare. Merion is definitely one of the fastest youngsters that we have witnesses thus far at Bangalore. Both Anecdote and Expert maintained their positions till the winning post.

The lower division had a speedy filly named Vencedora cornering most of the support in the betting rings. Arjun had given her time to furnish, and she looked well in the paddock. Since she faced very modest opposition, Vencedora started as the shortest priced runner of the afternoon. Imran Chisty held her on a tight leash behind Battle Empress in the back-stretch and allowed her to go ahead in the straight. She raced well within herself while cantering away from a bunch of helpless rivals. Zulfiqar did well to retain his second place ahead of a fast finishing Our Little Dragon. There was fair support for Julius, but he ran disappointingly and ended a tame fourth.

Srinath’s third and final winner was for the Puttanna stable. One Of A Kind had been running some fair races this winter, but a habit of getting left at the gates had been hampering his chances. After losing precious ground, he had always managed to figure on the board. The backers of Amazonas and Whimsical  got worried when One Of A Kind took a level start today. Srinath kept him towards the inner rails and allowed Amazonas and Whimsical to lead till the bend. Once Whimsical got tired in the straight, it was time for him to make a move. One Of A Kind came with a flourish in the final furlong, joined Amazonas near the distance post and wore him down near the finishing line. The credit for this victory must be credited majorly to Srinath’s riding. Love Is Life ran a much improved race to finish a fair third.

For trainer Puttanna, this completed a double for the day ,as he had already won an earlier event with Jeyem’s Pride. In a sprint reserved for older horses in the lowest category, Jeyem’s Pride was assigned the top weight by the handicapper. Puttanna lightened her burden by claiming an allowance and entrusting her to apprentice Akshay Sundaram. The youngster pushed her to the front and succeeded in making every post a winning one. Public choice Fashion Flame did her best in the straight, but it wasn’t good enough to get anywhere close to the leader. In fact, she slowed down perceptibly in the final stages and lost her runner-up berth to a heavily whipped Tic Tac Toe. As regards the others, it is difficult to visualize any of them winning a race in the near future.

The lower division of the above race was the day’s opener. A horse named Dominator was the rage in this race. A couple of years ago, this horse had shown  remarkable form to finish alongside some highly regarded horses. Most of them had progressed to the top class, while Dominator developed a ”tendon” and got relegated to his present level. Since he had been racing sound in his last two starts, the Pillay stable decided to support him today. Accordingly. Dominator started as an odds-on choice of the punters. The second favourite in this race was Sharat Kumar’s Encourager. Christopher took him to the front and settled into a comfortable lead over Apollo Galaxy and Dominator. They raced in close order till the bend. It was hereabouts that jockey Chary tried to rouse Dominator. However, the expected acceleration failed to materialize. Once Dominator started to “plod”, the race was in the safe keeping of Encourager. He continued with his good work in front and skipped clear of Apollo Galaxy and a tired Dominator.

Last outing winner Athletic Star produced another scintillating performance to win the last race of the afternoon. He had been given a stiff penalty by the handicapper, and even though he was worse off at the weights in relation to Mountain High, there were many who supported him with confidence.  Smithsonite was the other fancied runner in this race. While Air Tight and Smithsonite fought for an early advantage, Athletic Star  was seen languishing at the back. He had taken a tardy start and was seen weaving his way through a tightly packed group as they made their way towards the final turn. Smithsonite moved ahead in the straight and seemed to be headed for a long overdue victory. However, that was not to be. Athletic Star responded to Kiran Rai’s urgings and joined the leader. It was apparent that he was traveling better than Smithsonite and it was only a matter of time before he would move ahead of him. That is exactly what happened in the final furlong. The Narayana Gowda trainee bounded away to score a thrilling victory. Mountain High appeared late on the scene to claim the minor honours in the concluding race of the afternoon.