Imtiaz Sait’s talented colt Last Chance justified his short odds and claimed The Karnataka Police Trophy at the Bangalore races on Saturday. He reproduced the fine form that he had displayed during the winter months at Mumbai, and went on to get the better of his eleven opponents. The seven furlong race for maiden three year olds attracted some well-bred horses. While Coriolis was running for the first time in his career, others like Scarlet Emperor and Androstos were highly regarded by their trainers. But none of them had better credentials than Last Chance in the day’s feature. This horse had run a good second to Merchantofvenice in a maiden’s multimillion. Realizing that the sprint may have been a bit short for his liking, Imtiaz ran him next over a mile in the Colts Championship. Last Chance did well to finish a very close third to Quasar and Vision Of Romance in that race. There was little doubt about his abilities and it seemed like a foregone conclusion, that the day he runs in a maidens event, he would emerge victorious. Since he was brought to Bangalore to have a tilt at the summer Classics, Saturday’s feature was selected as a lead-up race for him.  His fine looks in the paddock encouraged the punters, and he was backed at every price to start as the shortest priced runner during the afternoon.

After taking a good jump with Last Chance, jockey Srinath allowed John and Scarlet Emperor to go ahead of them. While John was niggling the leader all the way, Srinath was a picture of supreme confidence. The pair had broken away from the rest and were more than five lengths ahead of the chasing pack led by Cariolis and Smoking Bell.  The order remained exactly the same till they moved into the straight. It was at this stage that Srinath got a little more serious. He urged Last Chance to the front and strode away from Scarlet Emperor. After a couple of reminders from the rider, Last Chance got stronger at the finish. The chestnut Cariolis found late foot to come with a flourish in the final stages and finish an impressive second.  The reason why Trevor had cantered him to the starting gates was understood after the race was over. By the manner in which he ran over 1400 metres today, Cariolis confirmed that he would more comfortable over slightly longer trips. He appears to be Suleiman Attaolahi’s likely candidate for the Classics later in the season. Scarlet Emperor, who looked slightly underdone in the parade ring, is another one who shaped like a winner in his next start.

Trainer Dhariwal started his summer campaign on a nice note, when both the runners that he saddled on Saturday, entered the winner’s enclosure. The first one to do so was Prazsky. The filly got an opportunity to sprint  against class IV horses in her own age group. In this race, Arjun Mangalorkar’s Coolmore and Amit Caddy’s Irish Song were backed to the exclusion of their rivals.  Both the camps were equally strong on their respective wards and the odds against both of them were almost identical. Once Cash My Way and Scuffle darted ahead of the others, the riders of the fancied duo were content to stay at the back. Apparently they were trying to stay in touch  and  waiting for an opportunity to out-manoeuvre each other. They never realized that there was any danger from Prazsky. She was traveling well within herself, and PS Chouhan was also biding his time. The race took a serious turn in the straight. Under the guidance of Chouhan, Prazsky skipped clear of the pack and opened-up a winning lead into the last furlong. Both Irish Song and Coolmore were under pressure, and the race between them thereafter was only for the second spot. Coolmore found late foot to win that minor battle, and finished ahead of Irish Song. They are sure to improve after today’s exercise and make a mark in the next couple of months.

Dhariwal’s next winner scored purely because of the sheer grit and perseverance displayed by jockey Neeraj Rawal. He rode Firelight with a lot of patience and gave her good assistance from the saddle. The Muse, Cielo Signore and Mountain Beauty raced prominently in the back-stretch, and were the first into the straight. Public choice Next Move and Firelight were seen moving steadily towards the leaders, and the runners were getting close to each other at that stage. The Muse showed some sparkle and headed them into the final furlong. While Christopher produced Next Move on the very wide outside, Neeraj waited for an opening through the middle. He found one near the furlong pole and seized it immediately. Thereafter, it was a ding dong battle for supremacy. Firelight kept responding to her rider’s urgings and managed to keep her head in front of Next Move till the finish. Christopher’s free use of the whalebone failed to produce the desired result. Mountain Beauty rallied late to move ahead of The Muse to take the third slot.

Imran Chisty was the only jockey to strike more than once during the afternoon. After ending second on a filly named Blitzschnelle earlier in the day, Imran won on his next two mounts. While Mystic Music won as a rank outsider, his victory astride public choice astride Ungoogleable in the last race of the day was an expected one.  A seven furlong handicap for those rated 20-45 attracted a number of youngsters. Three year olds Salina ,Lucia, Vencedora and Fruit Prince had won maiden races in winter and were handicapped at the top in this event. By virtue of having finished way behind the winners in similar races on four different occasions , B Puttanna trained Mystic Music was receiving chunks of weight from them. A four year old named Trak On Fire was another runner that was considered by the punters. He had run only once in his career and had ended a fair second on debut. The runners in this race were closely bunched for most of the way and it was difficult to assess who was running better than whom till the bend. It was hereabouts that Salina emerged from the pack and charged towards the winning post. Under some hard riding from Trevor she seemed like landing this prize. But it was Mystic Music who spoiled her party. He responded to Imran’s urgings, devoured ground in the final furlong and sailed away for a fairly comfortable victory. Salina, Vencedora and Lucia finished close to each other while claiming the minor placings. Trak On Fire was “invisible” for most of the way and was only noticed when the back-markers were going past the finishing line. He ran poorly to finish in the ruck.

Imran’s job astride Darius Byramji’s piping hot favourite Ungoogleable was slightly easier. This horse had begun his winter campaign by ending second to Aashikaara. Since he was a bit uncomfortable that day, the trainer decided to geld him after the race. After giving him time to recuperate , he was given a start later in the season. Here too, he came with a late run and sauntered into the runner-up berth. After some strenuous exercise in recent weeks, Ungoogleable was targeted at today’s event. He looked the part in the parade ring and was supported by his connections. The bay justified their confidence by posting an authoritative victory. Shaking-off those around him at the bend, he spurted strongly in the straight. Ungoogleable won by a widening margin from Arziki and Spanish Fly. Incidentally, the pair dead-heated for the second place.

The day began on an auspicious note for the punters when half-money favourite Arch Duchess won the first race of the season. This filly From Suleiman Attaolahi’s yard had run about a half a dozen times in maiden company, and finished close behind the winners. On one occasion she had romped home to an easy victory, but due to an unfortunate incident at the start, the said race had been declared “null and void”. Apparently, a gate had suffered from a malfunction and this had hampered the chances of one of the runners. Even though Arch Duchess was now a four year old , the filly was still searching for an elusive victory. A Class IV sprint for horses four year olds and over got split into three divisions. She was lucky to find a place amongst those in the bottom one. After receiving all round support from the punters, she succeeded in making every post a winning one. Zervan pushed her to the front and led from Cadogan  and Jeyem’s Pride. Once her pursuers got tired at the bend, Arch Duchess was seen striding towards the finishing line. Even though she was visibly tired in the final furlong, the one’s at the back lacked the stamina to get close to her. A hard ridden Jet Set Go ended second, while Imperial Verse carried Appu into third place. The last named is sure to earn a winning bracket over a longer trip before the end of summer.

The Prince Khartoum Trophy, a sprint for maiden three year olds, had a strong favourite in Nityanand’s Pippin. This stout-hearted colt had run thrice in winter, and had finished second on all three occasions. The horses that had beaten him, had gone on to do well in their subsequent starts. Since he knew only one way to run and that was to go to the front, the shortest possible trip of 1100 metres was ideally suited to his style of running. In the absence of a strong opponent, Pippin was backed down to on-money favouritism. Suraj made full use of an inner draw and had no difficulty in taking Pippin to the front.  Flying Bullet raced alongside till the bend, but ran out of gas thereafter. This allowed Pippin to take a firm hold of the proceedings. After giving him a couple of “taps” near the distance post, Suraj rode him hands-n-heels for rest of the way. Blitzschnelle came from a long way back to end a respectable third, while Zulu Fantasy beat Legal Legacy into fourth place. A runner in this race that impressed in the paddock was Prasanna Kumar’s Dream Star. Despite looking a trifle gross, the filly sported a nice coat and was a picture of good health. She can be ear-marked for an early victory in similar company later in the season.

The only other race in the day’s card was a sprint for those in the lowest category. With the scale being brought down by six points at the end of their winter campaign, many four year olds found themselves at this level. Faraz Arshad’s Amigos (Ex-Blackbird) had placed a couple of times in the upper class, and this was a great opportunity for him to win the first race of his career. The connections were quick to pounce on this opportunity and lost little time in backing him down to first favouritism. In his earlier starts. the speedy colt had been making the running till the bend before fading out of contention. He was ridden differently on Saturday. Arshad Alam held him on a tight leash till the bend, and urged him only in the straight. Amigos came from mid division, overtook Anmol Hira and Big Copper Penny in the final furlong, and strode away to register a popular victory. Anmol Hira and Tradition managed to save place money for their respective yards.