The Nanoli Stud Juvenile Million (Gr.2) featured a long and interesting card of nine events at Bangalore on Sunday. This prestigious race is traditionally held in the early part of the summer season and is known to be a fair indicator of the current form of Classic aspirants at this centre. This years edition saw a blistering performance from Malesh Narredu’s Be Safe, who not only won by a widening margin, but also did so after conceding chunks of weight to his opponents. To be run over seven furlongs, there were thirteen aspirants for the top prize. Since there were penalties for earlier victories, Be Safe was seen heading the scales. A winner in three out of his four starts, this well built colt was conceding five and a half kilos to Maisha. The filly was the only one who had finished close behind him in a race at Mumbai. Since the gap between them had been only one length that day, there were some who felt that she could reverse the verdict. But Be Safe’s further progress had shown that he was quite special. Malesh was taken by surprise when the top youngster in his stable had gotten beat in The Poonawalla Multimillion. But for numerous traffic problems in that race, Be Safe would have surely retained his “unbeaten” status. The colt looked totally relaxed in the parade ring today. According to most track reporters, he had done some brilliant work on the outer sand. He sported a fine coat and appeared to be in good health. With Suraj in the saddle, Be Safe received one-sided support in the betting rings and started as the 70/100 favourite to annex this coveted trophy. 

The early pace in the race was fairly modest, as Pentagram and Nuray found their way to the front and led from Culebra, Madame Sultana, Be Safe and Maisha. The others were strung out in single file as they traversed the back-stretch and began to turn for home. The order was more or less the same till that stage, and it started to change once they came into the straight. Nuray overtook Pentagram and charged towards the finishing line. He was soon joined by Be Safe in the centre of the track and a pair of fillies on the wide outside. It soon became clear that the race was in the safe keeping of Be Safe. His fluent strides enabled him to skip clear of the others, and Suraj had the pleasure of relaxing him as they approached the final post. The bay posted a smart time while winning from a late finishing Maisha, Culebra and a totally exhausted Nuray. This was a truly brilliant performance.  Be Safe confirmed his status as the top three year old in the country by performing like a well oiled machine. The instant response that he gave to Suraj’s call was something that we haven’t seen in recent times. There is no doubt about the fact that he appears to be on target to sweep the Summer Classics at Bangalore. Malesh has done extremely well to keep him in fine health and Be Safe seems to be enjoying the Bangalore weather. Another interesting feature of this race was the fact that this was the first time Suraj Narredu had donned the historic silks of Dr MAM Ramaswamy. In a post-race interview, Suraj revealed that Be Safe was definitely the best horse he had ridden in his career. Coming from a top jockey who has almost 1500 winners and over 40 Classics in his bag, this was quite a statement. 

For Malesh Narredu, Sunday was a special day. Be Safe’s victory had been preceded by a race, in which, his 16 year old son had tasted the first success of his career. Yash Narredu had been granted an apprentice license by the RWITC only a few months ago, and it did not take him long to emerge from the maiden ranks. The youngster waved his hands jubilantly after steering Suleiman Attaollahi’s Scarlet O‘Hara successfully across the wire. The filly had started as a rank outsider in a class III handicap over 1400 metres. With money flowing in the direction of Highraz, Mannat and Beauty Is Truth, the punters could literally write their own cards on the other six in this race. After the runners took-off from the mile marker, it was Greyconnection who sped to the front and tried to scamper clear of Scarlet O’Hara  and Beauty Is Trurh. Both Highraz and Mannat graced the wrong end of the field as they turned for home. Yash cajoled Scarlet O’hara into a clear lead at the bend and pushed her relentlessly. The filly enjoyed her solitude in front and skipped clear of the rest. Heavily whipped Mannat and Beauty Is Truth made up late ground to take the minor placings on the result boards. Highraz ran another disappointing race and took down loads of money along with her. 

For Suleiman, the above mentioned victory was his second for the day, as he had already picked up the day’s opener with a debutant named Soviet Union.  This compactly built youngster was lucky to find himself in the lower division of a sprint reserved for maidens. His fine track performances and good looks in the paddock, forced the bookmakers to make him a money-back favourite in this race. The horse performed on expected lines. He led from the word “go”, and never allowed any of his rivals to bridge the gap. After Republican Star got tired in the final furlong, the runner-up berth was claimed by a late finishing Torch Bearer. The last named clearly showed that the sprint was too short for his liking. Amongst the others that ran in this race, it is difficult to visualize any of them winning a similar event this season. 

There were a couple of similarities between Saturday’s and Sunday’s racing. On both days, Suleiman Attollahi saddled the winner in the day’s opener, and Imran Chisty ended the afternoon by claiming the last two races in the day’s card. Imran combined effectively with Darius Byramji, and the pair was able to score with Alexandra Mills and West Side Story. The former is a classic hopeful of the stable, and she left a fine impression while claiming a seven furlong handicap for class III horses. Running against seasoned opponents, she came with a late bid from the back and stormed home to an easy victory. The trend over the opening weekend has seen most of the races being won by those who have traveled prominently till the bend. Not many have been able to do what Alexandra Mills did on Sunday. She was in eighth position for first half of their journey and was behind a wall of horses at the final turn. Imran chose a passage on the wide outside and asked her to quicken. She made up ground with each stride and forced her way to the front. It ceased to be a race thereafter. She won comfortably from Star Of Destiny and Alameda. Much was expected from Connemara, but she ran poorly to finish off the frame. 

Three year old West Side Story had won as a maiden in winter. In a “No Whips” race, she had rocketed to the front and won as she liked. She was lucky to be rated in class IV, and Darius wasted little time in finding a race for her. Even though she was assigned a heavy impost, there was none in this race that looked capable of toppling her. Imran rode her differently today and exploited her turn-of-foot only in the straight. After tracking Apollo Star and Conrod till the bend, he found a way for her towards the inner rails and pressed the throttle. She bounded away to register a facile victory over Conrod and a late finishing Atmos. Both West Side Story and Conrod look like readymade winners in their next starts. Four year old Conrod will be difficult to beat over a sprint in a race reserved for those in his own age group.

There were a couple of announcements by the authorities at the BTC that brought cheer to the face of most race goers. The first pertained to a reduction in its commission by half to be a percent from the totalizator collections. Since this works out a fairly large amount, punters can look forward to better dividends. This will also ensure more money in the hands of the punters, and further visits by them to the totalizator windows. The impact of this decision was felt on Sunday. It is learnt that the turnover went up significantly over Saturday’s collections. There is no doubt that this is a healthy trend and the full impact of this decision will be known only at the end of the financial year. A decision of the Managing Committee of The BTC to continue live webcasting of racing held at its premises was also welcomed by the racing fraternity. 

The upper division of The Ministerial Trophy, attracted a small group of eight maidens. Hidayat Khan’s Azurite was a piping hot favourite in this race. The filly had raced against some highly regarded horses in winter and ended close behind the winners on both occasions. Their was none in today’s set who could match her credentials. The short odds quoted on her eased a bit at race time, as there was fair support for Forest Queen and Astrum with the bookmakers. Making use of her innermost draw, Suraj took her to the front. She led steadily from Astrum and Forest Queen. Since all three were racing well within themselves, it was difficult to say who was traveling better than the other. But once they entered the straight, the race was more or less over. Azurite accelerated nicely and opened-up a winning lead into the final furlong. Astrum rallied well to finish a clear second. Forest Queen ended marginally ahead of Vivid Impression, and claimed the third prize. An announcement shortly after the race confirmed that there was  a Stewards Enquiry. It was learnt that the jockey of Forest Queen had weighed-in below his allocated weight. The Stewards were quick to disqualify her from the race. 

The Dharmaprakasha LS Venkaji Rao Memorial Cup, a class II Sprint, attracted a number of speedy participants. A few amongst them had come down from the highest class. On the basis of his fine form in winter, Dhariwal’s Valerian attracted most of the support and started as an even-money choice of the punters. With the odds against second favourite Alcazaba expanding with each passing moment, those wanting to oppose Valerian were totally confused. A huge roar greeted the start of this race. Valerian had taken a lethargic jump and lost many lengths at the start. It was abundantly clear at that stage itself, that Valerian would find it difficult to win this race. Top weighted Cape Ferrat, Will Star and Amazing Redd went to the front, and they were followed by Alcazaba and the others, as the field entered the straight. Rank outsider Im Different made up much ground through the middle and joined the fray. The runners were closely bunched near the furlong marker. The better acceleration shown by Im Different enabled him to dart ahead in the final stages and withhold a late challenge from Alcazaba. Capre Ferrat retained the third spot ahead of a tired Amazing Redd. TS Jodha rode a strong finish astride this Britto trained winner. 

A seven furlong event for horses in the lowest category was expected to be a straight contest between Lokanath’s Noble Reward and Faraz Arshad’s Fioroloco. Benefiting from a reduction in scale at the end of winter, both were eligible to race at this level. While there was stray support for Glamour Boy, the other nine were ignored by the punters. After a level jump at the gates, it was Oriental Image and Noble Reward who went to the front. They led at a steady pace and showed the way to Abba and Youre A Star. Fioroloco seemed to be in a spot of bother and the four year old was seen dropping out of contention. This made Noble reward’s job much easier. He scampered to the front in the straight and stormed home to a bloodless victory. Kiran Rai urged him strongly past the post Abba and Youre A Star were able to save place money for their connections. It was revealed that the saddle on Fioroloco had shifted immediately after the start. Unable to offer any assistance to the horse, the rider was a mere passenger for most of the way. Those who lost money because of this mishap on Fioroloco on Sunday, must back him again. The four year old had looked very well in the paddock and is sure to pick up a race this season.