The Chief Justice’s Cup (Grade III), a terms race for horses four year old and over, featured an interesting card of eight events held at the Bangalore races on Saturday. The nine furlong race is known to produce interesting results each year, and the 2014 edition of this race was no different. On Saturday, local race-goers witnessed one of the best finishes that they had seen in recent times.  Pesi Shroff trained Amazing Grace showed remarkable acceleration in the final furlong to post a thrilling victory over Ambitious Reward and Agostini.  The day’s feature had attracted some really talented horses from all over the country. Jeremiah, An Acquired Taste, To The Manor Born and Amazing Grace from Mumbai were joined by Machiavellianism from Hyderabad and Ocean And Beyond from Kolkata. The local challenge was headed by the Winter Derby winner Agostini. The large group that headed towards the starting gates was closely matched. A mere look at their present weights, as well as their current ratings, confirmed that we were headed for an exciting finish. On the basis of her victory a few weeks ago in class II Company, it was felt that Amazing Grace would be the one to beat in this race. She had produced an astounding gallop that day and had gone on to win in style. Since the present trip was a bit longer, it was expected to suit her style of running. The only thing apparently against her was the fact ,that even though she was yet to win at the highest level, her trainer had decided to pitch her at the deep end by running her in “graded” company. Those who retained faith in the Champion Trainer of Western India were rewarded for their opinion. Pesi had always felt that Amazing Grace was a top class filly, and he had been extremely patient wit her. Realizing the fact that she would be ideally suited by the terms of this race, wherein, she would be receiving weight from each one of her opponents, he decided to run on Saturday. Being partnered by her regular jockey P Trevor, Amazing Grace justified the confidence of her master. By putting it across certain opponents that were rated much above her, she joined an elite group of horses in the country.

Montezuma and An Acquired Taste showed early speed and led the fourteen horse field into the dip near the seven furlong marker. The others headed by Agostini and Ambitious Reward found their rhythm and the entire field galloped steadily towards the half way marker. It was hereabouts that horses like Machiavellianism and Snowdrift began their moves towards the leaders. All this while, the public choice Amazing Grace was travelling at the back. The front-runners began to get closer at the bend. Suraj was the first to make his move astride Agostini. He pulled out his stick and goaded his mount to the front. Agostini showed good acceleration to take command of the proceedings. He hugged the inner rails and opened up a two length lead over Ambitious Reward, as the runners entered the final furlong. It was at this juncture that Amazing Grace made her move on the very wide outside. Trevor was forced to choose a wide path as there was no galloping space anywhere else. The moment he realized that Amazing Grace was responding to his urgings, he got down to business. Putting his head down, he pushed her strongly towards the finishing line. Amazing Grace picked up a lot of tired horses on her way to victory. It was almost on the last stride that she managed to get the better of Ambitious Reward and Agostini. There was hardly anything between the three of them at the finish. It was a fitting finale to a very exciting race. The announcement of the result was greeted loudly by those present at the course. The racing public was equally delighted, as not only had they witnessed a brilliant finish, but most of them had been able to encash their bets.  The public choice had come out and won the day’s feature.

The AMC Gowda Memorial Trophy was the added attraction in the day’s card. There were a number of good four year olds competing in this seven furlong race. At the weights, local horses like Absolute Red, Castle Stuart and Ungoogleable had a fair chance of lifting this trophy. Mumbai based Amistad had recently moved to Bangalore. After his arrival at this centre, had finished fourth in his only start this season. Trainer Prasanna Kumar felt that he had improved after that day, and his followers were seen backing Amistad with confidence. However, the horse disappointed his fans with a dismal performance. He ran sluggishly to finish off the frame.  In a fairly fast run race, the early pace was set by the speedy Sans Frontiers. Srinath and Castle Stuart moved into second ahead of Ungoogleable and the others. The order remained more or less the same for most of their journey. It was only in the straight that things became a bit clearer. With Sans Frontiers shortening his strides, it was Arjun Mangalorkar’s Castle Stuart who hit the front. With Srinath waving the whip at him, Castle Stuart charged home to an impressive victory. Ungoogleable made a valiant bid in the final furlong, but he drifted off a straight course near the winning post. This enabled Absolute Red to make up ground towards the inner rails and beat Ungoogleable into third place. Midnight Cruze  was another one that made up late ground to claim the final slot on the result boards.

Another important event that was part of the day’s proceedings was The M Ali Asker Memorial Trophy. It was a sprint race for horses five years old and over in class III. Since there were a large number of acceptors, the race was split into two divisions. The top division appeared to be fairly competitive. Even though Mountain Beauty and Autumn Rush had been doing some great work on the training track, it was difficult to back them with confidence. There were a number of fast horses in this race, and it was abundantly clear that one needed to be lucky to find a clear passage over this fairly short trip. Making use of her early speed as well as an inner draw, B Puttanna’s Sweet Secret went smoothly into the lead. With apprentice Bhawani Singh claiming four kilos, the mare was running with hardly anything on her back. She moved steadily in front and led by a couple of lengths from Autumn Rush and Mountain Beauty till the final bend. It was hereabouts that Mountain Beauty got tired. She literally stopped in her tracks and faded away from the scene. On the other hand, Sweet Secret continued her good work in front and went on to post a nice victory over Autumn Rush and a late finishing Firelight. The other nine were literally out-classed in this race.

The lower division of this trophy event happened to be the last race of the day. With the withdrawal of The Muse, Britto trained Whistlejacket received strong support in the betting rings and started as the first choice of the punters. Since most of these older horses had been running against each other in recent times and were closely matched on paper, it boiled down to their present fitness. Whistlejacked displayed some rare form to post a runaway victory. Christopher allowed him to track Wrekin, Magic Wave, Veyron and Samara Sun till the ten of them turned for home. Incidentally, Lads Gladiator was trailing the pack as they entered the straight and was more than five lengths behind the second last horse at that stage. The front runners ran out of gas near the distance post and allowed Whistlejacket to go past them. It ceased to be a race thereafter. The five year old gave Christopher an armchair ride to victory. Lads Gladiator rallied remarkably from behind to claim the runner-up berth. He made up more than fifteen lengths and  beat Veyron into third place near the winning post.

A brilliant turn of foot in the final furlong enabled the Padmanabhan trained Torch Bearer to post an authentic victory against some highly regarded maidens. Suleiman Attaolahi’s Coriolis and Satish Narredu’s Supreme Dominator were the two top guns in this race. Those wanting to oppose these two runners looked towards Hidayat Khan’s Androstos to cause an upset. Not many gave a chance to Torch Bearer in this race, as they felt that this youngster needed more experience to score amongst such highly regarded youngsters. Most of the runners were tackling the energy sapping trip of a mile for the first time in their careers. By running a late finishing second to Last Chance on debut, Coriolis had left a fine impression on the punters. The extra furlong was expected to suit his style of running. Receiving one-sided support in the rings, he started as an on-money favourite in this race. While Anarosa , Supreme Dominator and Torch Bearer raced prominently till the bend, both Coriolis and Androstos raced at the back. It was clear that most of the jockeys were biding time before making their final bids. The riders got more vigorous in the straight. While the others got tired at that stage, it was Torch Bearer who loomed large onto the scene. With John nudging him forward, the son of Running Flame devoured ground in the last furlong to win as he liked. He was the only one who really “stayed” in this race. Supreme Dominator retained second ahead of a late rushing Androstos. Coriolis let down his fans with a poor performance. The winner is sure to do well over long distance races later in his career.

Public choice Fair Game was a trifle lucky to score in an extremely close finish on Saturday. The three year old  was running for the first time in “open” company and was pitched in a sprint handicap for those rated between 20-45.. Trainer Amit Caddy aided her cause by entrusting her to apprentice Yash Narredu.  The four kilos allowance claimed by the youngster allowed her to receive chunks of weight from the others. The connections backed her with confidence as they felt that the speedy filly had the ability to skip clear of her rivals. Taking a good jump from an extremely wide draw, Yash nudged her forward to join Apollo Star in front. The pair showed the way to Smart Connections, Pippin and second favourite Bazinga.  Fair Game quickened smoothly in the straight and established what looked like a winning lead into the final furlong. But everything seemed to change suddenly. Coming with a smooth run on the wide outside, a fast moving Bazinga gained ground on a visibly tired leader. Despite being joined by the challenger, Yash put his head down and urged Fair Game towards the final post. Fair Game maintained her momentum and just about managed to keep her “nose” ahead of Bazinga at the finish. Pippin came with a sustained run on the wide outside to take third ahead of an exhausted Apollo Star.

PS Chouhan’s strong riding astride the Byramji trained Artic Attraction enabled the filly to run away with a mile event reserved for horses in class IV.  In a similar event held earlier in the season, Artic Attraction and Stimulate had figured on the result boards. Even though  Stimulate had picked up a penalty for having finished a close second that day, there were many who felt that she could score today. The filly was installed at the top of the betting charts ahead of Hidden Hero and the others. The race got off to a fluent start. Artic Attraction went charging to the front and settled into a two length lead over Hidden Hero, Highraz and Stimulate. Passing the half way marker, the field was strung out in similar order. Since this had appeared to be a tightly handicapped race, the runners were expected to get closer in the straight. But nothing of that sort happened. Enjoying her solitude in front and responding to Chouhan’s handling, Artic Attraction skipped away to register a very easy victory. A hard ridden Hidden Hero ambled along to finish second ahead of a tired Stimulate and All Proof. The last named was seen doing some good work in the closing stages of this race. All Proof looks capable of winning a similar race in the coming months.

The day’s proceedings had begun with the unexpected victory of Sharat Kumar’s Oriental Belle. The filly was competing against a fairly tough set of Class V horses. Even though it was a sprint for those in the lowest category, there were quite a few that were “fancied” by their respective yards. Nityanand trained Cadogan had done well in a higher set, when he had finished a fair fourth behind the speedy Arch Duchess. He was not only dropping in class but was also entrusted to apprentice Prasad. With a further three kilos off his back, Cadogan obviously had the first chance in this race. The others that were supported with the bookmakers were Interactive and Quarter Cask. After an even break from the gates, Oriental Belle shot to the front and set a strong pace ahead of The Jaguar and Cadogan. The trio raced in close order and managed to move ahead of the others. After the field entered the straight, it was abundantly clear that the final result would be confined to the front-runners. With jockey K Anil continuing to urge the leader, Oriental Belle dug deep into her reserves of stamina and charged towards the finishing line. The four year old got stronger thereafter and went on to post an exciting victory. Cadogan managed to bridge the gap, but that was all he could do. He plodded in the final stages of the race and settled for the runner-up berth. With those at the back failing to improve in the straight, The Jaguar managed to retain his third position and the six year old was able save place money for his supporters.