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EMPEROR CRUISE IMPRESSES WITH A STUNNING VICTORY

By Pearcey | 29 Jun 2014 | BANGALORE


Trainer Sharat Kumar leading Emperor Cruise (Arshad Alam Up), winner of The Juvenile Sprinters' Million (Gr.3)

The Juvenile Sprinter’s Million (Gr.3), a sprint for three year old Indian horses, featured a long and interesting card of nine events framed for Sunday’s action at Bangalore. Since this was a “terms event”, winners of earlier starts were asked to carry more weight than the others. By virtue of having won thrice in his short career, Hyderabad based Carlton was assigned the top weight in this race. With the withdrawal of Feliciana, the field got reduced to thirteen participants.  The race had a strong favourite in Pesi Shroff’s Honeymoon. This filly had won both her starts with effortless ease and shown that this was her best trip. She had displayed an ability to settle down in the early stages of a race before kicking away in the straight. Since she was carrying a comfortable weight on her back, there were many who felt that she would be tough to beat in this race. The ones that were expected to pose a challenge to her superiority were Carlton, Bullion Express, Movie Moghual and West Side Story. The bookmakers seemed to have a similar opinion. They made Honeymoon a strong favourite ahead of Bullion Express and Carlton. Since most of these horses were running for the first time against each other, it was difficult to separate them on”paper”. But what finally happened on the track was quite unexpected. 

The speedy Expert made use of his innermost draw and charged away to set a strong pace ahead of Double O Seven , New Emperor, Bullion Express and West Side Story. The public choice Honeymoon lacked early pace and was seen traveling in mid group as they tackled the first half of their journey and turned for home. It was hereabouts that the runners started to get close to each other. It was impossible to confirm who was moving better than the other. The only thing that one could predict with some sort of authority were the chances of the favourite Honeymoon. She had a wall of horses in front of her, and was traveling lethargically. It was abundantly clear that she was not going to win the day’s feature. There were four or five horses in a line as they approached the winning post. New Emperor on the rails held a slender advantage over Topspot in the middle and  Carlton on the very wide outside. Not many noticed the silver grey colours of Emperor Cruise that were creeping up on the wide outside. With Arshad Alam rousing the Sharat Kumar trainee, the rangy horse gained ground with each stride and managed to beat the three front-runners on the post. New Emperor, Topspot and Carlton ended besides each other while filling the rest of the frame. Only half a length covered the first four finishers in this race. For the records, the winner was freely available at 40/1 with the bookmakers. The fancied runners including Honeymoon, Bullion Express, Movie Moghual and West Side Story performed way below their best form. The best performer in this race was clearly Carlton. Despite conceding weight to the entire field, the brave colt had run his guts out to finish very close to the winner. 

The added attraction in the day’s card was The Smt Bhagiathi Memorial Cup. This was a seven furlong event reserved for maiden three year olds. Padmanabhan’s Baracchus looked like an outstanding runner in this race. After an outing in Bangalore, the trainer had taken Baracchus to have a tilt at a Multi-million event at Mumbai. Baracchus had run well in that race and ended seventh behind top-class juveniles like Be Safe and Maisha. Being aware of his abilities, the bookmakers had little hesitation in installing him as a strong contender for the top prize today. But as we approached race time, the scene began to change alarmingly. With smart money pouring onto Del Russo, the punters began to run for cover. They realized that with PS Chouhan in the saddle, the Dominic trainee was going to be a strong opponent. Once Republican Star darted away to establish a big lead over Real Supreme and Laurita, the riders of Del Russo and Baracchus settled their mounts in comfortable positions and chose to wait till the final bend. It was hereabouts that the two fancied runners went ahead of the others. Chouhan made his move towards the inner rails while Trevor produced Baracchus on the wide outside. After a brief duel near the furlong marker, the pair got separated. While Del Russo lengthened his strides and marched strongly towards the finishing line, Baracchus lost all his chances by drifting out under pressure. The former won by a widening margin from Baracchus and Laurita. This was a very special performance by Del Russo. The manner in which he tackled this trip was truly impressive. We are sure to hear more about Del Russo in the coming months. An accident marred the finish of this race. Soon after passing the winning post, Chouhan got unseated from Del Russo. The young man was immediately rushed to hospital. His fans were relieved to learn later in the evening that he had escaped with a minor injury. 

The Col. Rajkumar C Desraj Urs Memorial Cup, a sprint for horses four years old and over in class II, attracted a dozen participants. In the absence of an outstanding runner, Dhariwal trained Valerian made his way to the top of the betting boards. Even though he had taken a lethargic jump in his previous start this season, there were many who wanted to give him another chance. They were left to rue their decision as Valerian did the same thing today. He lost a lot of ground at the start and was literally out of the race from the word “go”. Will Star made the early running and showed the way to Amazing Redd and Icelander. The others headed by Smithsonite were closely huddled at the back as they straightened for home. With the front runners slowing down perceptibly, it was time for someone to come from behind. It was Talisker’s turn to do that today. He made full use of the opportunity and appeared towards the centre of the track. Apprentice Akshay Kumar brought the Narayana Gowda trainee with a flourish in the final stages to beat Will Star, Icelander and Amazing Redd on the post.  

With a large number of maidens accepting to run over a scurry, the twenty one acceptors were separated into two groups. Those that had done well in previous starts were pitted against each other, while the others got relegated to the lower version of this event. Dhariwal trained Anecdote was a strong favourite ahead of Dream Star, Faustina and Sagrada. This well-bred filly had been a trifle unlucky in her earlier starts during the winter months. On both occasions she had ended second behind superior opponents. Today’s race appeared to be tailor-made to her style of running. She tracked Our Little Dragon and Dream Star till the bend, and made her move only after straightening for home. Her fluent strides enabled Anecdote to come alongside Dream Star and Our Little Dragon. She finally lengthened her strides and won by a widening margin from the two of them. Trevor rode an extremely well judged race astride the winner. Dream Star looked very well in the paddock and she is one filly that appears to be capable of picking up a similar race before the end of this season. 

Darius Byramji’s Sakchi had made her racing debut a few weeks ago. She had impressed by ending a close third to Supreme Fairy and Air Dancer. This daughter of Phoenix Tower was known to be blessed with a nice turn of foot. Considering the quality of her opponents in this race, Sakchi was supported at all prices to start as a first choice of the punters. Imran Chisty did well to tuck her behind Romantic Fire and Candice till the bend. She crept past them in the straight and made her move towards the finishing line. Suraj Narredu brought Ghalib with a good looking effort and rode him vigorously. Even though Ghalib responded to these tactics, he failed to overtake Sakchi. The filly continued to dominate the proceedings and won comfortably from Ghalib and Romantic Fire. The placed horses are sure to benefit from today’s experience and show out in their future starts. 

Celtic Prince and Spanish Moon won the two divisions of a sprint reserved for horses rated between 20-45. Dominic trained Atmos opened as a firm favourite in early morning trade, but the filly was soon displaced by Altamash Ahmed’s Celtic Prince. This horse had run a few times at Mumbai and finished second in his most recent appearance at that centre. Celtic Prince had been doing some good work on the training track. The trainer chose to give a “miss” to racing him amongst maidens, and decided to run him at his own mark in open company. He was receiving chunks of weight from the top-weighted Atmos. The two fancied runners were led by Major Attraction into the straight. The first move from the back was made by Atmos. The filly streaked into a fairly big lead and stormed ahead of the others. But the one that caught the eye was Celtic Prince. His long and fluent strides enabled him to saunter past Atmos. With jockey Steyn waving the whip at him, Celtic Prince won with a lot of authority. After running prominently till the bend, Jolie dropped back end third in this race. The filly is sure to do well the day she is allowed to sprint against those in her own age group. 

Suraj Narredu’s never-say-die attitude helped him score a thrilling victory astride Padmanabhan’s Spanish Moon .The filly had run twice in winter and ended second on both occasions. She was tackling a group of eight class IV opponents over a sprint today. Top-weighted Arch Duchess was considered as her main rival in this race. Since Arch Duchess had escaped with a light penalty after posting a comfortable victory in the first race of this season, she was allowed to run in the same category. Neil Darashah utilized the services of apprentice Prabhakaran and claimed an allowance on her.  The boy took Arch Duchess to the front and enjoyed a comfortable lead for most of the way. The filly responded nicely to his handling and kicked away in the straight. Suraj Narredu and Spanish Moon were in second spot throughout and the pair was under pressure till the furlong marker. Despite Suraj’s best efforts, Spanish Moon was finding it tough to get close to the leader. But the scene changed in front of the stands. Spanish Moon responded to Suraj’s whip, found that little bit extra and got up in the nick of time to beat Arch Duchess on the post.  

Both divisions of a sprint for those in the bottom category held on Sunday, were won by well supported runners. The upper version became a match race between Sharat Kumar’s Smile Stone and the Amit Caddy trained Colour Of Gold. While the former had already run on the opening day of the season, Colour Of Gold was re-appearing on a race track after a gap of almost fifteen weeks. Amit helped the filly’s cause by entrusting her to Yash Narredu, thereby easing her burden by four kilos. Both camps were equally confident of winning this race. With money flowing in the direction of Smile Stone, he became a marginal favourite as the runners faced the starter. Making use of her innermost draw, Yash pushed Colour Of Gold out of the gates and showed the way to Oriental Star and Tic Tac Toe. Smile Stone was seen improving on the wide outside as they made their way towards the bend. Without being really extended, Colour Of Gold maintained her lead into the straight. By this time, Smile Stone was seen creeping towards the inner rails and gaining a bit of ground towards the leader. But once Yash released the brakes, the race was over. Colour Of Gold got stronger in the final furlong to win easily from a heavily whipped Smile Stone and an exhausted Tic Tac Toe. 

Prithviraj’s Oriental Image made every post a winning one in the day’s opener. The four year old filly had run a number of times in the last couple of years, but was yet to score her maiden victory. The recent drop in ratings gave her an opportunity to test her skills against modest opponents. Her early speed enabled Oriental Image to hit the front. She set a good pace ahead of Shared Heart and Big Copper Penny. After those around her had gotten tired, Oriental Image darted ahead and opened-up a winning lead into the straight. Even though Spark Of Illusion and Fashion Flame made valiant efforts in the closing stages of this race, they were unable to collar the leader.