Mallesh Narredu’s Be Safe put up an expected performance in The Kingfisher Derby Bangalore 2014 on Sunday. The graceful colt cantered around the track to bag the glittering trophy along with the richest purse ever offered by The Bangalore Turf Club. His fluent strides in the final furlong made it look very easy. Even though there have been many runaway victories over the years in The Kingfisher Derby, this would surely be one of the easiest that we have witnessed in this event. Twelve three year olds had accepted to run in this year’s Derby. As compared to Be Safe, most of them were relatively inexperienced. The colt had won five out of six starts in his short career. The only time he had been beaten on a race track was in The Poonawalla Multimillion at Mumbai. Those who had witnessed the race were unanimous in their opinion that Be Safe had been really unlucky to lose that day. After encountering numerous traffic problems in the back-stretch, he had rallied late to lose by a very short margin to Shivalik Storm. After his arrival at Bangalore, the colt had put on a lot of condition.  By winning a Juvenile Million and The Colts Championship Stakes comfortably, he had served notice of his superiority. There were no doubts about his stamina. Be Safe had an ability to accelerate from any position and it was felt  that the mile and a quarter in The Kingfisher Derby would be ideally suited to his style of running. Since he had beaten most of his opponents on earlier occasions, it was difficult to visualize any of them reversing the pattern. Amongst the fillies, Alexandra Mills was considered to be better than Tiger Tops and Culebra. The former had ended many lengths ahead of the others in The Fillies Championship. However, the bookmakers were extremely reluctant to offer a price on Be Safe. The heavy underfoot conditions made no difference to their opinion about this runner. He started as a miserly 40/100 favourite on Sunday. While Alexandra Mills and Tiger Tops were offered at 12/1, you could literally write your own card on the others.

The race was run at a modest pace. No-hopers Supreme Dominator and Connemara did the early running and showed the way to Tiger Tops and Be Safe. Suraj Narredu had nudged the favourite to take an advantageous position on the rails and the colt was moving comfortably under him.  Culebra, Bold Majesty and Alexandra Mills were holding their positions at the back, as the twelve horse field took the rising ground near the three furlong marker. Finding the pace a bit slow for his liking, Zervan took Tiger Tops to the front. The filly led the bunch into the straight, but her dominance was short-lived. Suraj had brought Be Safe with a smooth run through the middle and asked him to “go”. The free striding colt responded immediately and moved ahead of the others. A couple of reminders in the final furlong were enough to seal the fate of this race. With the huge crowds cheering him lustily, Be Safe powered his way past the finishing line. Culebra rallied late under Srinath’s handling to take second ahead of a tired Tiger Tops and Bold Majesty. Alexandra Mills ran a pathetic race to finish off the frame.

Even though he had won this race as a jockey, Malesh Narredu had the distinction of saddling his first winner in The Kingfisher Derby. The record books confirmed that Set Alight had been the shortest priced favourite that had won this event. Be Safe bettered that record by winning at prohibitive odds on Sunday. In a rare coincidence, Malesh was closely associated with both these victories. First as a jockey and now as a trainer. For a successful rider like Suraj Narredu,  who has won numerous Classics all over the country, a victory in The Kingfisher Derby had eluded him all these years. A dream was finally fulfilled on Sunday. As regards Be Safe is concerned, it is easy to state that he is the best three year old in the country. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Be Safe should be able to continue his winning ways in the forthcoming Classics this year. 

Trainer Padmanabhan’s treble was the other highlight of the day’s proceedings. The Soprano, Feliciana and Pure Allure were the three winners from his stable today. Each one of them was available at lucrative odds with the bookmakers. Suraj Narredu assisted Padmanbhan with the middle leg of his treble by partnering Feliciana to a runaway victory. This also enabled the rider to complete his personal double for the afternoon. The seven furlong race for maiden three year olds had a strong favourite in Dhariwal’s Azzurro. This horse had done really well in his only start this season. After leading for most of the way, he had been beaten on the post by Smoking Bell.  A strongly fancied Ontime had ended four lengths behind the two of them. The present opponents somehow lacked the ability to match strides with Azzurro. The only one that had some sort of form was Feliciana, but she too had suffered from a sprained shoulder a fortnight ago. However, she showed no signs of discomfort today. Responding comfortably to Suraj’s handling, Feliciana made all the running. She cantered in front of Hidden Soldier till the bend, before shaking him off in the straight. All this while, Azzurro was struggling at the back. Despite Trevor’s whipping, the nice looking horse was refusing to move forward. Feliciana moved steadily towards the finishing line and won by a widening margin from Hidden Soldier and Azzurro. Only a “nose” separated the two placed horses at the finish. It was evident that Azzurro was in no mood to gallop today. 

The lower division of this race was also bagged by another Padmanabhan trainee. Starting as a rank outsider, The Soprano had won the day’s opener. Based on their fluent performances on the training track, Zucchero and Equal Terms cornered support in the betting rings. While the former was making his debut on Sunday, Equal Terms had ended fourth in her only start this season. Both these well-bred runners carried the confidence of their respective connections. The Soprano had been subjected to some light preparation by her trainer, and this somehow failed to enthuse the punters. The two market fancies were quick to move ahead of the others. Equal Terms led the field into the straight and was soon joined by Zucchero. Imran Chisty and Srinath took out their whips and engaged each other in a close duel. Not many noticed the movements of The Soprano at that stage. Under the strong guidance of Sandesh, the filly devoured ground near the distance post and sailed away from the two leaders. There was only one horse that was seen running in the final furlong. The Soprano retired as an impressive winner of this race. Zucchero got stronger near the winning post and managed to beat Equal Terms into third place.

Sandesh was able to guide another Padmanabhan trainee successfully across the wire. Three year old Pure Allure had won a maiden’s event in the month of March and shown that she was blessed with a lot of ability. She made her seasonal debut by participating in The Fillies Championship Stakes this summer. She looked heavy in the paddock and performed accordingly. Her body weight on Sunday was eight kilos less than what she had weighed that day. Since she was carrying the bottom weight against class III opponents, there were many who gave her a realistic chance of winning this sprint. The obvious favourite in this race was Emperor Cruise. He had won The Juvenile Sprinter’s Million a fortnight ago, and was racing for the first time in handicap company. However, those who backed Emperor Cruise today were in for a surprise. After racing prominently till the bend, he retired from the fray and ended many lengths behind the winner. On the other hand, the front-running pair of Blitzschnelle and Pentagram ran out of gas in the straight. Responding nicely to Sandesh’s handling, Pure Allure came with a nice turn of foot and stormed past the two of them. Pentagram retained second ahead of a heavily whipped Blitzschnelle. The former reportedly burst a blood vessel during the running of this race. 

An interesting Class II handicap over nine furlongs attracted a small field of seven contestants. Many amongst them had raced against each other in recent times and were closely handicapped in this race. The bottom-weighted pair of Mannat and Aashikaara were fancied ahead of Pursuit Of Fame and Ace Badraan. With the track racing slow because of intermittent showers, it was obvious that a good “stayer”  would win this race. Sandesh took Aashikaara to the front and set a strong pace ahead of Pursuit Of Fame, Scarlet O’hara and Winged Foot. Ace Badraan and Mannat were held back for most of the way, and the duo stayed there till the top of the final bend. It was hereabouts that the race took a serious turn. Most of the jockeys were searching for good ground, and quite a few in this group chose a path on the wide outside. The seven of them were almost abreast near the two furlong marker. Imran Chisty brought Mannat with a sustained run on the outer strip of the track, while Srinath decided to save ground by slipping Ace Badraan through the inner rails. The Faraz Arshad trainee took the small gap with great aplomb and charged towards the winning post. The acceleration displayed by Ace Badraan in the final furlong was enough to see him going away from Mannat and Aashikaara. Pursuit Of Fame disappointed his fans by finishing last in this event.

Trainer Arjun Mangalorkar had the pleasure of leading-in a couple of winners on Derby Day. After a number of unsuccessful efforts in the last one year, four year old Stimulate finally scored a point for her stable. She had run twice this season, and on both occasions, was able to save place money for her backers. She was competing in an age group race today. The mile handicap was ideally suited to her style of running. Arjun did well to lighten Stimulate’s  burden by entrusting her to apprentice Yash Narredu. The three kilos claimed by the youngster proved to be very handy. The race had a strong favourite in Mickey Mouse. The Lokanath trainee received one-sided support to start as an odds-on choice of the punters. Kiran Rai took the favourite to the front and set a strong pace ahead of Stimulate. The pair tore away from rest of the runners, and were many lengths ahead of them at the final bend. Mickey Mouse enjoyed a two length lead over Stimulate at that stage. But the scene changed suddenly. Stimulate gained ground on the leader and the gap between the two of them started to become smaller and smaller. With Yash waving his whip at the filly, Stimulate overtook Mickey Mouse and went on to post a comfortable victory. Winning Story came with a late bid to take the third spot. Because of poor underfoot conditions, most of the other runners were seen plodding at the back.

Arjun had to wait till the last race of the day to complete his personal double. It was the lower division of a sprint reserved for maiden three year olds. A couple of unraced horses were seen being opposed by those who had failed to touch the board in their previous outings. First timer Super Strong from Rajesh Narredu’s yard was seen heading the betting boards. Being ridden by an average rider like Noornabi, who was incidentally carrying one kilo more than his assigned weight, it wasn’t easy to comprehend the reason behind such support. It was perhaps more to do with the quality of his opponents, than his own abilities. Intensive Act, Windamere and Galway Girl did a bulk of the front running before getting exhausted. Neeraj Rawal and Millrose traveled comfortably in fourth, while Super Strong was under pressure on the wide outside. It became a one-horse race in the straight. Ajun’s Millrose tore away from the pack and won by a large margin from Super Strong and Sunday Spotlight. Super Strong is likely to benefit from today’s experience, and will be a different proposition in his future engagements.

The upper division of this race went in favour of Altamash Ahmad’s Arrete. This Mumbai based horse had done well to finish a close fourth to Merchantofvenice in a Million event in his most recent start at Mahalakshmi. If you took that performance at face value, then there was nothing in today’s race that could match strides with Arrete. That is exactly what happened in this race. Arrete took a smart jump from the gates and “carried” Arshad Alam to a very easy victory. The boy was a mute spectator as he lengthened his strides in the straight and opened-up a yawning gap ahead of Flame Of Passion and Our Little Dragon. Arrete has apparently thrived in local weather conditions and improved beyond recognition. The light framed horse is sure to do well on his return to Pune.

A seven furlong handicap for horses rated 20-45 attracted a number of youngsters. Past winners like Authentic and Azurite were seen conceding weight to Dream Star, Jingle Bells and Alerio. Because of three unplaced efforts amongst maidens, the last named was well handicapped. Carrying level weights alongside Coriolis a few weeks ago, he had ended within two lengths of that colt. Once Coriolis decimated his maiden opponents on Saturday, there were many who felt that Alerio was “unbeatable” at his present mark. However, those who backed him on Sunday were lucky to encash their tickets. He won by a whisker from the top weighted Authentic. The early stages of this seven furlong event were dominated by Jingle Bells, Dream Star and Azurite. Trevor kept the Ganapathy trained Alerio in striking position, while Suraj was content to stay with Authentic at the back. Once the front-runners got tired at the bend, it was time for the “big boys” to make their respective moves. Alerio came through the middle and established what looked like a winning lead into the final furlong. It was hereabouts that Authentic was put under pressure. Despite carrying a back-breaking weight, Authentic strode purposefully towards the leader. He made up acres of ground on the wide outside and all but collared the favourite. The winning post came to the rescue of Alerio, who won by a whisker from Authentic.  The runner-up will be too-good-to-miss in his next engagement.