The Bangalore St Leger (Grade II), the last of the Classics for four year old Indian horses at this centre, highlighted a compact card of eight events on Sunday. With an acute shortage of horses that can actually “stay” the gruelling trip of 2800 metres, the 2014 edition of this race managed to attract only three runners. By virtue of having won a number of starts in their careers, all of them were rated above the magical figure of a hundred by the handicapper. The best performed amongst them was definitely Pesi Shroff’s Amazing Grace. The filly had started her summer campaign by participating in a class II handicap. The ease with which she won that race was enough to realize that Amazing Grace was headed for higher laurels. She carried the public purse to victory in a couple of “graded” races thereafter. Her victories in The Chief Justice’s Cup and The Maharaja’s Cup confirmed her status of being the best of her age this summer. Irrespective of the trip that she was asked to travel, Amazing Grace repeatedly demonstrated an ability to accelerate powerfully in the straight. Trevor had struck a fine partnership with her.  Since she had already beaten Snowdrift and Ambitious Reward over shorter trips in recent weeks, the bookmakers were reluctant to offer any odds on her. With regular partner Trevor aboard, the filly started at a prohibitive price in this race.  

The race was run at a modest pace. Snowdrift led by a few lengths from Amazing Grace and Ambitious Reward. The field was strung out in the back-stretch, and there was no change in the order as they continued their march towards the business end of this race. The only thing that became evident was the manner in which the favourite was traveling at that stage. While Snowdrift was being forced to stay in front by Neeraj Rawal , Suraj had already pulled out his stick on Ambitious Reward. In the midst of all this, Amazing Grace was cruising towards the leader. Trevor relaxed his grip on the filly and allowed her to move ahead of the others. She sailed away in the straight and won on tight reins from Snowdrift and a totally exhausted Ambitious Reward. The winner has struck such good form that it is difficult to visualize a defeat for her in the near future. She can be supported confidently over longer trips when she commences her monsoon campaign at Pune. Raiders from Western India have won most of the Graded Events at Bangalore this summer. Pesi Shroff and Malesh Narredu have shared the spoils by claiming four apiece. Apart from the three won by Amazing Grace, Maisha presented Pesi with The Fillies Championship Stakes. As regards Malesh is concerned, his victory with Supreme Star was overshadowed by the exploits of Be Safe this year. 

The rest of the day’s proceedings witnessed an outstanding performance from Suraj Narredu. The leading jockey cleared half the card by scoring a fourth-linker on Sunday. He began by winning the first two races of the day astride horses saddled by trainer Amit Caddy. The first race was touted as a match race between Liege Lord and As Good As It Gets. The former had run a good second behind Arta in his only start in winter. The fact that Arta had won thrice thereafter and was currently rated in the highest category, somehow enhanced Liege Lord’s chances of winning this race. However, Liege Lord had certain problems which had forced his trainer to run him sparingly. On the other hand, As Good As It Gets had ended an easy fourth in an earlier start this season. With a positive switch in the saddle, he was expected to run well today. Suraj took a smart jump astride As Good As It Gets and was quick to occupy the box-seat towards the inner rails behind Oriental Image. Liege Lord took a while to join the leading group and was traveling comfortably under Trevor, as a tightly grouped field entered the straight. As Good As It Gets took over the running near the two furlong marker and moved strongly towards the finishing line. Liege Lord came alongside and engaged him in a duel. With both the jockeys making free use of their whips, the pair matched strides for rest of the way.  As Good As It Gets managed to keep his head marginally in front of Liege Lord at the winning post. Zagato came with a late bid to take third ahead of Oriental Image. A subsequent announcement on the public address system confirmed that Liege Lord had burst a blood vessel during the running of this race. 

Amit’s Cool Hand justified the confidence of his yard with an impressive victory in the next race of the day. It was a sprint for horses five years old and over in class IV. Even though there was some support for Sunday Cruz and My Law, the bookmakers refused to increase the odds on Cool Hand. This horse had done some brilliant work in recent weeks. Suraj had an easy time astride this winner. Allowing Jeyem’s Pride, Isle Of Fire and Sunday Cruz to lead the field into the straight, Cool Hand was content to stay in touch with the leaders. Suraj brought him with a fluent run on the wide outside and allowed him to go ahead in the straight. A mere tap of the whip was enough to see him quicken thereafter. Despite his top weight, Cool Hand had little trouble in skipping away from Sunday Cruz and My Law. The winner seems to have an ability to win another age group sprint on promotion. 

Trainer Padmanabhan entrusted the big-made Pearl Reward to Suraj in a seven furlong handicap for those rated between 20-45. Despite a slipped saddle, Pearl Reward had ended a respectable second behind Irish Song in his previous start. Since Irish Song carried a nineteen point penalty to another win in her very next start, Pearl Reward was touted as a “good thing” in today’s race. After starting as an even-money favourite in morning trade, he was backed down to 45/100 by the punters. He carried Suraj to the front and refused to slow down in the straight. His long and fluent strides enabled him to win by a huge margin from Dofantasy and Amazonas. The winner has struck such good form that he can be supported confidently in his next couple of starts. 

The rider’s fourth-linker was completed with an equally easy victory astride Faraz Arshad’s Super Force. This filly had made a belated start to her career by running amongst maidens  a fortnight ago. Her movements on the track had been extremely suggestive this summer, and she had started as a firm favourite in her very first start. However, she was beaten for eventual speed by a more experienced Saltoro Ridge that day. She was targeted at a similar event today , and since she looked outstanding in this ten horse field, the filly was the next runner to win at prohibitive odds  on Sunday. Suraj allowed Super Force to track Asian Star till the bend before taking her to the front. The favourite responded immediately, lengthened her strides and won by a widening margin from Asian Star and Dorsoduro. The last named impressed on debut and can be noted as an early winner at Pune. 

The Manitou Trophy, a mile and a quarter handicap for class III horses, was the added attraction in the day’s card. Darius Byramji’s Evraz was seen conceding a lot of weight to Obelinna Princess and Elite Model. The three of them were backed to the exclusion of their rivals. While Firelight got left at the gates, it was three year old Salina who darted to the front and set a good pace ahead of Obelinna Princess and Evraz. The three of them raced in close order and stayed ahead of the others. Favourite Elite Model was seen being scrubbed on the wide outside. Once Salina got tired at the final bend, it was time for the others to make their forward moves. Under some hard riding from Christopher, Rakesh trained Obelinna Princess found some space towards the inner rails. On the other hand, Imran Chisty chose a safe path for Evraz on the wide outside. The two of them matched strides and engaged each other in a close fight for the next few seconds. However, Evraz was unable to concede so much weight to Obelinna Princess. The filly powered her way to the front and went on to post a superb victory. Evraz caved-in under pressure, and the four year old was forced to surrender the second spot to a late finishing Amistad. 

The SM Ramakrishna Rao Memorial Cup witnessed one of the closest finishes this afternoon. More than half the runners in this ten horse field ended within whispering distance of each other. Sovereign Rule, Shivalik Fire and Next Move were the fancied runners in this race. Since Sovereign Rule was running after a longish absence from a race track, race goers wanted to have a look at him in the paddock before placing their bets. Those who felt that he might need this run were content to stay away from this race. The free striding Sovereign Rule tracked a speedy Amazing Redd till the bend, and made his move only in the straight. Trevor forced him ahead of the others and tried his best to go away from them. But the horse was unable to do so. A number of runners started to gain ground on him. While Frenemee moved through the middle, Next Move appeared on the wide outside. All this while, Amazing Redd was refusing to give up towards the inner rails. But the winning post came to the rescue of Sovereign Rule. He found himself marginally ahead of Next Move, Amazing Redd and Frenemee at the finishing line. Sovereign Rule is sure to strip fitter after today’s experience and the chestnut horse looks like a readymade winner in his next start. 

The last race of the day produced an equally interesting finish. A number of older horses were competing over a sprint, and since they were closely handicapped, picking a winner looked like an extremely tough proposition. With money flowing in the direction of Game Dancer, Starstruck, Catch The Eye, Deep Blue Sea and Spanish Fly, this race had an “open” look. Apprentice Bhawani Singh made full use of his innermost draw and took Warren Singh’s Game Dancer to the front. The eight year old showed some sparkle and held sway ahead of Catch The Eye, Magic Wave, Spanish Fly and Startstruck. The runners were in touch with each other as they entered the straight. Even though they started to bunch up in the final furlong, there was none that could go past Game Dancer on Sunday. She hung on precariously to her early advantage and managed to win by the smallest of margins from Spanish Fly, Catch The Eye and Starstruck. The last named, who was noticed doing some good work at the end, suffered because of poor handling. He can be backed confidently the day he has a stronger rider in the saddle.