A compact card of eight events was conducted at The Bangalore Turf Club on Thursday. Even though the authorities have announced an extra day on Wednesday, 13th August, this was officially the last week of racing this summer. The afternoon’s proceedings were dominated by runners from trainer Arjun Mangalorkar’s yard. He was ably assisted by retained rider S John in the saddle. The pair thrilled their fans by scoring a lucrative treble .The Lt Col Gaunt Memorial Cup, a sprint handicap for horses in class II, was accorded the pride of place as the day’s feature. Quite a few amongst the twelve runners in this race had already won this season. Amit Caddy’s pair of Irish Song and Fair Game , who had reeled off a string of victories, were attempting to continue their winning streak. Dhariwal trained Apparition was undoubtedly the best runner in this race. She possessed a lot of class as compared to her opponents. A win in the Hyderabad 1000 Guineas was followed with a second placed effort in the Oaks at that centre. While she was known to be more comfortable over a galloping course, her trainer chose a sprint for her maiden start this season. Since she had been working regularly on the outer sand, there were many who gave her a chance to lift this trophy. They felt that her “class“ would enable her to account for the other contenders in this race. The others that were seriously considered by the punters were Wind Wonder, Amazing Redd, Smithsonite and Absolute Majority. However, the betting charts indicated the competitive nature of this race. The bookmakers were happy to offer sumptuous odds against most of the runners.

Darting out of an extremely wide draw, Will Star utilized his early speed and went to the front. He led by a couple of lengths from Cape Ferrat and Wind Wonder. Absolute Majority, Smithsonite and Apparition raced in close order as the twelve horse field entered the straight. Both Cape Ferrat and Will Star had run a number of times this season. On each occasion, they would lead into the final furlong, get tired at that point and fade out of contention. There were no such problems today. Both Will Star and Cape Ferrat continued their march towards the winning post. They were involved in a stirring duel for rest of the way. The others ran out of steam and were forced to remain at the back. Under some strong guidance from John, Cape Ferrat got stronger in the final stages of this race. He moved ahead of Will Star near the distance post and went on to claim the trophy. Smithsonite rallied late to save place money for his followers. Both Will Star and Smithsonite look like readymade winners over a similar trip at Mysore. Apparition ran poorly to finish off the frame.

Apart from the day’s feature, Arjun targeted a class III sprint on Thursday. Since there were a large number of acceptors in this event, reserved for horses four years old and over, the handicapper split it into two parts. The stable had a runner in each division. Last Outing winner Austin was their representative in the upper version of this race. He had been performing consistently over the past many months and was expected to run well today. He was accordingly installed as a 16/10 favourite in this race. After taking a level start from the gates, John kept Austin in third position behind The Muse and Grand Applause. Kingston Town and Salzburg encountered traffic problems in the early stages of this race and faded out of contention. PS Chouhan astride Grand Applause took over the running in the straight and tried his best to keep going till the final post. But in the final furlong, he was smoothly passed by Austin. John gave him a couple of back-handers and asked him to “go”. Responding gallantly to his rider’s call, Austin managed to keep Grand Applause at bay. Incidentally, this was the final leg of a popular treble scored by Arjun Mangalorkar and John on Thursday.

They had already won the lower division of this event with Shinnecock Hills. In an “open” betting event, last outing winner Shinnecock Hils was fancied alongside Ungoogleable, Summer Gold, Little Love and Strombolite. While Summer Gold and Little Love lost a lot of ground at the start, it was the speedy Arch Duchess who showed the way to Scuffle and Shinnecock Hills. Ungoogleable headed the chasing pack as the runners made their way towards the final turn. The ones in front began to get closer in the straight. While Scuffle disappeared from the scene, a late finishing Assiduous gained ground on the wide outside. John pulled out his stick and goaded Shinnecock Hills to the front. Despite carrying the top weight, the brave colt increased the tempo and forced his way towards the finishing line. He won comfortably from Assiduous and Arch Duchess. Ungoogleable could do no better than end a tame fourth.

The day began on a happy note for the punters when Prithviraj trained Rare And Elusive justified her short odds by posting a runaway victory. The filly was placed in the lower division of a scurry amidst a group of eight maiden acceptors. In her only career start at the beginning of this season, she had ended a fair fifth behind Soviet Union and Torch Bearer. Comparing the quality of her present opponents to the above mentioned horses, it was more than evident that she was running with a great chance to emerge from the maiden ranks on Thursday. She was accordingly installed as a firm favourite ahead of Nazanin and the others. Once Nazanin got withdrawn at the starting gates, it became easier for Rare And Elusive. Kiran Rai held her in second place behind Windyanna till the bend and allowed her to gallop thereafter. Within the next few seconds, she spurted clear of the pack and gave her rider an armchair ride to victory. Sands Of Time came from way off the pace to claim the second berth ahead of Clifden Bay and a tired Windyanna.  Since this was Sand Of Time’s first start, the son of Burden Of Proof is sure to improve after today’s experience.

Prithviraj completed a quick double by winning the upper division of the above mentioned race with another filly named Good Fruit. Since she had flopped as an odds-on favourite earlier in the season, Good Fruit was friendless in the betting rings today. Satish Narredu’s Style N Grace and Prasanna Kumar’s Dream Star were backed to the exclusion of their rivals. Both were blessed with a lot of speed, and the present trip of 1100 metres was ideally suited to their style of running. In the hands of Yash Narredu, Style N Grace did the early running and led by a couple of lengths from Zulfiqar, Dream Star and Good Fruit. Despite traveling wide at the bend, Good Fruit continued to stay in touch with the leaders. The field was fairly spread out as the eight of them turned for home. The leading group started to bunch up in the straight. It was hereabouts that the front-runner got tired. Style N Grace shortened her strides and allowed Good Fruit to move ahead of her. With Gnaneshwar waving his whip at her, Good Fruit did well to gallop strongly on the wide outside and skip past her rivals. Dream Star rallied late to beat Style N Grace into third place.

Apprentice Kiran Rai too had the pleasure of completing a double by winning  the concluding race of the afternoon. Narayan Gowda’s three year old Flame’s Fury had come down to the lowest category by running unplaced against maiden opponents. She was assigned the top weight in the upper division of a sprint reserved for horses rated between Zero and Twenty Five. She had apparently done some brilliant work on the training track. Those in the know wasted little time in slamming her down with the bookmakers. Kiran Rai held Flame’s Fury in second place behind a speedy Breaking Away and stayed there till the bend. The others led by Interactive were many lengths behind the two of them. The action in the straight was confined to the front-runners. Flame’s Fury overtook the leader in the final furlong and won without a fuss. A tired Breaking Away just about managed to hold second ahead of a late finishing Interactive.

The lower division of this sprint was won by Hidayat Khan’s Star Of Desire. Last outing winner Shahraan was the favourite in this race. Shahraan’s trainer Lokanath had lightened his winning penalty by entrusting him to apprentice Prabhakaran. With three kilos off his back, Shahraan tried to make every post a winning one. He managed to lead till the top of the straight, and that was just about what he could manage. Star of Desire chased him for most of the way and overtook him in the final furlong. With Christopher riding a strong finish, Star of Desire managed to score a long overdue victory. The one’s that finished fast on the wide outside were Musical Romance and Tic Tac Toe. While Tic Tac Toe was expected to put up a good performance, Musical Romance’s acceleration in the straight took everybody by surprise. The sparingly raced four year old put up the best performance of his short career.

The only other race in the day’s card was The Lively Emprey Trophy. It was a seven furlong event for maiden three year olds. With the withdrawal of favourite Zucchero, this race looked like a toss-up race between  Astrum and Super Strong. Both of them had a second place finish earlier in the season to back their credentials. Satish Narredu’s confidence in Super Strong was reflected by his choice of jockey. Even though Yash Narredu was unable to claim his normal allowance in this terms event, the connections backed Super Strong with confidence. The colt ran his opponents off their feet.  Taking off smartly from the gates, Super Strong set a good pace ahead of Golden Diamond, His Highness and Astrum. He kept expanding his lead in the back-stretch and came all alone into the straight. With those around him starting to get exhausted, it was left to Astrum to go in chase. Astrum did well to bridge the gap, but was unable to do better than finish a respectable second. The runner-up is a good type that may not take long to post his maiden victory. As regards the winner, this son of Rebuttal is headed for a much higher category.