A long card of ten events on Thursday brought the curtains down on the Bangalore Summer Season 2014. Being an “extra day” , the results of these races did not count towards the seasonal championships. Even though the results were available a week ago, the official award presentation ceremony was held at the end of the day’s proceedings. The wonderful performances of Be Safe and Amazing Grace were the highpoints of the season.  By winning over Two Crores in stake money, Be Safe presented Dr MA Ramaswamy with the leading owner trophy. Amit Caddy, Suraj Narredu and Yash Narredu were deserving winners amongst the professionals. A winner of all four starts this summer, Amazing Grace waltzed away with the “horse of the season” title. The Kunigal stud farm was declared leading stud farm for the eleventh time. The Krishnaraja Wadiyar Trophy , a sprint handicap for horses in class I, happened to be the feature event of the day. The ten runners in this race were evenly matched, and winner picking was a tough exercise. Light Of Success and Arta looked marginally better than the others. Being blessed with initial speed , both these fillies had an ability to run away from their rivals. However, there were certain questions that were raised about their chances on Thursday. While Light Of Success had poor form in recent months, Arta had risen to the highest category after a couple of victories against relatively weaker opponents.  The same sentiments were visible on the bookmaker’s boards. In an open betting affair, Light Of Success started as a marginal favourite ahead of the others.

Yash Narredu took Arta to the front and led marginally from Light Of Success, Secret Punch and Chul Bul Pandy. The chasing pack, headed by Treasure Mountain, raced within a couple of lengths of the leaders. The field was tightly bunched as they moved towards the straight. Both market fancies got exhausted at almost the same juncture. While Arta started to drop back on the rails, Light Of Success lost her chances by veering out under pressure. A huge gap appeared between the two of them, and we suddenly had a new leader. In the hands of Sandesh, Treasure Mountain came smoothly through the pack and went ahead of the others. His closest challenger was clearly Secret Punch. The six year old tried his best to move past Treasure Mountain, but was unable to do so. The Nityanand trainee responded to Sandesh’s whip and went on to score an upset victory over Secret Punch and a late finishing Ishpingo.

Trainer Lokanath  and jockey S John shared the day’s honours by scoring “trebles” on Thursday. Barring Arziki’s surprising triumph in the last race of the day, the other winners were well backed and went on to justify the confidence of their respective yards. Lokanath started the day with the runaway victory of a three year old named Secret Dimension. This son of Multidimensional was targeted at a seven furlong handicap , and was competing against a set of horses in the lowest class. With declared jockey Rajesh Babu failing to make the allotted weight, the trainer decided to entrust him to Ryan Marshall. Those in the “know” backed Secret Dimension with the bookmakers, and the bay performed on expected lines to justify their confidence. Ryan held Secret Dimension on a tight leash behind Prince Of Kintyre till the bend, and allowed him to run freely in the straight. The favourite accelerated like a seasoned campaigner and won by a huge margin from Secret Launch, Southern Fantasy and Noble Princess. The three placed horses were besides each other at the finish. Now that Secret Dimension has discovered his galloping shoes, it may not take him long to defy the handicapper.

A rare mile event for those in the lowest category was expected to witness a close fight between a pair of three year olds named Turf Tactics and Fortaleza. They had run a few times in maiden company before getting relegated to their present mark. Since Turf Tactics had figured on the board in both starts this season, she became the obvious choice of the punters. With Fortaleza not looking the part in the paddock, there was further support for  on-money favourite Turf Tactics ,as the runners began to enter the starting gates.  Mister Grey, Fortaleza and AJ One showed early intent by going ahead of their eight opponents. Despite PS Chouhan’s continuous niggling, Turf Tactics failed to keep in touch with the leaders. While Mister Grey continued to dominate the proceedings in the straight, both Fortaleza and Turf Tactics had dropped out of contention. It was left to a couple of Lokanath trained horses to fight the finish. In the strong hands of John, Suezy Oh hit the front near the furlong pole and just about managed to win from a fast finishing She Loves It. Mister Grey plodded along to retain the third spot in this race. Those present at the course were surprised with the run of Turf Tactics today. It may be a good idea to leave the filly alone from a betting perspective in the near future.

The last race of the day witnessed a stunning upset from Lokanath’s Arziki.  Running in an age group sprint for horses rated 20-45, Arziki was one of the least fancied runners amongst the twelve acceptors. The action in the betting rings was restricted to Woodberg, Startstruck and Rock N Rolla. The first named garnered further support to emerge as a clear favourite in this race. Unfancied Game Dancer did the front-running and showed the way to Woodberg, Red Bolt, Starstruck and Arziki. Unable to restrain Woodberg any further, Yash Narredu allowed him to lead at the final bend. He brought the field into view and tried to run away from his rivals. By trying to do so, he moved off the rails. While Red Bolt and Starstruck failed to gain ground on the leader, it was Arziki who moved dangerously towards him. In the hands of a whipless apprentice, she crept through the yawning gap towards the inner rails. She responded to B Nayak’s handling and won fairly comfortably from Woodberg, Red Bolt and Startstruck. Those who managed to nominate this exacta were rewarded handsomely at the totalizators.

Lokanath succeeded in winning his fourth race on the track , but was a trifle unlucky to lose it  in the Stewards Room. The Esquire Cup was a sprint for maiden three year olds. Padmanabhan’s Equine Love, Lokanath’s Flame Of Passion and the Hidayat Khan trained Del Santo were the fancied runners in this race. While the first two had ended second in their previous starts, Del Santo had made a fine impression with his movements on the training track. Big Ben did the early running and stayed ahead of Equine Love, Del Santo and Flame of Passion till the bend. Once the leader ran out of gas in the straight, the three market fancies got down to business. Equine Love led marginally from Del Santo on the rails and Flame Of Passion on the wide outside. With Del Santo and Flame Of Passion getting stronger in the final stages, it was apparent that this race was headed for a close finish. While John continued to push Del Santo on the rails, Kiran Rai was unable to control the inward drift of Flame Of Passion. The filly came onto Del Santo near the furlong marker and hampered his movements. However, she managed to finish marginally ahead of him at the finish. John took little time in lodging the expected objection. He contended that his mount had been squeezed and bumped by Flame Of Passion in the straight. After a detailed hearing, the Stewards decided to reverse the official result in favour of Del Santo. Incidentally, Del Santo was the middle leg of a treble that John scored during the afternoon.

John’s third and final winner was the easiest of the day. After a couple of placed efforts earlier in the season, three year old Spreadeagle was running in a class IV handicap on Thursday. With the withdrawal of early morning favourite James Bond on veterinary grounds, it was easy pickings for this horse. Despite some late support for top-weighted Regal Boast, the bookmakers were reluctant to increase the odds against Spreadeagle. The Arjun Mangalorkar trainee settled comfortably behind a speedy Trak On Fire till the bend before moving ahead of him. The moment John released the brakes on Spreadeagle, the race was over. He got stronger in the straight and moved powerfully towards the finishing line. A heavily whipped Regal Boast managed to take second ahead of Cherry Hinton and a late finishing Ghalib. The last named was noticed doing some good work at the end and the bay must be supported after he returns to Pune.

Another professional to score more than once in the day’s card was jockey PS Chouhan. He rode a couple of winners for the Byramji family. The first of these was astride Rashid’s Artic Attraction. The filly was tackling a group of seven opponents over a mile. Most of these runners had competed in a similar age group event about three weeks ago. Artic Attraction had started as a favourite that day, but had failed to finish ahead of Mickey Mouse and Stimulate. There were many who felt that her run in the said race was below par and that she was capable of a much better performance. Those who shared this optimism were rewarded for their perseverance. Even though the runners were closely matched “on paper”, Artic Attraction received strong support in the betting rings.The front-running Artic Attraction set her own pace and went ahead of Prom Queen,  Stimulate and Absolute Red. She continued to dictate terms and tore away from her pursuers in the straight. The fight thereafter was only for the minor berths. Absolute Red responded to his riders whip and ran on to finish ahead of Stimulate and My Lakshmi.

Chouhan completed his personal double with a chance mount that he got on Thursday. Replacing Imran Chisty astride Darius Byramji’s Evraz, he excelled in the saddle. His never-say-die attitude helped him in guiding the public choice to a thrilling victory. The dozen runners in this class II race got off to a level start from the seven furlong marker. Castle Stuart went rocketing to the front and set a good pace ahead of Supreme Regime and Frenemee. Those behind the leading trio were closely huddled at the back. One of the worst placed horses at that stage was Evraz. He suffered from a number of traffic problems and dropped back towards the inner rails. Chouhan did not panic and nursed his mount in mid division, as they began to move towards the final turn . He brought Evraz through a clear passage and went in chase of Castle Stuart. The leader had established what looked like a winning lead into the final furlong, and was refusing to slow down at that stage. With two hundred metres still to travel, there were about four lengths between them. However, there was little doubt that Evraz was gaining ground with each successive stride. Chouhan was seen pushing Evraz relentlessly and the bay was responding to his urgings.To the delight of his backers, Evraz got up in time to beat Castle Stuart on the post. It was one of the best finishes that we witnessed during the summer months.

A seven furlong race for horses in class III attracted a number of talented three year olds stationed at this centre.  While Authentic , Nimfea and Eternal Desire had already won a race each this season, Arjun Mangalorkar’s Medinah was running for the first time after ending a distance behind Be Safe in the Colts Championship Stakes . Since Medinah’s winter form had been fairly good, the colt was installed as a firm favourite in today’s race. Authentic and Eternal Desire were backed by their respective connections. Yash Narredu pushed Authentic to the front and enjoyed a two length break over Eternal Desire and Nimfea as they traversed the back-stretch and headed towards the three furlong marker. John had tucked Medinah towards the inner rails and the favourite was a close fourth as the runners entered the straight. The first runner to challenge Authentic at that stage was Eternal Desire. The visibly tired filly gave up without a fight. It was left to Medinah to go in chase of the leader. Despite some strong assistance from the saddle, Medinah failed to make any impression on Authentic. The latter got stronger in the final furlong and won easily from Medinah, Eternal Desire, and Apollo Star. The winner is a good type and is sure to do well over longer trips later in his career.