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ASTAIRE DOWNS SHAKTIROOP IN A THRILLER

By Epsom Ace | 14 Oct 2014 | KOLKATA


Trainer Bharath Singh leading Astaire (Md Azharuddin Up), Winner of The Prince Blossom Cup

Bharath Singh-trained Astaire (Burden Of Proof-Rhapsody In Blue/ Kunigal Stud) was handled judiciously by apprentice Azharuddin to get the better of the favourite Shaktiroop in The Prince Blossom Cup. Available at 5/2, the property of Dr Vijay Mallya, tussled with the public choice all the way down the straight before pegging her back at the wire. In retrospect, it would appear to be a good move by the winning stable to declare an apprentice as the 2kg allowance may well have aided the sprinter in clinching the issue.

Showers from early Tuesday had left the track on the soft side and runners with a little more staying ability fared better. In the opening event, Richard Alford-trained City Heights (Ikhtyar-City Tamer / Nanoli Stud) was quietly fancied by the connections and made every post of the mile race a winning one despite drifting out and taking the piping hot on-money favourite Royal Brute with him. Jockey Kamble, on the winner, did well to limit the drift by changing his whiphand.

Jockey Dashrath Singh however made amends in the very next race when he piloted the favourite Simple Simon (Ivory Touch-Polar Star/ Mare Haven Stud) to a difficult win after being taken out by the front-running Adanna. The aged Xavier grabbed the opportunity to raise a gallop down the rails but was pegged back to the runner-up berth by a determined Dashrath who switched his mount to the inside of the unruly Adanna and came with a late run to land the spoils close home.

Jasbir Singh’s Tasveer (Home Affairs-Cedarzeen/ Mebajeona Stud) won the La Gitana Cup at lucrative odds after being fancied by the connections. The public choice Carnival Point was an unimpressive third. The pace-setter Massachusettes was running freely but came to a standstill when challenged by the eventual winner, ridden by Mohit Singh. In his usual style, Tasveer languished in the rear before making his move after heads turned for home.

Jockey Trevor Patel did not disappoint his followers with a clever ride on the favourite Miraculix (Kingda Ke-Esoteric / Nanoli Stud) to bag the Fair Ray handicap, despite this being the filly’s maiden run. Trainer Manvendra’s thorough preparation did the needful while Trevor did the rest – steering her through a bit of traffic problems before opting for the rails after front-running Alarbus (yet another front-runner who drifted out) taking Kaartiken with him.

Trainer Vijay Singh and Shailesh Shinde (who are heading for the championship titles) tasted success with Adiella (Multidimensional-Psychic Flame/ Usha Stud) in the mile race for The Darcy Handicap. The second favourite Bengal King lost some ground at the start and tried to make up the leeway in the straight but fell short by a couple of lengths to a superior animal. The others seemed to be outclassed by this duo.

The curtain came down with a bit of a shocker in the form of Pinball Wizard (Oath- Naughty Romance/ Pratap Stud) who was ridden to a smart triumph over the course favourite So Regal in the Alarico Plate. The Shafiq Khan colt was hard ridden by Sameer Khan to get the better of runaway Aithops close home while So Regal ran on to occupy the runner-up berth.