Indiarace.com - india's first & foremost horse racing portal

QUASAR SHOWS THE 'TIGER' WHO'S BOSS

By Epsom Ace | 11 Jan 2015 | KOLKATA


Mr Jaydev M Mody & trainer M Narredu leading Quasar (Suraj Narredu Up), winner of The Eveready Calcutta Derby Stakes (Gr.1)

A colourful crowd of 17,000 plus spectators were witness to a thrilling finish in The Calcutta Eveready Derby Stakes on a cool and misty Sunday afternoon as Mallesh Narredu – trained Quasar (Seeking The Dia – Belle Jour) pipped the favourite Tiger Tops close home and pocketed the winner’s purse of nearly Rs 1.24 crore. Jockey Suraj Narredu timed his run to perfection in the straight as he kept his main rival in his sights throughout the mile-and-half classic before pouncing on his prey –- the tables were suddenly turned for this ‘Tiger’.

Romantic Flow set a scorching pace, followed by Torch Bearer and Tiger Tops who were keeping up with the pace about five lengths behind. A little further back were Acrider and Quasar, while the rest followed with Confidence bringing up the rear. The order remained more or less the same till David Allan decided to play catch-me-if-you-can and shot his mount Torch Bearer ahead at the 800 marker. Taking the cue Zervan too decided to make his move atop the ‘Tiger’. Perhaps, he did not reckon with the quickfire acceleration of Quasar who was at her flank in a trice just after the turning for home. Thereafter, the whips started to flash with the colt edging ahead slowly but surely. At the wire, he spared three-parts of a length to the filly. The property of Mr Jaidev Mody thus proved that his win in the Pune Derby was no flash in the pan and further vindicated the words of his mentor who was confident that the chestnut will lap up the extra 400 metres on D-Day.

One race later, Bharath Singh-trained speedster Suzanna (Win legend-Just Amazing/ Dashmesh Stud) picked up The Alokananda Stakes in great style as she made every post a winning one in the hands of Dashrath Singh. Glamorously followed her all the way and just held on to the runner-up berth from Sunset Sail.

The afternoon commenced quietly enough for visitors as trainer Vijay Singh’s extremely short-priced runners Flavius and Free Energy won their respective events comfortably. The former, a five-year-old by Noverre out of Flavia (Sohna Stud), allowed Malibu and City Heights to call the shots before taking over the running at the 800 and quite easily lifting the t2 Cup, thus giving Suraj Narredu his first winner of the day. Free Energy (Phoenix Tower-Freefall/ Manjri Stud) extended the happy spell for punters as he bagged The Hyderabad Race Club Cup without too much fuss in the hands of PS Chouhan.

Then followed a magnificent spell for the combo of trainer Patrick Quinn and jockey Ashish who at the end of the day had completed an astonishing hat-trick of wins for their patron-in-chief Mr Syed Nadeem Akhtar. The three winners from that camp were Amanda’s Queen (8/1), Agatta (6/1) and Silver Silver (8/1). The first named, a bay filly by Chevalier out of Star Liner ( Ruia Stud) put paid to the pretensions of the favourite Lancer’s Dream after collaring the pace-setter Krishna near the 400 marker.

Agatta (Ikhtyar-Jalapeno/ Nanoli Stud) and Azienda fought out the finish of The Brave Dancer Cup, with the fancied runners Shourisha and Meet The Legend pretty unimpressive. Seven-year-old Silver Silver ended the day on a thunderous note for the connections as the son of Senure out of Mystique Smile (Manjri Stud) quite easily staved off speedster Alondra at the wire. However, the latter’s run was not in keeping with her earlier forward essays. But on Derby-Day, I suppose just about anything is possible as the excitement gets to all and sundry!

The only other trainer to hoist the winning flag was Arti Doctor as her colt Claymore (Dark Angel-Gavotte) left the field standing in the race for the In The Spotlight Cup.