Leading professional Trevor Patel  who  has struck a purple patch this winter, consistently booting home winners, both in Mumbai and Bengaluru  blotted his book  with the one mistake  he made while guiding the fortunes of the public choice  Schiavone in the lower division of the Bharachukki Plate. 

Trevor, who initially failed to gain a favourable position early on in the seven furlongs event did well to gain a  gap through the middle and to the delight of the railbirds hit the front when the race came on a boil before he dropped his whip and that cost him dear, the lesser fancied Hidden Soldier powerfully piloted by Rajesh Kumar edging out Schiavone  at end. 

Well most punters who lost out  placing big bets on the on-money favourite and a few old hats in the game were not happy with the effort of Trevor on Schiavone.  They contended that the top jockey took it easy and  that the dropping of the whip was questionable. But in any sport, mistakes, both accidental and intentional  do happen and benefit of doubt is always given to the performer taking into account his past track record  and that probably went in favour of Trevor, who needs to exercise more caution in future particularly while partnering favourites.

After the questionable ride on Schiavone, Trevor  astride the second in demand at  the betting ring, Sun Divine in the Mysore Race Club Trophy rode like one possessed to beat the favourite Emperor Cruise by the shortest of margins.  After Emperor Cruise piloted by Suraj Narredu had seized the initiative  in the final furlong, Trevor packed punch on Sun Divine and in fact cracked the whip hard more than ten times to gain the result in a photo-finish.  Well the fact that he missed out using the whip on Schiavone  and in the feature event  excessively used the stick again  was questionable.

Back in the Vibrant Plate, Trevor  realizing that the railbirds had not forgotten his  below par effort on Schiavone despite his power packed finish on Sun Divine chose to play it straight, taking no chances on the second favourite Sheer Elation. He pushed the Suleiman ward to the front the moment the dozen horse field came under  the starter’s flag for the mile long event and never let the initiative slip pegging back the belated effort of the rankoutsider Aayan. The topweighted Prize Finder  on the strength of his impressive victory in his last essay garnered the maximum support  but  failed to match strides with the first two despite Suraj making free use of the whip in the straight.

Earlier, the Mahesh schooled Native Indian was the popular choice in the Racing Patrons Trophy, the principal added attraction in the nine-event card. But after gaining a striking position the favourite burst a blood vessel and all favourite supporters were left to bleed, the lesser fancied Shivalik Fire from young Azhar Ali’s yard snuffing out the challenge of another outsider Valerian at the shadow of the winning post.  Valerian’s improved effort raised a few eyebrows and it is time  the stipes at this centre look and seek explanation at the improved performance  efforts from one run to another.  Earlier it happended in case of Pentagram and  now Valerian and many more such cases  this season have not been brought to book  and this has led to the sport buffs questioning the ability of the men who have been entrusted the task to exercise vigil in their effort to provide clean racing at this premier centre.

The Hidayat Khan schooled Del Santo was the most impressive winner of the day. Competing in the upper division of the Bharachukki Plate, the top fancy produced an astounding gallop in the hands of top pro Pradeep Chouhan to romp home in emphatic fashion. Del Santo is at his best and it will again pay to follow him in his next start. Remembrance Of You and Bazinga are struggling in this class and will continue to struggle until they are down to a mark  to make an impression.

In the concluding event, the Neil Darashah-trained Strengthandwonder was a medium of a good gamble which failed to provide the desired result. The Neil ward who ran unplaced in his five earlier starts was fancied sweetly by his connections  but the favourite after tracking the runaway leader I Smile for most part of the seven furlongs trip failed to quicken  and this helped the lesser fancied Cannes gain the day, the winner storming through from a difficult position to enter the winners’ circle. Strengthandwonder  only could finish second ahead of I Smile at end. Now that Strenghtandwonder has a good tough run under his belt this Neil ward will prove to be a different proposition next time out.

The Padmanbhan-trained Nostalgic Memories and Private Paradise from the stables of B Puttanna  justified their topbilling in the two events for juveniles. The latter is a goodtype of youngster and more will be hear d of Private Paradise in the weeks ahead.