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EVESHAM CONSOLIDATES GOWLI’S LEAD

By Epsom Ace | 26 Sep 2015 | KOLKATA


Trainer R V Gowli leading Evesham (Shailesh Shinde Up), winner of The Stewards Cup

Trainer Robert Gowli consolidated his position at the top of the Trainers’ Championship table as Evesham (Tariq-Everybody Counts/ Equus Stud) notched up his fourth win of the season by lifting The Stewards Cup in the hands of Shailesh Shinde. With a substantial lead over second placed Arti Doctor, Gowli can hope to  lift the championship with only three days of the rather brief 19-day monsoon season left. However, increasing his tally may be a rather tough task now, as the entire Vijay Singh-stable is to be transferred back to him before the next raceday which is Sunday, October 4 when the Monsoon Derby is to be run. Evesham in fact completed a brace for Gowli as he had earlier led in Romantic Magic in a race for maiden three-year-olds.

King Kong set a fast pace for The Stewards Cup with Double Do and Bullet in chase. The Gowli pair of Deserving Visit and Evesham were in the rear of the field  till the half-way mark where Evesham gradually improved his position on the outside while his stablemate stayed in the rear. After heads turned for home, Evesham was travelling the best despite taking the turn six wide. C. Alford did make an effort with Deserving Visit to slip in along the inside but she found her in-form stablemate travelling a little too well.

Jockey Shailesh Shinde, who scored a treble, commenced his afternoon’s success story with Bharath Singh-trained Bold As Brass (Win Legend – Westlem Whisper/ Dashmesh Stud) who showed a penchant for middle distances by running away with the Bourbon Queen Handicap over 1800 metres. The piping hot favourite Auberon was a tame second.

Shailesh then registered yet another effortless victory astride Romantic Magic (Multidimensional – Magical Romance/ Usha Stud). Right after pace-setter Xperience had fizzled out near the top of the straight, Romantic Magic made it a one-horse race on debut.

Possibly, the most interesting race of the day was The Jeweller Handicap run over 1800 metres. Jockey Kamlesh rode a powerful finish on the on-money public choice Sunset Sail (Arabian Gulf-Perilous Pursuit/ Manjri Stud) from Arti Doctor’s yard to get the better of  10/1 shot City Heights who was trying to make every post a winning one. The second favourite Aculeus was a struggling third.

Arti Doctor too completed a double when her Lanner Falcon (Chevalier-Complimentary/ Ruia Stud) won the As Ever Handicap over a metric mile with a degree of comfort. Tailing pace-setter Sage Valley till near the distance post, Lanner Falcon and Kamlesh shot ahead while the top-weight favourite Torero was not as alert to his task. Under Shailesh’s stick, the dark bay ran on to occupy the runner-up berth.

The curtain came down with HS Bath’s four-year-old filly Analyst proving to be quite an useful sprinter as she defied her 6kg penalty and won the ‘No Whips’ race for The Aya Toofan Handicap in the hands of Shezad Khan. The favourite Climber showed a bit of early speed before calling it a day and finishing at the tail end of the field. It was his first run of the monsoon meeting and he is likely to improve after this lung-opener.