You got to salute the punters at this centre. They just are never down and out and keep coming back with the same force despite taking blow after blow that will actually knock down a champion boxer in the ring.

Not a single favourite last Sunday and only two this Saturday makes it two public choices obliging from 15 races and that’s a disaster from the punters point of view but the big and small bettors will be back at it again on Sunday, though it must be mentioned that the conductors of the game are doing precious little to find out the cause and seek explanations for the below par efforts of the favourites.

The opening event on Saturday, the lower division of the Holding Court Plate saw the friendless High Hawk chalk out a pillar to post victory in the hands of jockey Amyn Merchant. The winner ran down the field in his two starts in winter and in his first attempt this season the Hidayat Khan ward tore the form book inside out stunning all the railbirds. The winner paid a whopping Rs, 2,224 on a tenner at the tote window and the couple who had a ticket on the winner played blind and shot an arrow in the dark which hit the bulls-eye.

Now forget the performance of High Hawk. What happened to Astral Spirit. The Dominic ward who in her last effort went down to a much superior horse Saffron Intense rightly opened the favourite before the price offered on her doubled in the bookies ring and  soon  it was no secret that Astral Spirit was not a serious contender. The moment the big punters learnt that the colour was bad on Astral Spirit some shifted their support to Dancing Princess more out of courage than confidence while the connections of Roaring Thunder tried to pull off a coup on Roaring Thunder. Dancing Princess like Astral Spirit was never in the hunt  and Roaring Thunder despite doing his best finished   a close third behind High Hawk and King Smile who was also fancied on the quiet by the insiders and the right connections.

After Hero Worship was withdrawn, the Faraz Arshad-trained Tuscano was installed the favourite  in the Malakpet Plate run over a mile and here again the punters were floored, the (60/1) Interactive from Lokanath’s yard romping home in the hands  lesserlight G Adarsh.  Sea Dove from Inayathullah’s yard finished second and is one for the notebook.

In the lower division of the Brig. RCR Hill Memorial Trophy the four to one shot Diva from young Azhar Ali’s yard made every post a winning one. The topweighted Secret Prayer from Narayan Gowda’s yard who impressed most in his last essay finishing a game second behind the speedy Knighthood and the runaway winner in his last start in winter, New Prince shared favouritism. The latter from the stables of Gregory Sandhu was withdrawn at the starting gate after the men spotted the broken nose band. That really cleared the deck for Secret Prayer but the Narayan Gowda ward, it appeared was in no mood and performed below par, finishing a tame third behind Perfect King. In racing it is a established fact that the performance of a horse gets better after a start and at this centre it is just the opposite, form taking a nose dive with no questions asked and no answers provided. This simply is not a healthy sign and unless the stipes and stewards quickly crack the whip on the offenders many knowledgeable are of the view that racing at this centre will lose the confidence of the railbirds.

Anantara from Rashid Byramji’s yard was the first  favourite to score after 10 favourites had gone down from last Sunday. Leading pro Pradeep Chouhan back in business guided home the winner and later packed punch on the on-money favourite England from the nawab of Hyderabad, Vittal Deshmukh’s yard edging out Good Fortune at the shadow of the winning post. Keep an eye on King Of The Court who appears ready to earn his cornbill in his next essay.

The plum event, the Speaker’s Cup was an open affair. Baracchus, Russian Link, The Lieutenant and Torch Bearer having a fair share of supporters. But none made it. Zucchero from Irfan Ghatala’s yard surprised most though he had the credentials to score in the plum. Baracchus and Torch Bearer caught the eye and it will pay to follow the two next time out. Another public choice who went down rather tamely and performed much below par from his maiden effort in winter was Sriram Komandur schooled Natanza. The youngster who had gone down fighting to  Good Fortune is his debut in winter was heavily supported taking into account that he had consistently produced good performances on the trial track and also the fact that Good Fortune was beaten on the last stride by a quality horse England. But all Natanza did was to follow the lesser fancied Back In A Flash home. The winner helped Hidayath record a double.

In the concluding event, the Satish Narredu-trained Dignified garnered the maximum support on the strength of his fair effort in his last essay but apprentice jockey Jaykumar stormed out of the gates and went as though it was a 600M event and not a six furlongs trip. It simply was a suicidal effort and the apprentice needs to be cautioned and penalised for a shoddy and incompetent effort. Like I mentioned before, unless the offenders are brought to book and told how to do it right, many Jaykumars will be running like scalded cats knowing fully well that a cat has nine lives and with these stipes and stewards it could well  be ten or more.