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Nitrous Keeps Date with Victory

By North-End | 14 Mar 2008 | MUMBAI


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Nitrous (Srinath) clinically polished off his rivals while pocketing the Radha Sigtia Trophy, the first of the two trophy races slated for Thursday. The front running Dallas Todywalla gelding had little difficulty in accounting for the small field and won the race on his own terms from end to end. Setting a moderate pace, Nitrous maintained a slight advantage all the way, displayed tremendous stamina and zest, and posted a comfortable victory without any fuss or anxiety whatsoever. Srinath was cruising right from the start and in the straight simply guided Nitrous who seemed to know exactly what was expected of him. Miles And More (Rajendra) and Desert Blue sought to ask questions off Nitrous and even joined him at the turn, however, once in the straight, Nitrous showed no signs of entertaining any threats and the pair simply bowed out. Maseeha (Tograllu) another game galloper could only surge enough to claim the runner's up placing without making any serious bid at stretching the favourite. With this win, Nitrous, I reckon, will be rested, and may take a crack at the Indian St. Leger on the last Sunday in March. Thundering Hooves another favourite for the Jimmy Barucha Trophy, however, could not raise to the occasion and tamely surrendered to the fiery onslaught of Shroff ward Feet Of Flames. The bunch in front spread out on entering the homestretch with Cameo (Neeraj) getting the better Celtic Charm early. Soon, Feet Of Flames (Rajendra) came up and took over from the duo. Thundering Hooves was looking for an opening between horses, Ikaria gained briefly but could not sustain so too Bella who only pretended to launch a serious attempt but failed to gather the required momentum. At 200 metres Rajendra was getting the best out of Feet Of Flames and Thundering Hooves who got a clear run passing the distance post was clearly overwhelmed. Cameo ran a good race while Thundering Hooves is capable of better performance. Feet Of Flames was indeed the most impressive. The day began with Tehrani making amends after his last start second to Xiamen where he had carried a lot of last minute betting. This time, despite T Mahesh replacing Ruzaan. Tehrani came from behind to cover a lot of ground to upset a shoddily ridden Premier Diva. Johnny Bravo, who led them in, faded out of contention when it most mattered. Premier Diva seized the initiative and looked like kicking on but started to shorten her strides closer home. Tehrani, who was ridden off the pace suddenly came up on the scene and had no trouble getting past Premier Diva to win decisively. House Prefect just could not accelerate and even let Cinderella Man passes him and grab the third spot. Czech failed to be noticed. Thundering Hero surprisingly could not do anything right and ended as an 'also ran'. This is the worst performance the gelding has dished out and he is surely capable of a much better show. Combustion (Neeraj) was the most impressive winner of the day, like his margin – by far. On his own right from the start, Combustion entered the straight and galloped away adding distance with every stride and the rest were only fighting for the minor placing. It was clear that Combustion wouldn't be caught by any of the runners, but it was surprising to see jockey Neeraj unnecessarily using the whip even as the winner was a good 10 lengths ahead. Certainly baffled me! Neeraj actually cracked the whip four or five times in the last 150m or so! Benfica (Aadesh) ran on to get the second spot from Eternal Flight and Classic ran third. Combustion looks good for the hat trick. The manner in which Casual Look won makes one wonder how he could lose to Clean Sweep in race 178. His loss to Dynamic Cat in race no. 167 was also questionable; however, Dynamic Cat won twice thereafter providing a 'benefit of doubt' for that occasion. Today, she was a different filly altogether and won readily with something to spare. Not particularly prominent till after the turn Casual Look (Ashish) improved position and was urged to gather momentum and the filly, under a couple of cracks, surged ahead readily to register a comfortable victory beating Amberogio (Chinoy) in the last 100 metres. Clean sweep, her conqueror last time, was right there until the last furlong and a half but thereafter was nowhere in sight. Amyn Merchant, if questioned, will have a lot of answering to do. Dance Maestro (TS Jodha) ran a good third. Xiamen, who was in the lead till past the distance post, was clearly outclassed. Kalpavruksha (Belose) was languishing in the rear after being sluggish for quite a while. However, in the final furlong or so, the Bezan Chinoy trainee covered a lot of ground and horses to itch out a place in the frame. Note this one, Kalpavruksha is knocking on the doors and looks a good betting proposition soon, if not in his next outing. Chardin cornered a lot of support early on in the ring but with huge last minute money coming on Red Indian, the odds on Chardin drifted. True to the pulse of the ring Red Indian shrugged off the late challenge from Chardin. Red Indian (Prakash) was guided to the front early on while Chardin was the last one out from the gates. Ruzaan, was quick to recover lost ground and settled the Shroff charge soon in the mid bunch. On straightening up, Red Indian sped ahead and was going at a good clip and enjoyed a handy lead mid way up the straight. The rest had some catching to do and the ones to set about the task were Star Legend. Chardin, Mysterious Star and Ponyta. The last named did well to cover a lot of ground and finish up close to the winner, just behind Chardin. Star Legend got hemmed up and could not be ridden out in the final stages. Suraj and Simply Smashing had their chances but could not gain. Chardin put in a sustained fight but only when it was too late. Ponyta had to recover from the rear and did well to come into place money. Mysterious Star just could not find his feet and found the top three too hot to handle. Prakash who is riding intelligently and is in top form, held a cool head and played a major part in Red Indian's victory. Artillery has improved remarkably in the past four weeks compared to his performances early in the season. Faiisal Abbas has done well with the gelding, who now looks consistent and has run into good form. Sitting well in touch with the leaders Shaktiman (Akash) and Vanilla Sky (PS Chouhan), Aadesh got him to challenge the leaders nearing the distance post. Artillery put in a nippy finishing effort to easily collar Shaktiman meters from the winning post. While Shaktiman and Vanilla Sky were there and there, Princess Samerah covered rapid ground to end fourth a decent effort considering the position she was in at the turn. Trainer Faisal Abbas was the lone professional to score a brace.