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String Along Nails Couleur Rouge on The Post

By Pearcey | 10 Sep 2010 | MYSORE


Trainer S Ganapathy leading String Along (A Imran Khan Up), winner of The KROA Mysore 1000 Guineas 2010 Grade-III

The famous Gold and Brown colours of Dr MAM Ramaswamy continued their domination of the Mysore 1000 Guineas, when the Ganapathy-trained String Along (Alnasr Alwasheek-Persepolis) produced a sparkling gallop and waltzed away with the beautiful trophy presented by The Karnataka Racehorse Owners Association on Friday. For the fifth consecutive year, a filly owned by the turf baron has won this Classic. Considering the quality of horses that are campaigned in these parts of the country, this has been a truly commendable achievement.

While String Along completed a hat-trick in this event for trainer Ganapathy, her victory was more than special for Imran Khan. Although he has won many races at Mysore, this was his first Classic triumph at this centre. The manner in which he nursed String Along for most of the way before asking her for a final effort, came in for praise from all those who had witnessed the race. The 2010 edition of the first Classic of the season attracted a field of five runners. However, the small field did not lack quality. Aprillia, String Along, Couleur Rouge and Balmoral Castle had won on more than one occasion, and the handicapper had rated most of them above Class II.

Aprillia was known to be brilliant, but there were doubts about her staying abilities. Couleur Rouge had travelled a few days ago to have a tilt at a Monsoon Classic at Malakpet. By finishing a poor third on that day, she had disappointed her numerous supporters. It was felt that today's race was a bit "quick' for her, as she would be tired after her hectic travel schedule. String Along was the highest rated filly in the field, but she too was yet to be tested over a metric mile. The one that had given all-round satisfaction was the Padmanabhan-trained Balmoral Castle.

After winning a maiden's event prior to the close of the Summer Season, this filly had stepped-up in Class. She had beaten a quality field in the Mysore Million. She had tackled the mile like a seasoned campaigner, and had shown improvement thereafter. Balmoral Castle started as a favourite ahead of Aprillia and String Along. Couleur Rouge and Con Artiste were ignored from a betting perspective. Ryan Marshall chose to take Couleur Rouge into an early lead, and the duo led from String Along, Aprillia, Balmoral Castle and a tailed-off Con Artiste. The first four fillies were closely huddled together as they began climbing near the halfway marker.

It was difficult to find anything between them, as all of them were travelling nicely at this stage. Imran Khan astride String Along, Sampson on Aprillia and Suraj on Balmoral Castle were biding their time at the back. The race took a serious turn after the runners entered the straight. Couleur Rouge made the first move and charged for home. String Along came alongside with a big challenge. Aprillia got tired and started to drop back, while Balmoral Castle was under immense pressure to move forward. For all those witnessing the action, it was clearly a two-horse affair.

With Couleur Rouge continuing to battle on the rails, it took a while before String Along headed the leader. Imran had to ride relentlessly thereafter, and String Along responded bravely by keeping her neck in front. In a bobbing of heads, String Along managed to beat Couleur Rouge on the post. The AC Somanna Memorial Trophy, a class III event over seven furlongs, was the added attraction on Guineas Day. Both the divisions of this race were won by front-running horses. Pradeep-trained Spark Of Bronte (Classic Tale-Donna Mia) asserted his superiority by trouncing his opponents.

John took him to the front, and the blinkered four year-old enjoyed these tactics. He kept increasing his lead till he reached the winning post. Although the official verdict was a "distance", the actual margin of victory was much bigger. Bullish Luck, Marie Curie and a late finishing World Is Toomuch finished close to each other while filling the rest of the frame. Nityanand's Sweet Surrender (Valid Concept-Coming Home) emerged victorious after making all the running in the lower division of this race.

This colt had run a brilliant second in the hands of C Alford during Summer, and the allowance claimed on him today was definitely going to enhance his chances. Apprentice Rajesh was able to take him to the front, and the boy managed to keep him on an even keel. They skirted the inner rails and travelled the minimum possible distance. Some strong hands-n-heels riding from the youngster enabled Sweet Surrender to land the spoils. The favourite in this race happened to be Savvy Concept. Imran Chisty's strong riding failed to elicit any response from this horse. He finally got tired and faded from the scene. The only one to make any sort of impression on the leader was Neil Darashah's Youre Kiss's Due.

The filly came with giant strides in the final furlong to finish on the haunches of the winner. Three year-old Heat Haze (Senure-Charming Tiara) made her racing debut in the lowest class on Friday. The presence of Srinath astride Rashid Byramji's filly enthused most racegoers to back her with confidence. The filly looked the part in the paddock and raced accordingly. Srinath held her back till the bend before releasing his grip. Heat Haze bounded forward and sailed past a helpless Maratha Conqueror and a late-finishing Gazellier.

The small-made winner has scope for further improvement, as she was carrying a back-breaking 62.5 kilos on her back today. Seven year-old Maratha Conqueror may win a race amongst horses in his own age group. Trainer M Bobby’s Faction Leader (Tocave Botta-Sheesmine) looked superb in the paddock, and ran according to his looks while decimating his opponents in The Nanie and Sons Gold Cup. Even though this horse was eligible to run in the lowest class, the astute trainer decided to campaign him at a low weight in Class IV. He ran kindly for Appu and gave this one-time champion jockey his first winner of the season. Faction Leader's final acceleration was absolutely brilliant, as he was seen extending his margin of victory.

The final verdict of over five lengths tells the rest of the story. Rain Man and Just Great managed to salvage place money for their respective supporters. The sensational finish in the last race of the day was a fitting finale to the day's activities. It was a mile event for horses in Class IV. A pair of maiden three year-olds was supposed to be superior to the rest. Pradeep Annaiah's Spark Of Desire (Emerald Cat-Rainbow Sunset) and Babu Rao's Fist Of Rage were at the top of the betting boards. A huge surge of betting on Spark Of Desire saw this filly starting as an even-money favourite, while the odds against Fist Of Rage drifted to 4's and over. The backers of the favourite were dismayed to see their filly swishing her tail and gracing the rear of the pack as the runners made their way through the backstretch, and moved towards the bend.

Fist of Rage was at the helm of affairs, and seemed to be travelling kindly for S Ramesh. The front-runner kicked in the straight and was clear of Brigades Paradise and Hamsafar as they moved towards the furlong pole. It was at this very moment that Spark Of Desire began her charge from the rear.

She showed sparkling acceleration and moved towards the leader. What looked like a hopeless task at the top of the straight, became a reality. Amidst deafening cheering from her fans, the Pradeep-ridden filly got up on the last two strides to score a seemingly impossible victory.