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SILVER BEAUTY SENDS ‘LOCAL GIRLS’ INTO A TIZZY

By Epsom Ace | 19 Nov 2016 | KOLKATA


Mr. Sanjay Kumar Shinde & trainer M Narredu leading Silver Beauty (Suraj Narredu Up), winner of The Calcutta 1000 Guineas (Gr.3)

The first classic of the season, The Calcutta 1000 Guineas, was run in pleasant, sunny weather on a fairly fast track. The three outstation challengers (Burnished Gold, Rainbow Dash and Silver Beauty) were the talk of the track while some diehard local punters did opt for Interstellar. The absence of bookmakers for the third successive day meant that tote collections improved a lot. ‘Racing sans bookies’ may in fact be a blessing in disguise for form-workers as tote dividends have swelled since their absence and more runners are making a genuine effort to pass the winning post first. 

With Agatta Girl left at the gates, the other six runners jumped out in unison, but none was keen to take up the running. David Allan and Burnished Gold ultimately decided to set the pace with Rainbow Dash in tow. But all eyes were on the final entrant Silver Beauty for whom the connections had doled out Rs 9 lakh. Suraj Narredu on the favourite was a tucked in close fifth along the rails till heads turned for home. Once in the straight, Suraj took no chances and shifted the grey out before giving her a crack or two. Once she saw daylight, the Mallesh Narredu-trained filly by Aussie Rules out of Maharanee was a transformed animal as she changed gears in a trice and made the field look pedestrian. Her turn of foot was phenomenal and she sailed past the pace-setter. Local filly Interstellar was the best of the rest as she finished on with a late run.

Mallesh commented after the season’s first classic that she is indeed a “genuine filly” and his nephew Suraj was always confident of winning here. “Suraj in fact suggested that we make the final entry”. He later confirmed that Silver Beauty will stay on in Calcutta for The Oaks.

With his Whomakestherulles scheduled to take a tilt at the 2000 Guineas a fortnight from now, it looks like Mallesh is going to be a frequent visitor to this centre in the coming months – possibly giving the local leading professionals sleepless nights as his wards seem to be a cut above their local counterparts.

One of the supporting events, The Haskell David Memorial Cup,  saw Vijay Singh-trained Drops Of Jupiter win a thriller in the hands of Dashrath Singh. The latter seems to have got the measure of the short local straight and has been timing his final run to perfection of late. Though his mount Drops of Jupiter (Rebuttal-Anacita/ Hazara Stud) was a somewhat tardy beginner as compared to speedsters Monsieur Strauss and Mellow Fellow, Dashrath maintained his cool before positioning his mount at the top of the straight and making his final run.  Drops of Jupiter moved with raking strides in the straight and pegged back Mellow Fellow at the post. The latter ran a good race but seems to be more comfortable over five-and-half furlongs.

Trainer Bharath Singh and his sporting patron Joydeep Datta Gupta enjoyed a good day at the races as they pocketed a well thought out double with Serendine and Suzanna. Both runners were piloted by Dashrath.  Fashionably bred Serendine (Multidimensional-Flowersoftheforest/ Usha Stud) unleashed a thunderous gallop mid-way up the straight to leave fancied runners The Stradle and In The Sunrise struggling for the minor placings. Dashrath completed his treble with a start-to-finish run on Suzanna (Win Legend- Just Amazing/ Dashmesh Stud) in The DR Gupta Memorial Cup. The filly did rather well to stave off a strong challenge from Mister Majestic. Like Mellow Fellow, the latter is also more comfortable over five-and-half furlongs.

Vikash Jaiswal’s decision to fly in Sandeep Rajput for the ride on Jacknife paid rich dividends (literally and otherwise) as without the superb effort of the top-weight rider, the sprinter by Mull Of Kintyre out of Bukat Timan (Sohna Stud) would not have been able to collar the speedy Hondo Monterey who was going hell for leather. Rajput extricated him from a close fifth along the rails before riding out his mount hand and heels.

Shyam Habbu’s Ship Rock (Kingdaka-Giocosa/ Nanoli Stud) caught all and sundry off guard as he made the mile race for the Altimara Handicap a start-to-finish affair in the hands of improving apprentice Nikhil Naidu. The favourite Adilicia was an utter disappointment. Both Blaze To Glory and Earnest Ruler were hardridden to occupy the minor placings.

The curtain came down with Daniel David – trained The Talisman (Noverre-Debinnair/ Sohna Stud) bagging The Kariba Handicap in the hands of Neeraj Rawal. In this race, much to the delight of his mentor, Meet The Legend finally took a level jump and ran a fair race. Neeraj had to work hard on his mount to get the better of ‘The Legend’ who had taken up the running at the top of the straight.