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RINCON SUSTAINS TO WIN DHUN KOTHAVALA TROPHY

By Mahendra Mallya | 14 Dec 2017 | MUMBAI


Trainer Faisal A Abbas leading Rincon (C S Jodha Up), winner of The Dhun P Kothavala Trophy

The current Mumbai season has not been in the same exciting vein as we have been used to and most days so far have been ordinary with an exception or two. Thursday races were one of those days that would not remain in your memory once you got home. However, this could be the calm before the storm as the coming two days will have enough action to make up for the season so far.

A sparse crowd witnessed the racing action under lights. The view of the racecourse has always been breath-taking with the flood lights on and the ambience is extremely pleasing.  The footfalls on Thursday did not do justice to the lit up venue but the racing action was captivating to an extent. Followers of favourites weren’t smiling and to cap it, the shortest priced favourite in the last race – Roosevelt, dislodged his rider A Sandesh. Fortunately both horse and the jockey were safe.

The only Trophy race for the day – The Dhun P Kothavala Trophy saw a fight to the finish between leader Rincon (9/1) and Arrecife (10/1). Rincon (Mull of Kintyre – Landmine, Sohna Stud) set off in the straight and built a handy lead. Unlike in Pune, Rincon kicked on and on as Arrecife put up a game challenge. The pair fought hard through the final furlong and jockey CS Jodha rode all out to carve out a narrow win. The lesser experienced Arrecife should soon go one better. Hurrah’s Grace ended a faraway third.

Just a race earlier jockey CS Jodha had fought hard to topple favourite Zanara in the second race of the day. Chasing Zanara coming into the straight, Glorious Eyes (Multidimensional – Glorieuse, Greentree Stud) gave her all to stick alongside the favourite in front. Zanara was not one to give up easily and Trevor had the filly holding a slight upper hand for most of the way. Take Five was shaping up well approaching the distance post, but failed to sustain. CS Jodha added the finishing touches and collared Zanara meters from the winning post to snatch a well-fought victory from Zanara. Take Five was a prominent third, just ahead of Sussex Pride who too was seen improving.

Double Nine (Stern Opinion – Chiquelle, Pratap Stud) carried his form forward and although he was taken outward, he forced his way forward in the hands of PS Chouhan and skipped away from his rivals to win with a sizable margin. He fully justified the strong support he enjoyed in the betting (10/8 on) and caused no anxiety to his backers.

Double Nine was up with the front four as Glorious Land shot into the lead and led them home. Soon on entering the straight, Double Nine made his bid from the outside. Glorious Land shifted out under pressure and took Double Nine along. However, before any damage could be done to his chances, PS Chouhan pushed past Glorious Land and surged well ahead to run away from them all and score a handsome victory. Furious N Fast ran on second while Rosella just managed to pip Domination for place money.

Blitzkrieg (Sedgefield – Forest Family, Jai Govind Stud) was the only other firm favourite to oblige in the day other than Double Nine. He looked fit for the fray and displayed dazzle in his manner of victory. Incidentally, this was his first win after his debut victory in 2015 from a total of 18 starts. He was off to a quick start and built steadily on it and was elusive o his rivals all through. He powered his way nicely to steer clear in the final furlong to win convincingly and showcasing his prowess that he had promised on his debut. A setback took toll on the Adhirajsingh ward, which the young trainer has commendably managed to sort and how! And to have his ward backed so strongly makes it even better.

Moonshine (Rebuttal – Crosspatch, Hazara Stud) followed his fluent win last time out with another pleasing win. She settled nicely in fourth or fifth as Rotterdam led them into the straight. Jockey Neeraj Rawal then eased her up the order and once in the homestretch, pushed her to go for it. Moonshine, trained by Karthik G opened throttle and soon began to gallop away from the rest. She won with a huge margin with minimum effort, this victory even better than her last and in the higher class, foxing the handicapper and coming on up on him. Hot favourite for the race, Roosevelt, dislodged the rider soon on start and as mentioned earlier both Roosevelt and jockey A Sandesh escaped unhurt. Moonshine though, could extract a hattrick in the kind the filly has struck form.

Silver Edge (Aussie Rules – Lady Songbird, Hazara Stud) after a decent second last time out, achieved his maiden success while scoring a facile confidence-boosting win over the 2400 trip. She led briefly before favourite Dazzling Eyes took over and then resurfaced once again on entering the homestretch. Once in the lead, Silver Edge ridden by apprentice SA Amit, shot ahead and stretched out tirelessly to leave no chance for his opponents to catch up. He won by a healthy margin and this late swing in his form augurs well for the C Rajendra ward. Care Free improved from the tail end of the field to finish second.

Bee Quirky (Varenar – Bee Quick, Equus Stud) pulled off a neat start to finish victory, keeping a safe distance from her rivals all the way home.  She sealed the race at the start itself going for the elad at a good clip. Into the straight and Bee Quirky had zipped off to a winning lead and apprentice jockey K Nazil kept her going all the way to the wire. Bohemian narrowed down the margin with a fast finishing run and ended a good second. Realty finished in the money.

Backstreet Bay  (Verglas – Farmers Swing, Sohna Stud) caused a flutter as she upset the calculations of all the fancied runners and there were a few fancied ones alright. Name of the Game took charge early and shaped well until into the final furlong. Locarno was making her run and looming large right behind. Just when it looked like Locarno would make it, Backstreet Bay was spotted devouring ground at an alarming rate. It was a matter of time before Backstreet Bay stormed past the fighting duo and flashed past to score an impressive win. Locarno ended a good second, just ahead of Nameofthe Game and Speedo. The latter is to be watched closely in the next run.

For the professionals, trainers Faisal Abbas and jockey CS Jodha scored a double each.