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STAR CRACKER WINS AIR FORCE TROPHY IN STYLE

By Ikram Khan | 03 Nov 2018 | BANGALORE


Trainer Neil Darashah leading Star Cracker (Nazerul Alam Up), winner of The Air Force Trophy

Two horses from Sulaiman Attaollahi’s yard topped the list of the big bettors on Saturday, the second day of the winter season. One won handsomely and the other lost miserably. The bred in the purple Angelino, full brother of the celebrated dual Derby winner Angel Dust, made a smashing debut in the Master Key Plate while Sakura flopped and failed to display her true potential in the plum event, the Air Force Trophy.

The half-money favourite Sakura, it is clear was chopped off badly by Shan Ben Aari at the start, but what surprised most was that the filly who has the required class and potential to extend the best of her age and sex in classics failed to overcome the initial hiccup and struggled to make the frame. The fact that Shades Of Desire beat her for the third place was a bitter pill to swallow for the followers of form, who rated her as one safe bet in the seven-event card after her sublime effort in the Mysore 1000 Guineas where she ran Isn’t She Lovely close over a mile long trip.

When indiarace asked trainer Sulaiman what went wrong with Sakura and how she would justify the below par effort of the filly, the leading pro said: “ Sakura was making her maiden appearance in the open class. She got badly chopped at the start and found it difficult to recover from it. She is a filly who takes time to get into top gear and the interference from Shan Ben Aari at the start made it really difficult for her. After the race she was scoped and the result was that she bled internally during the race and this could be another factor which stopped her from displaying her true potential,” said Sulaiman. Well whatever be the real reason, one thing is true, all the big bettors bled and not through the nostrils alone.

No announcement that Sakura suffered from internal bleeding was made by the Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) authorities as it is normally done ,but Sulaiman confirmed the report after the filly was scoped and if that is the case Sakura and Sulaiman should get the benefit of doubt only on the internal bleeding count and certainly not on the interference she suffered from Shan Ben Aari at the start. A good horse overcomes all these hurdles and still wins and Sakura is a good talented filly.  

The eight to one shot Star Cracker admirably won the feature in the hands of apprentice jockey Nazerul-Alam. Gypsy flashed late on the scene to gain the runner-up berth ahead of Shades Of Desire and Sakura struggled to take the fourth spot.

Angelino too like Sakura was interfered at the start but he quickly àre covered and detonated her 11 rivals the moment Sandesh reminded his of the task ahead in the straight. This brother of Angel Dust is in the classic mould and more will be heard of him in the months ahead. Mercury did well to gain the second spot ahead of Happy Dancing while Winning Force only managed to make the frame.

The Prasanna Kumar schooled  Kvasir was fancied most in the principal added attraction, the Vidhana Soudha Cup run over a sprint but the public choice met a tartar in Miniver Rose who produced a quality effort in the hands of Delhi-based pro Dhanu Singh to score in style. Panama in a close call edged out Piper Regina to save place money for her followers. Kvasir will benefit most from this run and will prove to be a different proposition next time out.  

The Neil Darashah-trained Full Bloom and Varcasva from trainer Irfan Ghatala’s yard were fancied most in the Aihole Plate, the former ending a firm favourite simply because the punters chose to go with him on the sole count that he had two good runs under his belt while Varcasva was making her maiden appearance. But it was the Irfan ward who reigned supreme in the hands of Sandesh, easily shooting past Full Bloom in the final furlong of this whipless event. Tio Rico finished third ahead of Benediction.

Earlier, Arshad Alam came up trumps in the first two races booting home the second in demand Proudprince from Pradeep Annaiah’s yard in the opening event, the November Plate and the Azhar Ali-trained She’s Stylish in the BARI Plate.  Big money came pouring in on the Narayan Gowda-trained Bazinga in the opening event but the public choice after tracking the front running Able Master for most part of the mile long trip lacked the gas to make a race of it and eventually finished a poor fourth.