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TITUS, AMAZING RESPONSE NOTCH-UP NARROW WINS

By Mahendra Mallya | 11 Nov 2018 | HYDERABAD


Trainer D Netto leading Titus (Kuldeep Singh Up), winner of The Chief Justice Trophy Div-1

Both the divisions of the Chief Justice Trophy saw keen finishes as both the races went all the way up to the wire. Titus had to quell a stiff challenge from joint favourite Super Dart in the upper division, while prime fancy Amazing Response had to fight off stubborn resistance from Southern Promise.  

Titus (Green Coast – Sabak) worked his way up steadily to settle in second spot behind Asteria in the early stages with Super Dart in third. Vallee Sceptre was jostled out of the front-bunch with the others following close behind.

Into the straight, Titus stepped on it soon and got past Asteria with 300 to go and shaped well as he barged into the lead and pushed ahead of Asteria with ease. He had a handy lead coming into the final furlong and was being hailed by his large number of followers. Super Dart made a dash forward and galloped strongly in the last 100 meters to nearly pull it off but for some skilful riding from Kuldeep Singh as Titus just managed to hold on at the wire. The Netto-trained gelding did falter a bit when he sort of ‘pounced a leap’ that broke his rhythm for a stride or two inside the final 100 and that made his task look that much more difficult before Kuldeep gathered him to correct course and prevail by a head. Super Dart was a tad too late in his response time and paid the price; another stride and he would have swung it his way. Asteria kicked on to end in the money.

Amazing Response (Lord Shanakill – Zing Wing) won the lower Division of the Chief Justice Trophy with a slightly better margin warding off Southern Promise by half a length. Newport led them into the straight with Amazing Response and Royal Dynamite in close proximity. Sea Castle made good progress after a tardy start to be right behind the trio entering the homestretch.

Amazing Response moved u smoothly to take charge well into the straight with jockey Sandesh easing the Sequeira-trained gelding into a nice rhythm. As Newport failed to counter the challenge and with neither Sea Castle nor Celtic Queen getting anywhere, Amazing Response looked poised for an easy win. However, Southern Promise warmed up in the final furlong to finish on strongly giving the crowd something to shout about as she narrowed the margin considerably to end just half a length behind Amazing Response. Newport kept Sea Castle at bay to pick up the place stakes.

Sequeira had earlier led-in debutante Roll Call (Whatsthescript – Knockenduff) a race for rookies over 1100 meters. It was all smooth sailing for the first timer Roll Call as she jumped out smartly and led the field all the way. The others rallied behind her with Giethorn in clear second followed closely by a bunch of runners, favourite Born Greek being one of them.

Jockey Sandesh opened throttle just at the right time and Roll Call responded with a crisp gallop keeping Giethorn at bay. Giethorn was constantly applying pressure, never letting Roll Call to get away, but the later was up to the task and sustained his momentum all the way to the wire to make a memorable winning debut. Giethorn was gallant in defeat and proved a worthy runner-up while favourite Born Greek ended a tame third.

New State (Ravel – Brutta E Cattiva) managed to pull off an exciting win, overcoming some tense moments when she got momentarily stuck behind horses with no gap to squeeze through. Fortunately jockey Kuldeep Singh was patient and plunged through the inner rails when it widened just enough for him to poke through. Meanwhile young five –kilo claimer Surya Prakash was found wanting, first while taking the turn wider than he should have and then getting under immense pressure while finishing on. The rookie slipped up and that was enough for the Kuldeep Singh to drive home the advantage and carve out a welcome win for trainer Mir Faiyaz Ali Khan’s ward New State. Handsome Boy however, managed to pip Cymbal for the runner-up berth and his jockey would rue the fact that he squandered a real good opportunity to score.

Star Gazer (Excellent Art – Awarding) stole the show in a blanket finish making the Deccan Star Plate the most thrilling event of the day. Quick at start, Star Gazer led briefly before Southern Crown galloped on the outside to snatch the lead. Athenaeus and Shaquille followed the pair in front with the others close behind.

Into the straight, Southern Crown galloped on gamely to stay in the lead with Star Gazer switching leans to challenge the leader. These two were battling hard and were a couple of lengths ahead past the distance post with Shaquille, Athenaeus and Miss Lily coming into the equation and Riddari too making progress along the rails, all of them gaining on the fighting pair – Southern Crown and Star Gazer as they made a final dash for the booty. Star Gazer and Southern Crown fought neck and neck and Nakhat Singh ridden Star Gazer, trained by K Sateesh, just managed to pip Southern Crown on the post to steal the show on the wire. Southern Crown was a tad unfortunate to lose out with an agonizingly close margin. Shaquille and Miss Lily finished right alongside the top two. Athenaeus finished one off the frame a length behind and bears watching the next time out.

Robin Reddy trained Red Bullet (Rai Maudit – Casual Look) pulled a neat start to finish victory, again using the runaway tactics, this time to good effect. He entered the straight with a sizable lead and unlike last time when he squandered it all away while weakening towards the end (over an extra furlong), this time in the hands of jockey Koushik, Red Bullet sustained all the way leaving no chance for the others to catch up thus scoring his maiden victory on 17th start. Heaven Can Wait ended a tame second, never really threatening the winner, but finished well clear of the third placed Hammer.

For the professionals, trainer RH Sequeira saddled a double, while jockeys A Sandesh and Kuldeep Singh scored a double each.