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NATASHA WINS SRIRAM SAGAR CUP

By Mahendra Mallya | 12 Nov 2018 | HYDERABAD


Trainer L D Silva leading Natasha (C Umesh Up), winner of The Sriram Sagar Cup

Trainer L D’Silva reaped rich rewards as three of his representatives return victories in the six-race card on the second day of the fresh Hyderabad season. D’Silva started the day on a positive note with his ward Carnival Express (Carnival Dancer –Classic Study) creating a flutter in the opening race of the day.

Carnival Express, with C Umesh in the saddle was neglected in the betting and easily available in the double digits with the bookies. Carnival Express took a good jump and led briefly before Market Leader hurried through to take charge. Market leader faded away soon on leading them homeward and finished last.

Carnival Express assumed command soon on turning for home and quickened well to establish a good lead approaching the distance post. Cash For Rank moved up as did My Windfall along with Vallee Tiger, but none could match strides with D’Silva trained mare. She skipped away from them and posted a comfortable victory. My Windfall beat Cash for Rank for the runner up berth.

L D’Silva then picked up the Sriram Sagar Cup with Natasha (Arazan – Shalaya) with jockey C Umesh astride. Natasha raced in the mid-bunch as Shimmers darted into the lead early on with Palsy Walsy close behind.

As they turned for home, Shimmers galloped on working hard to stay in the lead when Palsy Walsy drew closer and threatened to take her lead away. However, Palsy Walsy in a sudden jerk leapt in the air for just that bit and lost his rhythm altogether and fell back. This was at the about the same spot where Titus had done the same the previous day, but had managed to recover quickly. Palsy Walsy dropped back and could never recover.

Shimmers fought hard but failed to sustain. Darshish moved up along the rails and then Natasha arrived with a sparkling finish to surge ahead in the last 100 meters and stormed past them to score with authority. London Bridge finished on fastest to snatch the second place away from Darshish.  

D’Silva signed off with another rank outsider Chinese Thought (Chinese Whisper – Pearls of Thought) quoted at 15/1 in the betting ring, pocketing the upper division of the Raja Narsimha Rao Memorial Cup.. Taking a good jump, five-kilo claimer Jitendra Singh got Chinese Thought into the lead with Astra close alongside, with Rose Eternal following the pair.

Chinese Thought and Astra continued their battle on straightening up with both galloping at a good clip, fight stride for stride. Astra was hanging out and that made it more difficult for her to give off her best. Chinese Thought sustained her momentum and kept galloping at a good rate to inch closer to the winning post. Rose Eternal arrived with a late bid, but could not catch up with Chinese Thought and Jitendra Singh rode his heart out to notch up his maiden victory on the turf to open his account stylishly. Rose Eternal ended second, while Astra lost a good chance to score, ending third.

The lower division was won by Prime Time (Mull of Kintyre – Marmalade) from the stables of Arjun Anne, partnered by Md Ismail. Prime Time worked his way to the front and led them as they settled down.  Once the lead, Prime Time galloped well to build up a handy lead coming into the straight.

Prime Time lead by about two lengths past the 400 with Palisades Park in second, many and George Cross were not too far away. Ikigai moved up along the rails. Prime Time looked good coming into the final furlong as she still was a couple of lengths clear. However, the challengers were catching up fast in the closing stages and Md Ismail had to ride all out to keep his lead. Ikigai did give her a scare alright, but Prime Time held on grimly to ward off Ikigai, dashing past the wire to win narrowly. Mandy ended a good third a neck behind Ikigai.  

Hailstorm (Excellent Art – Icebreaker) carved out a narrow win to add to his solitary win thus far with an inspired run and never-say-die attitude. The Laxman Singh trained gelding settled to chase Inci from the start with Once More right behind. Rikki Tikki Tavi was off slowly losing about five lengths at the start and could never recover from the folly.

Into the straight, Inci put in a determined effort denying Hailstorm to pull away and the pair fought stride for stride all through the straight, with Once More on their tail. Inci along the rails had a slight upper hand with Hailstorm galloping strongly equal to the challenge. Once More drew level with fifty to go and added to the thrill. The trio zipped past the wire all with their heads craning together. Hailstorm won by a short-heat from Once More pushing out Inci by a whisker, with Guiding Force and Rikki Tikki Tavi finishing close behind. This run of Rikki Tikki Tavi is best ignored.

Trainer Srinivas Reddy’s charge Ashwa Arjun (Arabian Gulf – Fine Streak) made it a one-horse race with an impressive start to finish victory. He came into the straight with a sizable lead and jockey Ashhad Asbar had to do precious little as Ashwa Arjun stormed ahead proving too good for his rivals. He won by a good margin without dropping sweat. Vallee Ikon ended second with Curcumin raking in the place stakes.

For the professionals, trainer Leo D’Silva saddled a treble, while jockey C Umesh scored a double.