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THE NARREDU BROTHERS, SURAJ, RAJESH DO THE TRICK

By Ikram Khan | 14 Jul 2019 | BANGALORE


Trainer Rajesh Narredu leading Star Superior (Suraj Narredu Up), winner of The Maharaja's Gold Cup (Gr.2)

The Narredu brothers, did it again. Trainer Rajesh Narredu and leading pro Suraj Narredu had a definite game plan in place for the Maharaja’s Gold Cup. Suraj wanted Star Superior’s stablemate Super Smart to set a scorching pace for the 2200 metres event. Rajesh instructed S A Amit astride the nohoper to just do that. Amit followed the instructions, he sent Super Smart ahead the moment the nine runners came under the starter’s flag and Super Smart running like a scalded cat set a hot pace. Suraj guiding the fortunes of the second in demand at the betting ring, Star Superior headed the rest of the contestants while Super Smart raced more than 10 lengths clear all through the backstretch. 

Super Smart and young Amit after doing a good job retired the moment the field negotiated the final curve and at the top of the straight, Suraj sent Star Superior ahead and established a winning lead. Though Sandesh quickly brought the on-money favourite Adjudicate into contention it proved a herculean task considering the fact that Star Superior was travelling nice and easy and the new Maharaja was spotted even before the race came on a boil. Star Superior romped home in record time clocking 2:14.93 seconds bettering the existing mark of (2:15.12) registered by Alekona eleven summers ago. This was Suraj’s sixth success in this prestigious event and you need to salute the effort of the champion professional. Salazaar, who had finished second behind Adjudicate in his last effort over a nine furlongs trip beat the Kolkata spearhead gaining the runner-up berth confirming that he like the old wine is getting better and better with age. Adjudicate’s effort was dismal and true bad to be true. It is clear that the champion filly now needs rest before she recovers to challenge the best again in the winter, be it at home or any other centre. 

Suraj earlier drove the lesser fancied On The Trot to an impressive victory in the D Kumar Siddanna Memorial Cup run over a distance of seven furlongs. The Neil Darashah schooled Sea Of Cortez opened the overwhelming favourite for the event in the morning before money came pouring in on the Sulaiman Attaollahi-trained Cuban Pete at race time. This saw On The Trot being offered at a nourishing price (9/2). Cuban Pete closed at (16/10) and Sea Of Cortez at (19/10). 

On The Trot hit the front and showed the way to the debutant Cuban Pete while Trevor astride Sea Of Cortez tracked the two in front. After On The Trot brought the field into view, Suraj reminded the Arjun ward of the task ahead and the chestnut colt responding gamely to his master’s call produced a sparkling gallop to outwit his two rivals and cruise home in emphatic fashion. Cuban Pete finished second while Sea Of Cortez came home a poor third. 

The grey Premier Premises started the favourite in the opening event and most followers of form backed the Appu ward to score in the opening event, the Supervite run over the 1100M dash. The connections of Cashmere from Samar Singh’s stable too were positive that the mare could do it and soon Cashmere garnered good support. The Samar Singh ward in the hands of apprentice jockey Naveen made every post a winning one pegging back the game effort of Premier Premises in a close finish. Have A Nice Day finished third ahead of Barog. 

Despite the fact that Emidio let down large following in his last essay, the Dheeraj ward was fancied most in the upper division of the Parsiana Plate run over a sprint. The Hyderabad ace Akshay Kumar took the speedy customer to the front and riding like one possessed drove him home snuffing out the challenge of Amazonite in the final furlong. Prince Azeem did well to save money in place while Stars In His Eyes filled the frame. 

On the strength of his smart victory in his last start, Renegade from the stables of Dominic was fancied most in the Yeravada stud Plate run over a distance of seven furlongs. It is learnt that trainer Dominic had requested his ward to be withdrawn from the event pointing out that all was not well with the public choice. But the Chief vet was not impressed and Renegade had to compete. The Dominic ward lost one of her shoes during the race and could only finish second behind the Sulaiman-trained Constantinople who recorded her second win this season. Karadeniz finished third and it will pay to follow this Faraz Arshad ward over a sprint when saddled next. 

Another Dominic ward who failed to justify favouritism was Desert Angel. The topweighted contestant in the lower division of the Parsiana Plate failed to break level from the gates and though Chouhan pushed hard and gained a reasonable position at the top of the straight the filly lacked the gas in the tank to make a race of it in the final furlong and much to the chagrin of her supporters finished fourth. Look Out from Kishan Thomas’ yard who was also strongly fancied in this event made every post a winning one in the hands of Prashanth Debe. Grecian Light who tracked the winner held onto to gain the runner-up spot in a tight finish from Zhu Zhu Zest.