The Pune Season 2019 rolled off to a sedate start with form horses, running after a break, holding steady. Trainer Imtiaz Sait and jockey P Trevor enjoyed a fruitful day with each of the pros recording a double and starting the season on a good note.

Iron Age (Strong Suit – Intrigue, Manjri Stud) pulled off his sixth victory with surprising ease, bagging the Gamble for Love Trophy in style. He took off quickly from the gates and led the field with Clymene in close attendance. The rest raced in a huddle, not too far away.

Iron Age picked up speed once they turned for home and picked up nicely to put Clymene under pressure. Jockey Trevor hustled the Imtiaz trainee and Iron Age found a good rhythm to keep the momentum going. He was well clear in the final furlong and won untroubled, clocking a fast time hitting the wire under 1:10 which is commendable. Excellent Gold came from a long way back to finish on strongly, beating Clymene for the runner-up berth.

Narendra lagad trained Turmeric Tower (Diffident – Smokey Opal, Yeravada Stud) was fluent while achieving her maiden win on her first start in Pune and fifth overall. There was a bit of apprehension though as the rider of Cipher (Placed 2nd) lodged an objection against the winner. It did appear that Turmeric Tower swayed inwards and went on to Cipher at a crucial stage. Cipher had to switch lanes and the fact that she re-ran to gain on Turmeric Tower at the finish lent credence to the objection as well. However, the manner in which Turmeric Tower caught up with Cipher in the homestretch and accelerated to collar Cipher and going past was convincing enough for the Stewards to overrule the objection. Turmeric Tower improved positions around the turn and then readily galloped on powerfully to storm ahead past Cipher to win by a length. Golden Era did well to finish in the money ahead of Despacito.

Bushtops (Archipenko – Etroubles, Nanoli Stud) justified the strong support and won well to notch up his third career win. He was off to a sluggish start and tailed the field initially, but made rapid progress around the turn to be in striking position when it mattered. Until then Fleur De Lys was in the lead with Domination in chase and soon on straightening up Bushtops made his presence felt. Jockey NS Parmar put the MK Jadhav trainee into top gear and Bushtops started to cover ground briskly to storm past the hapless Fleur De Lys past the distance post and then accelerate even further to win impressively. Bushtops dominated the final furlong and looked the winner the moment he started his forward surge. He showed he is in fine form and should pick up his next race as well. Fleur De Lys ran well within herself and will improve after this good effort.

Deepesh Narredu trained Saltbae (Chinese Whisper – Wasabi, Tohna Stud) was the longest priced winner of the day at 20/1, pulling off a neat start to finish victory. Jockey Srinkant Kamble got going with Saltbae taking the advantage of the inner most draw and went into the lead galloping at a good clip. Macau and Turaco were in chase and favourite Queens Gate was a shade behind them at the turn.

Saltbae kicked on gamely once they turned for home. Macau and Turaco closed in on the leader, while Queens Gate worked her way around them to make her bid from the wider outside. Saltbae quickened well past the distance post and stretched out nicely to increase her lead and kept the momentum going to notch up a much needed maiden win on her fifth start. Queens Gate may have needed the run as she took her time and then finished on well to beat the rest for the second spot.

Hells Bells (Dancing Forever – Awfeyaa, Hazara Stud) followed his win in Mumbai with an even more emphatic victory on her first showing at Pune. He settled in behind Slam Dunk until the turn and then stole a march around the turn as jockey Zeeshan pushed aggressively to make a decisive surge forward. He entered the straight with a bank of about three lengths. Hells Bells quickened further to stretch away from the rest. There was no threat in sight as the Mansoor Shah ward entered the final furlong and kicked on to win by well over five lengths. Philadelphia took the runner-up spot keeping safely ahead of Timeless Deeds.

The season kicked off with the Division II of the Beyond Expectation plate with Romantic Eyes (China Visit – Khalila, Usha Stud) making it an auspicious start for herself and her connections. She finally tasted her first win after a rather long wait. Romantic Eyes moved up along the rails soon after Padmakosa led them into the straight. Outstanding made a strong bid too and threw a game challenge. Romantic Eyes was ridden out by jockey Raghuveer Singh and he stood up to the challenge to ride all out and thwart the attempt of the fiercely fighting Outstanding. Romantic Eyes held on by a neck to kick off the season on an exciting note. Outstanding was a gallant second. Thea’s Pet was tardily out of the gates and that cost her dearly. She recovered well but not well enough and had to be content with the third place.

Skysurfer (Surfrider – Stardom Bound, Ruia Stud) after flopping badly right through her string of eight runs in Mumbai, returned to her winning track and put up a bold show. She took off and rocketed ahead with ease and made it a no contest from there on. She won as she liked encountering not even a semblance of a fight making the upper division of the race the proverbial one-horse-race!