Indiarace.com - india's first & foremost horse racing portal

SQUARE THE CIRCLE WINS POLICE TROPHY IN STYLE

By Ikram Khan | 12 Sep 2019 | MYSORE


Trainer Md Sajid Qureshi leading Square The Circle (A Imran Khan Up), winner of The Police Trophy

On Wednesday the Chennai challenger Cavallo Veloce shocked the two Bangalore top fancies, Knotty Ash and Tutankhamun in the feature event and on Thursday it was the local hero Square The Circle who kicked the backside of the two leading Bangalore contestants Velocidad from trainer Pradeep Annaiah's yard and the Neil Darashah-trained Brothers In Arms to send out a strong message that the trainers from the small centres too can challenge the best if they get good performers under their care.

Despite the fact that Square The Circle caught the eye while finishing an impressive second behind Mystic Flame in his last essay the local mainhope was ignored in the betting ring, money pouring in on Velocidad in the Police Trophy run over a mile. The fact that Exclusive Mandate took him wide while negotiating the final curve and the Sajid ward yet finished a game second failed to make an impression on all the big bettors who blindly chose to go with Velocidad, who most times has only taken good money down the drain. He did it again and it was no surprise. This overestimated son of Excellent Art, who has failed to justify favouritism each time he is fancied to score in his last four starts, it appears is only happy finishing behind the winner rather make a fight of it to stand tall at the podium. The on-money favourite finished a dismal fourth in the plum,  eight-year-old mare Reanna too finishing ahead of the top fancy. Brothers In Arms too performed below par. Square The Circle in the hands of Imran Khan who booted home Cavallo Veloce a day earlier proved that he has the abiility to scale up the ladder and it will pay to follow this Sajid ward  in the months ahead. 

On the strength of his facile victory in her last start, New Begining from Ranjeet 's yard garnered the maximum support in the M W Chinnappa Memorial Trophy run over a distance of seven furlongs. But the public choice found the new higher rated company too hot to handle and could only finish a poor fourth much to the disappointment of her supporters who had strongly fancied her to provide an encore. The lesser fancied Contributor from the stables of Bobby confidently piloted by Prabhakaran reigned supreme pegging back the late charge of Turf Striker while Tremendous took the third spot. 

The connections of Admiral Act from Surender's yard quietly fancied the topweight to score in the B A Nanaiah Memorial Trophy and he readily justified the confidence reposed in him. Another favourite piloted by Srinath, King's Command from Dinesh Pujar's yard bit the dust failing to even make the frame. Valkyrie did well to gain the runner-up spot ahead of Willow Glen while Segera in her debut as a four-year-old made a favourable impression. 

After failing to guide the overwhelming favourite Super Success in an event on Wednesday, T S Jodha and Dheeraj were looking to make amends, hoping to strike it rich on Nostradamus in the upper division of the Psychic Strength Plate. But the two again flopped in their mission, the public choice only managing to finish second behind the ten to one long shot Genuine Star from Satish Narredu's yard piloted by Mark. Duxton despite shouldering a backbreaking weight of 62.5 kilos did well to save money in place while Darahasini came home fourth. 

The lower division of the event too produced a shock result, Kruger Park from trainer Warren Singh's yard  entering the winners' circle. The winner piloted by apprentice Shamaz Sheriff after tracking Premier Premises for most part of the sprint assumed command at the distance post and then gamely held on to score from the fast finishing Master Of War. Premier Premises finished third ahead of the favourite Odyssey who was never in the hunt. 

John who failed to boot home Odyssey made no mistake on the in-form Tokyo Rose who to the delight of Dheeraj won the upper division of the Panchgani Plate run over a distance of seven furlongs. The even money favourite after being in box seat for most part of the trip made her run along the rails to gain the advantage and edge out the lesser fancied Blue Jack who was seen finishing on fastest at end. Bold  Move in his attempt to make every post a winning one lasted out to grab the third place ahead of After Hours who is likely to make an impression when saddled next. 

Inky Black from trainer Neil Darashah's yard was backed to the exclusion of his 11 rivals in the lower division and the public choice romped home to the delight of his master fresh after winning a classic on Tenno Sho in Kolkata. Dagobert finished second ahead of Find while Raw Gold took the fourth spot. 

The Sharath Kumar-trained Reczai and Piper Regina from the stables of Parvati Byramji were fancied most in the final event, the One Life To Love Plate. The two joint favourites who on paper looked good to dominate the finish did just that, Reczai piloted by Arshad Alam gaining the day at the end.