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SOVIET PRIDE SCORES AN ENCORE

By Mahendra Mallya | 13 Dec 2020 | HYDERABAD


Trainer R H Sequeira leading Sovet Pride (Akshay Kumar up), winner of The Silver Dagger Plate Div-2

RH Sequeira trained Soviet Pride (Air Support – Sovetskaya) showed deeper resolve and finished with a flutter to down Paso Robles closer home to score his second successive victory this season. This one was on promotion to Class II and in a much tougher company that had lined up for the Div II of the Silver Dagger Plate; hence this was an even more commendable effort.

The Great Gatsby showed good early speed and led the field with Long Range on his tail all the way through until they turned for home. Paso Robles, Trump Girl and others were chasing these two in a huddle with Soviet pride racing behind this bunch. Into the straight, The Great Gatsby was still ahead but could not sustain past the 300m mark. The ones in the mid-group started to scramble past the front runners with Paso Robles taking charge with a furlong to go. Trump Girl and Soviet Pride arrived with a nippy finish, but it was Soviet Pride who travelled the best of the lot. Jockey Akshay Kumar rose to the occasion and stormed past Paso Robles meters from the winning post to score by half a length. Trump Girl did well to peg back Long Range to finish with the money.

Sequeira saddled his second winner for the day with Staridar (Oath – Starrynessy) in the upper division of the race. He was out quickly and after leading for the first few strides, settled on the tail of Pontius Pilate until into the homestretch. Jockey Askhay Kumar regained the lead soon after straightening up and galloped at a fiery pace to stay ahead all the way. Pontius Pilate chased the winner home without looking his usual threatening self. He barely held off the late dash from Reno Star, who was way too far back and made a spirited bid to claim the third spot, a neck behind the runner up. Agni finished a neck further back, losing out on the third spot to Reno Star.

Trainer LVR Deshmukh and jockey P Trevor had a good day after they combined to start the day on a winning note, both returning with three winners each. Their joint success came with debutante Fire Power (Speaking of Which – Roses in Bloom) in the day’s opening race for maiden two-year-olds. The two front running juveniles simply squashed their chances as first Stunning Force and then Akido veered out badly, ending up on the sand track. With the two out of it, Costello got a chance on a platter, but he too ran a bit erratic. Horse O’ War and Siyavash came into prominence, but it was Fire Power who stole the show in the final furlong. Trevor powered his way to the front and past the distance post, Fire Power scorched the turf to overwhelm Siyavash and post a facie victory. Siyavash ended a decent second, while Horse O’ War nosed Costello out for the place money.

Deshmukh and Trevor scored their second success together with Lightning Bolt (Excellent Art – Shamaal) a couple of races later. Trevor rode the impressive colt confidently, settling closer to the rear end of the field, with just two horses behind him. Up in front Ashwa Arjun first, then Flamboyant Lady were at the helm but as they turned for home it was Havelock Cruise who took charge early. With the ones close behind not making any impression, barring Esteva, Havelock Cruise raised hopes. However, Lightning Bolt came along approaching the distance post, galloping on cruise mode and the moment he surfaced on the scene it was all over for the rest. Lightning Bolt strode out majestically to make it a no-contest and registered a comfortable victory by a margin of two lengths. Esteva did well to finish second, while Blazer strode past the tiring Havelock Cruise to take the third spot.

Deshmukh led-in his third in the last race of the day, his ward Colachel Battle (Planetaire – Brindaban) making a dramatic appearance from the background at the business end of the race. Assisted from the saddle by jockey Irvan Singh, Colachel Battle was not in the top ten turning for home. Amyra had just gotten into the lead and was racing ahead shaking off those close behind. Star Racer and Castlerock were fighting hard to stay in contention. Irvan Singh stepped on the pedal about 300 meters from home and Colachel Battle started to eat up ground at an impressive pace. He flashed past a bunch of horses and strode away to nail Amyra by just ¾ length but the margin doesn’t do justice to his manner of victory. He floored Amyra completely and his was an eye-catching finish. Amyra was stunned and had to be content with the next best slot; Castlerock ended a fighting third well ahead of Blickfang.

Laxman Singh trained Downtown Gal (Multidimensional – Cest Bon) was another three-year-old to score an impressive win on debut. Sitting up with the front runners, Downtown Gal put in a scintillating run picking up midway in the straight to cruise past the hard ridden Different before stretching out fluently to score by a healthy margin. Piloted by jockey Ashhad Asbar, Downtown Gal rocketed ahead aggressively leaving the rest behind in a matter of strides. Just Incredible improved to take the second spot beating Different to third. Lamha ran on to finish in the frame. An encore looks on the cards for Downtown Gal.

Royal Pal (Speaking of Which – Violet Honey) also achieved his maiden success in the lower division of the Windscale Plate. Going over an extended trip for the first time Royal Pal put in a remarkable effort staying up with the pace in second and then fighting off the fast finishing Balma closer home. Bob Campbell led them into the straight and soon faded out. Jockey Nakhat Singh pushed Royal Pal to the front and then had to sustain it for more than a furlong. The Sateesh trainee responded well to his rider’s urging and kicked on relentlessly. Balma moved from the mid-bunch to make an all-out effort but all she could do was cut the margin down to just half a length. Balma was gallant in defeat and shall bide her time. Royal Pal deservedly won the race with an extensive effort. Alta Vita too improved in the straight to pick up stake money, while A Hundred Echoes was the one to emerge from the last position and his making it to the frame was praiseworthy.   

Spicy Star (Sedgefield – La Nina) from the stables of Ravindra Singh, escaped to victory as the challengers, not one, not two but three of ‘em came at him with a rush. Jockey Mukesh Kumar had done all he could to keep Spicy Star from drifting out once he got into the lead approaching the distance post. The fact that he did so and held on to win despite carrying a heavy impost was appreciable. Just when it looked like he would pull it off, the trio comprising Advance Guard, Sweet Melody and Forever Bond were devouring ground all at once the latter two especially were getting dangerously close. The drift didn’t help either but Mukesh Kumar somehow managed to touch the safety of the winning post in the nick of time to survive the onslaught. Sweet Melody, Forever Bond and Advance Guard all finished together in the four-horse thrilling finish.

For the professionals, trainer LVR Deshmukh, saddled a treble as did jockey P Trevor. Trainer RH Sequeira and jockey Akshay Kumar scored a double each.