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JULIETTE WINS WIRHOA ECLIPSE STAKES OF INDIA GR.2

By Mahendra Mallya | 24 Jan 2021 | MUMBAI


Trainer Karthik Ganapathy leading Juliette (A Sandesh up), winner of The Western India Race Horse Owners' Association Eclipse Stakes of India (Gr.2)

Juliette (Musketier – Gimmesumsugar, Sohna Stud) showed her class yet again while dismissing a set of top-notch rivals to clinch the WIRHOA Eclipse Stakes of India (Gr2) with a measure of comfort. Also, by giving a good chunk of weight, Juliette asserted her superiority in no uncertain terms. 

Vulcan made the early running going at a good clip and had Roberta in close attendance; Victorious Sermon came next followed by Juliette and Parisian, followed by the other three, Wizard of Stocks again was off to a tardy start. 

The race came to a boil at the turn when Roberta pushed ahead past Vulcan with Victorious Sermon also gearing up for a fight. Juliette and Sandesh made smooth progress, with the ace jockey keeping clear of any hindrance before lighting up the Karthik trainee. Juliette got her cue and unleashed her trademark burst of speed and drew away from Roberta and Victorious Sermon in the early half of the straight. Parisian had to skirt around horses and also manoeuvre her way through, but there was no way she would have caught up with Juliette. Parisian did well to end less than two lengths from Juliette, while Victorious Sermon ended a fair third.  

Dragoness (Starspangledbanner – China Creek, Usha Stud) could not have produced a better start to her promising career. She had caught the eye right from her prep days. Those who noticed her then had exclaimed that she was ‘working like a bomb’ in her trials. The hype she attracted was uncommon; hence the disappointment was understandable when she was withdrawn at the gates on her proposed first start, exactly a month ago. Her trainer, veteran MK Jadhav, knows it all and he promptly sorted out the issue; this time Dragoness entered the gates alright. 

Circus Queen shot into the lead soon on start, but could not stop Dragoness from outpacing her before long. Dragoness galloped freely as if on her usual morning canter and once in the straight she simply cantered further ahead, still on cruise mode, sealing the issue long way from home. Circus Queen ended second and Fortune Cookie third. 

All that hype then was not for nothing after all! To say that Dragoness impressed would be an understatement. She has the speed and she flaunted her dazzle, clocking an impressive 1:09 for the six-furlong sprint. She did it without having to fire on all cylinders and this was her debut run! 

Pokerface (Stern opinion – Silk Runner, Pratap Racecitement) scored a thrilling last stride victory to claim the A Campbell Trophy with the top five finishers within half a length. Impala led them into the straight and soon Memorable Memories drew closer to the leader. But even before these two had squared up, a rush of horses from behind just pushed the front running pair out of contention. The final 100 meters were pure excitement as Sharareh came along to head them and Pokerface and Namaqua streaked in with a terrific burst. Noshir Cama trained Pokerface, ridden by K Nazil just managed to have his nose in front at the wire, with Sharareh and Namaqua just falling short by a narrow margin.    

Jockey A Sandesh was prolific right through the day and rode home five winners including Juliette. He started his engagements with back-to-back double winning the second and third races, guiding home Pepper and One Wish to victories.  

Sanjay Kolse trained Pepper (Surfrider – To The Manner Born, Equus Stud) pulled off a ‘spicy’ win, stunning the opposition while bringing up his maiden victory on his fourth start. Pepper was right alongside Isle of Skye and this pair followed leader Blue Blood until the turn. He soon took charge and once in the straight, Pepper exploded and dashed ahead, adding turf with every stride. None could match his speed and Pepper, with Sandesh in the saddle, galloped away to score by big margin. Flash Force improved to finish second ahead of Isle of Skye and Aira.

One Wish (Arazan – Rhapsidion Snow, Poonawalla Stud) lived up to the expectations alright, but had to smother a strong challenge from Dreams in the final furlong. Sandesh settled One Wish down early over the mile-long journey and made his move once into the homestretch. 

My Precious shot away past Notoriety for the early lead and these two were a good five lengths ahead of One Wish until the half-way stage. One Wish narrowed the distance there on and as they turned for home, One Wish was prominently poised to take over. Notoriety looked beaten soon after and One Wish strode past to take charge. Dreams picked up speed and started to move closer to One Wish. However, Dreams could not find that flowing rhythm and that made her task a lot tougher. One Wish was ridden aggressively by Sandesh and managed to hold on from Dreams by a narrow margin.  

Summer Night (Night of Thunder – Ghar Shoop, Manjri Stud) followed his maiden winning effort over seven furlongs with a sturdier performance taking the big hike in distance within his strides. Thriving under the astute riding of jockey Sandesh, Summer Night settled well and early as Tiberius led the field in the first half of the 2000m race. Prime fancy and last start winner Seasons Greetings raced in second with Cabo Da Roca    and Historian close behind. Sandesh improved positions steadily and was biding his time. 

Seasons Greetings took charge at the turn and entered the straight with a handy lead. However, once Summer Night started to step up the pace, it was clear that Seasons Greetings’ lead was not safe enough. Summer Night covered ground briskly and collard Seasons Greetings in the last 100 meters to eventually win by just over a length. Seasons Greetings gave in to the inevitable and ended second well ahead of Cabo Da Roca. 

Sandesh signed off the day with another victory astride favourite Dharasana (Surfrider – Salt, Ruia Stud) in the concluding event of the marathon eleven-race card. Sandesh got Dharasana off to a quick start but settled in second as Thea’s Pet raced past him to lead the field all the way into the straight. 

Thea’s Pet laboured on but soon Dharasana came alongside to wrest the initiative. The Sunderji ward shifted out under pressure but kicked on relentlessly to score by a length. Gusty Girl came charging in to finish a good second, while Gandalf improved considerably to finish in the money.

In Contention (Leitir Mor – Remembrance of You, Poonawalla Stud) was most pleasing on her debut and although Minx did provide a bit of excitement in the homestretch, there was never any doubt on who was superior on the day. There was this confident feeling about In Contention in the manner she jumped out and settled down early in the race. There was a jostle at the jump with the horse on her left, but the debutante looked assured even as she tailed the field briefly. Jockey P Trevor just sat with the Imtiaz Sait trainee in the first half of the mile race and gradually progressed approaching the home turn.

The hapless lot in front, save Minx, fell back as Minx took over until In Contention arrived. Despite having to skirt around horses at the turn and wheeling around wide, In Contention covered a fair distance to catch up with Minx in the final furlong. A couple of cracks ensured that In Contention bounded away from Minx to score a comfortable victory, promising to add more in the future. Minx did well to take the runner-up spot well ahead of Irish Eyes and Chezza.  

Faisal Abbas trained Exotic Queen (Leitir Mor – Star of Venus, Poonawalla Stud) produced a spirited run to the finish to peg favourite Enlightened back and clinch a good contest. Abraxas led them until the turn with Clark Kent and Ms Boss on either side, with Enlightened stalking this trio.

Ms Boss had barely taken over when Enlightened came up with a big challenge. Ms Boss fought hard but could not prevent Enlightened from pushing her back. Soon Exotic Queen, with apprentice jockey Aniket Karande in the saddle, started to get closer. Exotic Queen, benefitted from the rider’s competence and that combined with the five kilo allowance was good enough to seal the issue. Exotic Queen surged past Enlightened and Ms Boss to win it by a length at the wire. 

Pesi Shroff trained Venezuela (Ruler of the World – Carter Pace, Sohna Stud) showed tremendous improvement over his debut run and scored an emphatic victory to bring about his maiden victory on his second start. 

Kingsway darted to the front and amassed a massive lead leaving Venezuela and the others a distance behind within the first quarter of the race. Venezuela began to bridge the gap approaching the 800 m marker and within the next furlong was close enough to Kingsway to strike when he chose to. Jockey PS Chouhan didn’t wait too long and picked up speed and brushed aside the leader in a matter of strides on turning for home. Venezuela accelerated well and was never in any spot of bother; he won well and by a healthy margin. Rudimentary improved positions and did well to take the runner up slot. Arrecife finished a good third although he was a fair distance behind the winner.   

Aegon (Varenar – Bespoke, Equus Stud) finally earned his winning bracket, trouncing the opposition and justifying the overwhelming favouritism he garnered. Jockey TS Jodha had Aegon just behind Little More and Falconette until the turn. The Bezan Chenoy trainee revved up on straightening up for home and stormed past the duo in front. Aegon stretched away from them all and won easing-up with a big margin. Sufiyah and Phoenix Spirit improved to take the minor slots.  

Jockey A Sandesh was the pro of the day winning five races, while trainer SK Sunderji saddled a treble.