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SMASHING BLUE ESCAPES TO VICTORY

By Mahendra Mallya | 01 Aug 2021 | HYDERABAD


Smashing Blue (Akshay Kumar Up), winner of The Sultan Pheroze Plate

Jockey Akshay Kumar stood out on the day with a sizzling performance scoring five wins, including a four-in-a-row! The lad could do no wrong on the day as he rode out with finesse race after race.

Smashing Blue (Win Legend – Twice Over) was one of the beneficiaries of Akshay’s riding skills as the filly scraped through to win by a short head, quelling the final assault of top contender Corfe Castle to hold on by a whisker.

Smashing Blue raced in the third spot until the turn with Trump Girl and The Great Gatsby racing in front of her. Akshay picked up the Sequeira trained filly just at the right time and got her into a good momentum soon on turning for home. He poked through between the duo in front and assumed command approaching the distance post. While The Great Gatsby fell back, Trump Girl was fighting on and stuck by Smashing Blue. Trevor atop Lightning Bolt was in a good position, but could not get his mount to quicken. Corfe Castle, not in the picture until well into the straight, arrived with a big gallop inside the final furlong. He was clearly the fastest at the finish, but Smashing Blue managed to stride on and nose the wire, the winning post could not have come at a better time for Smashing Blue. The short-head victory took her tally to seven wins from nine starts and she also avenged her defeat to Corfe Castle in Mumbai earlier this year.

Corfe Castle could have been better handled and may rue the lost chance. App Gaurav could have converted it into a success had he been a tad more aggressive, but the lad will learn from this and improve. He did cover a lot of ground briskly in the final stages but the luck of the race tilted it in favour of the winner. Trump Girl ran a good race and can do better in her next. Lightning Bolt was not at his best and may have needed the run.

Akshay began the day on a successful note partnering Sequeira’s Keystone (Win Legend – Ashleen) to a facile victory in the opening race of the day. Akshay nursed Keystone to sit third along the rails as Miss Little Angel strode out in front with Galwan in tow.

Keystone moved up nicely to sail ahead of the two in front and once she picked up speed, she simply sailed away. Galwan tried hard to keep up but in vain. Keystone shed her maiden status in style, achieving her first win on her fourth start. She won convincingly and another success is awaiting her shortly. Galwan ended a decent second, while Jean Lafette improved well to finish in the money.

Trainer Ananth Vatsalya’s Xfinity (Sussex – Rising Tide) gave an armchair ride to victory to Akshay, outpacing tote favourite Mandala Bay by a margin!     

Akshay drove Xfinity to the front soon on start and stayed in command all the way. Story Teller and The Prospect kept pace with the leader right until into the straight; however, they lost the plot soon after. The Prospect failed to keep a straight course and drifted out, thereby failing to pick up the place dividends as well, just about ending in the frame. Tote favourite Mandala Bay was not in the ideal position early on and had to make his way through horses. By then Xfinity had sealed it and was stretching away from the pack at a good clip. Mandala Bay picked up when all was over, managing to beat Story Teller for the runner up berth.

Akshay had to put in strong efforts astride Battle Ready (Top Class – Astatki) to get the measure of a determined effort from Air Salute. Battled Ready tailed the front bunch of six runners with Elegant Stroke, Secret Command and Air Salute in the front.

Air Salute assumed command approaching the distance post and shaped well. Soon Akshay had Battle Ready into top gear and the Netto trained gelding accelerated well, inching closer to Air Salute with every stride with about 100 meters to go. Air Salute fought hard but just could not sustain as Battle Ready arrived with a steaming gallop to nail Air Salute by a neck. Misty River came from a long way back to finish a noteworthy third, managing to pip Arcadian Angel and Exponent for the place stakes.

Akshay got his fourth on the trot and fifth for the day astride Sequeira’s Lamha (Whatsthescript – La Surama) with a spirited gallop in the homestretch. Favourite Campania jumped out well but was soon passed by Horse O’ War, Lorena and Grand Finale.

Turning for home, Grand Finale tried to runaway banking on the early run-in and sped ahead to amass a sizable lead. Lamha was improving steadily and once Akshay got her into the stride, she picked up momentum and got into a fine rhythm. Campania was not as smooth and was taking precious time to get going. Lamha easily shot past Campania and set her eyes on Grand Finale, who was still a couple of lengths ahead inside the final furlong. Lamha finished on with a fast gallop and surged ahead closer home to carve out a narrow victory by under a length. Grand Finale almost pulled it off to finish a good second, while Campania ended a tame third.

Earlier Castlerock (Whatsthescript – Covent Garden) from the stables of Shehzad Abbas  produced a fine gallop at the business end to score a comfortable victory. The front running group comprising Different in the lead closely followed by Blue Valentine, All Time Legend and Castlerock were well ahead of the rest.

Into the straight, Different was working hard to stay in contention. Blue Valentine made some headway and had Castlerock too close for comfort. All Time Legend tried to poke through the rails, but to his horror, found the gap closing. He had to switch lanes and perhaps lost his rhythm in doing so. Castlerock showed good acceleration and streaked past them all to go into the lead, galloping at a good clip. She built a handy lead soon and left the others to do the catching up. All Time Legend skirted around the trio and by the time he could pick up speed, it was all over. Castlerock was way ahead and won by a length and half. All Time Legend bridged the gap to finish a good second and it would pay to resist with him next time out. Blue Valentine was done-in  even at the distance post finishing a tame third.

Rank outsider Sheldon (Royal Gladiator – Escalating) trained by Prasad Raju and ridden by jockey Naresh, caused a large number of jackpot players to crash out of the hunt.    

Sheldon was closer to the rear bunch when they turned for home and made quick progress from the wide outside. He started covering ground at a brisk rate and galloped strongly in the last furlong to floor them all with his scintillating burst. He sailed away to win by a good margin of over three lengths to score his maiden victory on his 13th start. NRI Touch came in with a late run to peg back Hip Hip for the runner-up berth.

For the professionals, it was local champion jockey Akshay Kumar who grabbed the limelight scoring five winners. Trainer RH Sequeira saddled a treble.