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MOST FAVOURITES CHOOSE TO TAKE BACK SEAT

By Ikram Khan | 25 Nov 2021 | BANGALORE


Mr P Prabhakar Reddy & trainer S S Attaollahi leading in Lagarde (Akshay Kumar Up), winner of The Ashoka Chakra Cup

Back after a three-week gap following the unseasonal rains which lashed the city on a daily basis, the eight-event card framed on Thursday proved to be a disaster from the punters point of view, only a solitary firm favourite Lake Tahoe and two joint public choices Silverita and Almanach justifying the top billing, while three on-money favourites, Spectacular, Mathera and Salazaar flopped badly resulting in most railbirds particularly the big bettors returning home with a hole in the pocket.

The Irfan Ghatala schooled Salazaar was fancied most in the plum, the Ashoka Chakra Cup run over a distance of nine furlongs. The top fancy piloted by S John was travelling nice and easy all through the backstretch as the multi-classic winner Lagarde from Suleiman Attaollahi's yard set a decent pace in his effort to make every post a winning one. Lagarde accomplished the mission the moment Salazaar after raising hopes at the top of the straight dropped out in the final furlong and the Padmanabhan schooled Sovereign Legend performed below par much to the chagrin of his supporters. This made the task of Lagarde simple at the end, the lesser fancied contestant piloted by the chote nawab Akshay Kumar powering home to the delight of Suleiman. Irfan's unfancied runner Automatic surprised most finishing second ahead of the well fancied stablemate Salazaar, while Point To Prove is still struggling to prove a point that he can successfully compete in top class company.

Spectacular from the stables of Padmanabhan garnered the maximum support in the Half A Crown Plate run over a mile. The public rage piloted by leading pro Sandesh finished more than 15 lengths behind the impressive winner Eternal Blaze from S Ganapathy's yard. The winner piloted by C S Jodha donkey-licked the opposition while Spectacular struggled to keep pace before finishing a poor fourth. Mystic Mountain gained the runner-up spot ahead of the Prasanna Kumar schooled Analect who will prove to be a different proposition when next saddled taking into account that the Prasanna Kumar ward looked a trifle gross at the paddock. Spectacular's effort was too bad to be true and the bred in the purple filly deserves another chance.

Matera from Parvati Byramji's yard was one youngster who was blazing the track in the morning trials and on the strength of a couple of fine efforts was touted  a `moral certainty' in the Count Fleet Plate for three-year-old maidens. The shortest priced favourite in the card (45/100) was all at sea, the moment the 11 contestants came under the starter's flag for the 1100M dash, not really putting the best stride forward to make his presence felt. Akshay Kumar who guided the fortunes of Matera did try his best to get him going but Matera simply didn't understand the task on hand and chose to grace the rear while the Faraz Arshad-trained Thousand Words bolted in to the delight of the Faraz camp. The winner impressed most in his effortless start to finish effort and is set to provide an encore when saddled next.

The Arjun Manglorkar-trained Silverita opened a firm favourite at (14/10) in the second division of the Narmada Plate run over a sprint before money came pouring in on Sir Jersey from Prasanna Kumar's yard. Sir Jersey and Silverita closed joined favourites (9/4) before the start, while the M R Singh-trained Ozark too had his fair share of supporters. Ozark and Sir Jersey performed like duds while Silverita edged out the Inayathullah schooled Aerospeed close home. The winner was a little lucky to again win the race in the stewards room considering the fact that Silverita did shift out in the closing stages and as a result Aerospeed piloted by a five-kilo claimer S Hussain was pushed out close home and this cost the Inayathullah ward dear at end.

Lake Tahoe from Darius Byramji's yard won like a good favourite ought to in the Chatrapathi Trophy run over a mile. The top fancy who opened on-money favourite before the price on the winner shifted quickly to (18/10) was never really tested, John astride the talented filly never really needing to break a sweat. Lake Tahoe is in rousing form and it will pay to follow this filly till she retains the form and fitness this season. Electra did well to finish second ahead of First Impression while Peluche made a fair impression suggesting that it will not be long before he enters the winners' circle.

The promising Arul recorded the double through the strongly fancied Almanach in the Dabbe Falls Plate. A smart last start winner Almanach from Pradeep Annaiah's yard was sweetly fancied by the right connections on the strength of his impressive victory in his last essay. The in-form winner again produced his best in the hands of Arul to romp  home in emphatic fashion. Christopher Wren who let down a large following in his last essay again disappointed and so did Katana while Amazing Blaze after racing prominently for most part of the mile trip lacked the gas in the tank to make a race of fit in the final furlong. Almanach is in great heart and is set to complete the first hat-trick of the season when saddled next.

The Narayan Gowda schooled Commandpost was backed to the exclusion of his 10 rivals in the concluding event, the first division of the Narmada Plate, but all that the well-backed Commandpost do was finish a tame third behind the rankoutsider Lucky Chance who made every post a winning one and the runner-up Tenali. The third division of the event was claimed by the lesser fancied Prerana from M R Singh's yard. Apprentice jockey Shreyas Singh made a satisfactory impression while partnering Prerana home ahead of Santorini Secret and Rightly Noble who was fancied most to score in this set.