The bay colt Salento had raised many eyebrows when graduating from the maiden ranks and beating well performed contestants like Ahead Of My Time and Ashoka in the Colts Championship last month. The Arjun Mangalorkar proved that his success was not a flash-in-the-pan by slamming his opponents including the four-time winner Ashwa Magadheera, in the Coromandel Gromor Deccan Derby (Gr.1) on Sunday.

Ashwa Yudhvir set the pace for the mile and quarter journey with young Antony Raj settling Salento comfortably in the mid-bunch as the field of seven was strung out in a single file. Shabelle was in the third slot while Ashwa Magadheera was ridden well off the pace when gracing the rear with Princess Daka. There was no visible change in that order till the last three furlongs as the jockeys braced up for the final act. N R I Superpower overtook the leader in the straight with Shabelle, Salento and the rest making their move. Antony avoided any traffic issues as he essayed his challenge astride Salento on the outer lane. Trevor Patel was fervent in reminding Shabelle of her task but the filly ran green and shifted out to kill Artemis Ignacia’s chances as PS Chouhan once again found himself in trouble when trying to bring the filly through the shortest way home.

Salento meanwhile powered his way past N R I Superpower and was beyond the reach of his rivals in a trice as he recorded a stylish win. Ashwa Magadheera found his rhythm too late and could only gain the runner up berth ahead of Shabelle and Artemis Ignacia, who were well beaten. Salento is co-owned by Messrs Arun Alagappan, Rajendran, Joydeep Datta Gupta, Rajan and Gautam Agarwal. All credit to Arjun Mangalorkar for bringing Salento in top fettle for the big event. Salento is certainly not a late bloomer hence it’s a surprise that he couldn’t enter the winner’s circle during the Bangalore summer season.

Punters were left to deal with losses as the most fancied runners failed to oblige. The day started off with the withdrawal of Knight Templar at the gates and it was widely expected that Scramjet would deliver in the small field of four. However, it was Leo D’Silva saddled Premier Action (Green Coast – Hunting Hawk) who showed good improvement after his dismal run a week ago and made every post of the seven furlong trip to claim the Turf Authorities of India Cup. Premier Action was ridden confidently by Afroz Khan as he warded off the late bid of Top Secret. Scramjet and Super Angel were leaden footed when the race came to a boil and followed the winner hopelessly.

The chestnut juvenile filly Elusive (Western Aristocrat – Catherine Linton) broke the sequence of failures experienced by trainer RH Sequeira and jockey Akshay Kumar with fancied runners when she registered her second straight win to claim the Bangalore Turf Club Trophy. Ridden off the pace as Divine Connection made a start to finish bid, Akshay brought Elusive into contention in the straight and joined the issue with Carlisle who had overtaken the leader. BR Kumar ridden Carlisle gave a tough fight to Elusive but was frustrated as Akshay’s finishing power helped the filly to prevail easily in the end.

The miserable run of Srinivas Reddy’s fancied contenders however continued as the piping hot favourite Arthur, also ridden by Akshay, was found wanting against N R I Sport in the RWITC Cup. Ayr took charge of the running as usual but was overpowered by apprentice Santosh Raj piloted N R I Sport in the straight. N R I Sport (David Livingstone – Maid Of Artois) responded gallantly to his rider’s call  and kept going to keep the favourite at bay even as Akshay spurred Arthur to overhaul him. Arthur went down by a head with Akido gaining ground to finish third. Shazam ended a faraway fourth with Ayr finishing in the heap behind.

Another hotly fancied runner Muaser from Anant Vatsalya’s yard and entrusted to Akshay on this occasion bit dust too. Sea Of Class (Smuggler’s Cove – Eloise) from S Sreekant’s yard made steady improvement as the race progressed and had the measure of the front-runner Red River in the home stretch and skipped clear in the hands of BR Kumar for his maiden win. That’s My Way ran on to peg back Red River who had Cephalonia behind. Muaser carrying an imposing 62kg on his back struggled throughout and could beat only two home.  

N Ravinder Singh saddled New Look (Sedgefield – Ballade Danon), was another horse to have shown remarkable improvement on his previous effort. The chestnut filly was enthusiastically backed when taking on Corfe Castle in August last but ran fourth eventually. Ridden by apprentice RS Jodha, New Look showed plenty of speed to grab the lead and relished running in the front as she made her rivals chase her shadow in the straight. Staridar, Stunning Force and Amyra finished together in that order behind the winner. Akshay steered favourite Falcon Edge, who found the nine-furlong trip beyond his ability earlier, was tried over a sprint by his master. But Sequeira’s ward probably found the trip too sharp for his liking and ended a poor fifth.

Magan Singh Parmar schooled Black Onyx (Stardan – Dancing Dame) achieved a hat-trick after snatching the Madras Race Club Cup from the clutches of Ashwa Morocco, who was shaping like a winner after taking charge from By The Bay in the straight. Black Onyx took some stick from Dhanu Singh Deora before triggering a flashy run in the last furlong which floored Antony Raj ridden Ashwa Morocco. Ballerina ran thereabouts and failed to figure on the board. Lifes Song warmed up late as usual and missed the third spot by a nose behind By The Bay.

PS Chouhan partnered Fly Tothe Stars (Tenth Star – Fly With The Wind) lived up to the promise shown in his last run and scored a fluent victory in the concluding race.  Raza Shehzad’s ward lay unconcerned in the rear as Pedro Planet called the early shots and made his way through the inner rails as the field entered the straight. With a furlong left for home, Fly Tothe Stars moved up alongside Pedro Planet and Spectacular Cruise and was powered by Chouhan to his maiden win. Spectacular Cruise was the runner up ahead of Dream Station and Pedro Planet.