The local main hope Time And Tide emerged the champion colt winning the second classic of the season, the Nilgiris 2000 Guineas. The winner from champion trainer Adhirajsingh Jodha's yard piloted by leading pro Umesh after the successful classic journey needed to win the race again in the stewards room following a very valid objection lodged by top `Knight' Akshay Kumar, the rider of second placed Knotty Charmer. Akshay protested that Umesh had sharply cut across his mount, when Knotty Charmer was full of running and closed in on Time And Tide and that he needed to break his stride and stop riding and that cost him a certain race. It was clear that Time And Tide had sharply cut across Knotty Charmer and had taken his ground and that Akshay had to check his mount, but this failed to make an impression on the men questioning the two jockeys and watching the replays on the television screen. The panel mobilised in a hurry to conduct the enquiry into the protest thought it fit to overrule the protest. It looked a 50-50 case and it was understandable that the benefit of doubt went in favour of the winner, but here in Udhagamandalam, what is very important and one needs to understand is that the straight is small and once a horse receives a bad check he cannot recover and the offender gaining the advantage will end up a winner.

Twice this season the culprits have got away without a rap and this has raised eyebrows in the knowledgeable circles. The first case came up for questioning last week, Umesh who was a beneficiary in the classic case on Saturday, protesting against Amit, rider of Lady Luck, who had finished second, contesting that Lady Luck  had shifted out violently and cut across his mount Choice and as a result he lost out on a chance to win the Catherine Falls Handicap. That protest too had merit, but was shockingly overruled. The moment you allow the violators to go scot free this will keep happening and it is time the men in-charge crack the whip on offenders, who fail to keep a straight course, an all-important race ruling.

The real issue at Ooty races is that apart from the Chief Stipendiary Steward and Handicapper, not many sitting in the stewards room to decide on the protests or objections in a race lack the required knowledge to judge the merits of the case. And to make matters worse, at Ooty you can't get the required number of stewards to sit and take stock of the protest. The moment an objection is lodged, the administrators are seen running helter, skelter looking to rope in a couple of the members of the club to make the numbers required to conduct the proceedings following the objection. This is bad simply because the railbirds will lose confidence in the club and the make-shift arrangements in this high stakes game will only dent the image of the club.

A couple of old hats in the game at the Blue Mountains while questioning the wisdom of the administrators to randomly pick club members with no real understanding of the finer points of the game pointed out that this is just not done. You need men with credibility deciding on contentious issues and certainly not people with a jaundiced eye.

The Chief Stipendiary Steward has time and again saved the day, but he alone cannot do it all particularly when the decisions are put to vote. The onus is now on the management of MRC to address this issue on war footing. 

Now coming back to racing, Time And Tide is the champion colt, The winner was fancied strongly by the Jodha camp despite the fact that he was pitted against the highly ranked Knotty Charmer who registered a fine hat-trick in the Bangalore winter season. The Prasanna Kumar trainee opened even-money favourite with the word going round that the star performer had performed below par in a couple of morning trials. But the fact was that Knotty Charmer looked a picture of fitness at the paddock parade and soon was backed down to (7/10), while Time And Tide after opening at (9/4) drifted out to (11/4) before the start of the seven furlongs classic.

After the lead changed hands a couple of times, it was Time And Tide who stole a march at the top of the small straight with Knotty Charmer close on his heels and with the two jockeys, Umesh astride the winner and Akshay guiding the fortunes of `Charmer' going hammer and tongs, a fire to the wire finish was on before Time And Tide shifted out and interfered with the progress of Knotty Charmer, who needed to be checked and this made the task of Time And Tide simple at end. Credit to Adhirajsingh Jodha for sending out Time And Tide spot on and more importantly the colt, it is clear has improved most after he finished second behind Touch Of Grey in his last start in Chennai. Golden Warrior finished third ahead of Sheer Rocks. 

Second in demand at the betting ring, Multicrown from B Suresh's yard proved too good in the principal added attraction, the upper division of the Udhagamandalam Trophy run over a distance of seven furlongs. Clockwise from Sebastian's yard was fancied most in the event, but the overwhelming favourite raced in patches and eventually failed to even save money in place. Multicrown in the hands of Mohit Singh powered home in splendid style to the delight of Suresh and Mohit, the duo combining effectively to record a grand treble on the classic afternoon at the Nilgiris. Suresh who had recorded a double on Friday returned home the most successful professional of the big week with five winners to his credit and that helped the leading trainer dust away all the cobwebs from his suits, which he donned at Guindy when he hit a bad patch. Suresh's string at Nilgiris, it is needless to mention is firing on all cylinders and it will pay to follow his wards in the weeks ahead. The lower division of the event was claimed by rankoutsider Helen Of Troy from the stables of Robert Foley. The winner piloted by the promising apprentice Sah Farid Ansari proved too hot to handle in a event, the short-priced `Jodi' of Happiness and Sensations went out of the window. Another rankoutsider Made In Heaven gained the runner-up pushing the punters back against the wall after the 20 to one long shot Autumn Shower stunned the followers of form in the opening event, the Hunt Club Handicap run over a sprint. The Uthaiah ward in the hands of five-kilo claimer Ram Nandan Manjhi made every post a winning one, convincingly snuffing out the challenge of the runner-up Marshall, while Rule Of Emperors only managed to save money in place. Ocean Love from Ajith Kumar's yard was heavily supported, but all that the public choice did was to take a lot of pink currency sacks down the drain. 

A eight to one shot, Star Symbol bolted home in the Danehill Handicap. Mohit Singh after guiding home the impressive winner from the stables of Suresh packed punch on Royal Baron in the concluding event to share the professional honours with Suresh and Jodha.This was Royal Baron's second straight success and the insiders and the right connections were confident and sweetly fancied the Suresh ward after his resounding success in his last essay.