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Badge Of Gold Sets a New Record

By Pearcey | 28 Aug 2009 | MYSORE


Trainer R Foley leading Badge Of Gold(B Prakash Up), winner of The H H Shi Krishna Raja Wadiyar Memorial Gold Cup

It was almost two years ago that Robert Foley's Badge Of Gold had last produced a successful gallop on a racetrack. It took him a long while to rediscover his winning form at Mysore on Friday. The big made chestnut was on the repair list for quite a while before he was given a run at the fag end of the Ooty season. A series of gallops and a mock race on the local track sharpened him nicely to make a winning seasonal debut in The Krishnaraja Wadiyar Memorial Gold Cup, the feature event in an eight-event card framed for the afternoon. Being a terms race for horses in the highest Class, it attracted a creditable field of a dozen acceptors. Most of them were rated around the 100 mark and all of them had performed successfully over the seven-furlong trip in recent times. The weights were well matched, and the total scale was only three and a half kilos. There was no doubt that Badge Of Gold was the best performed of the lot, but the big worry was his latest form. For those who had witnessed his mock race a fortnight ago, it was only a question of reproducing it in an actual race. One look at him in the paddock was enough for the others to join the bandwagon. Badge Of Gold recieved all round support to start as a 7/4 favourite ahead of Royal Ambassador,Einstein and Lionheart. A fair amount of jostling at the start resulted in Badge Of Gold getting pushed towards the outside, while Einstein had the good fortune of getting a clear run on the rails. Royal Ambassador lacked early speed and soon found himself at the tail end of the pack. With a bunch of no-hopers tiring out in front, it was Einstein who made the first move. John steered him to the front and charged for home. Badge Of Gold made a move almost five horses wide and joined the fray. Gaurav Sapra produced Royal Ambassador on the outer portion of the track, and the three horses started to dominate the proceedings. With whips flying and the jockeys in perfect rhythm, the runners raced abreast for a while before Badge Of Gold wrested the initiative. In the hands of B Prakash, he got stronger with each stride, and strode away for a popular victory. Royal Ambassador got up on the last stride to pip Einstein for the second spot. An announcement thereafter confirmed that the winner had broken an eight-year-old course record. The big revelation in this race was the performance of Silken Thomas. He was the lowest rated horse in this set, and on paper had no chance of matching strides with the others at level weights. The four-year-old finished an impressive fourth, and shall be too good to miss when he races in handicap company. Prakash and Foley were quick to complete their double, when they scored with Liberty Speaks in the last race of the day. The well-bred filly had raced successfully in Mumbai before being relocated to this centre. She was an odds-on choice to win over her favourite trip of a mile. Prakash looked completely in control of the proceedings for most of the way. The filly took a smart jump, settled nicely in the backstretch, assumed command in the straight and shrugged off a belated challenge from Spandau Ballet. Her winning margin of a length and a half was a compliment to the runner-up. Bottom weighted Man United ran on to finish a fair third. The Safi Darashah Memorial Trophy was split into two divisions. Since this event was being held in the memory of his grandfather, Neil Darashah had pitched a fancied runner in both the races. He was unfortunate to lose the upper division, as Lush Foliage was unable to collar the front-running Enchanting Girl. Suraj Narredu rode her with vigour, but the winning post arrived a bit too early. The winning margin was only a nose. The winner was guided by a whipless Santosh Kumar, who was delighted to win the first race of his career. Neil’s Sunny Baba won the lower division. This four-year-old had caused a huge upset in his last start during Bangalore Summer. His style of running on that day had signalled a return to prime form. He was looking a picture of fitness in the paddock today, and performed according to his known capabilities. Suraj took Sunny Baba to the front and he stayed there till the very end. The heavily backed Marcegalia had no answers to the winner's acceleration. The rest of the field was totally outclassed and finished a long way behind the first two. Ante-post favourite Potential Star ran a pathetic race while finishing in the ruck. She should be left alone this season as she was looking extremely poor in the parade ring. This win gave Suraj his double for the day. He had already ridden Classic Charge to a bloodless victory in an earlier event. For a horse who has seen much better company, today's opposition looked weak. Classic Charge was never off the bridle while cantering away from Scenic Melody and Mr Magic. Warren Singh saddled his first winner of the season. A Run To Remember made a valiant start to finish bid and was lucky to scamper home in front of a late finishing Star News. Apprentice Gautam Raj began to panic as the six-year-old shortened her strides in the closing stages of the race. However, her early advantage proved to be good enough to land the spoils. On the other hand, Star News ran erratically and spoilt all her chances by running green in the straight. The first two races were won by favourites Way To Fantasy and Golden Flowers. The odds-on Way To Fantasy had an easy passage, as his opponents were reluctant to put their best foot forward. The Puttanna trainee won by a widening margin from Secret Girl. On the other hand, Golden Flowers had to work hard for her win. She was flat out to catch the runaway Demanding. To the delight of her backers, Golden Flowers got up in the last 50 metres and nailed the leader much before the winning post.