Indiarace.com - india's first & foremost horse racing portal

Aphrodisiac In A Splendid Act

By Mirror Image | 24 Jan 2011 | HYDERABAD


Mrs. Syed Ainuddin Arif, joint owner of Aphrodisiac, receiving The R.M.Reddy Memorial Cup from Mr.N.N.Reddy

After Iaepetus on Sunday, the colours of Dr. Syed Ainuddin Arif were in the forefront on Monday too. His ward Aphrodisiac (Royal Gladiator-Persian Conqueror) lifted the R.M. Reddy Memorial Cup, the main race of the afternoon at Hyderabad. The five runners were closely huddled as they set out over the six-furlong sprint distance, with Splendid Act showing the way followed by Aphrodisiac, Sprucespringstien, Dancing Touch and Tristar. Splendid Act continued to hold fort but started to drift out of the straight course in the final furlong. Aphrodisiac was ridden out by Daniel Grant and the pair managed to get the better of the relentless Splendid Act by half a length.

Jockey P.S. Chouhan, who is on a roll this winter, reached a milestone, riding his fiftieth victory of the season. The fiftieth win did not come easily as he had lost out narrowly in three races earlier in the day, all of them in close finishes. Chouhan rode S. Habeebullah’s Steel Breaker (Puerto Madero-Romantic Adventure) to victory in The Members Cup. Kohinoor Supreme was sent into the race as an unbeatable proposition at 10 to 4 ‘on’, after his runaway win in his previous essay. Kohinoor Supreme brought the field into view on the straight after leading from the start, with Steel Breaker was in chase throughout. Inside the last 100 metres, P.S. Chouhan got Steel Breaker into the right rhythm and started to inch closer with every stride and finally passed the favourite by a ‘neck’ at the wire.

Trainer M.R. Chouhan, who trains Kohinoor Supreme, had some consolation completing a double, with Kohinoor Princes and Kohinoor Aditi. Kohinoor Princess (Epicentre-Svetlana) foiled the start-to-finish bid of Cannon Act, by covering ground in the last 100 metres and winning by a ‘neck’, close to the winning post. Kohinoor Aditi (Conquering Hero-Aspiration) was driven to the front by apprentice G. Sai Vamshi, early in the race and raced away on the straight playing catch me if you can with Palace Affairs. Leo D’Silva walked away with both the divisions of The Gangothri Plate, framed for maiden three-year-olds. Ponte Verdi (Epicentre-Crystal Beauty), who had hit the board in his previous three outings, finally managed to shed his maiden ranks, winning the higher division, the opening race of the day.

Mukhtar set a fast pace in front and led till beaten by Ponte Verdi. Ponte accelerated tremendously when jockey S. John pulled him out and asked for an effort, in the last 150 metres. Moment Of Roses came in late to finish a close third, behind Mukhtar, while the favourite Ben Chocolate was sluggish throughout and ended up fourth. Lake King (Ontario-Cazisa Star) flew in the final stages, from a fifth position and sped past the well-backed favourite Play The Music, to win the lower division. Gossip Girl finished third ahead of Prince Paladin. Evengaline and Zero Tolerance were withdrawn after they refused to move into the gates. L.V.R. Deshmukh’s Xtreme (Senure-Girllon) looked to be a sitter in The Imperial Plate run over 2,200 metres, after her third to String Along, in the Golconda Oaks.

Sitting pretty in about fourth position, behind Dance Baby Dance, Airborne Magic and Star Favours, rounding the final bend, Xtreme made her move in the centre of the track and went past Dance Baby Dance but had to ward off the strong challenge of Divine Ganges. Arya flashed on late to finish a close third. Apprentice P. Venkat rode out Faisal Hassan’s Anguna (Pennine Ridge-Essmeralda Sarnia) to victory in the lower division of The Adler Plate. Victory Signal rallied in fourth position for most part of the home stretch and picked up speed late to finish second, pushing back Classic Ruby and Sprint Champ in a close finish. Trainer K.S.V. Prasad Raju, who has been having a relatively lean season, pulled off a successful one, in the higher division of The Mossy Banks Plate, the concluding race of the day. Genius Queen (Epecentre-Annella) set out in front from the start and stretched out on the straight in the hands of P.B. Beggy. Chashme Badur, Royal Quest and Eloquence finished second, third and fourth respectively in a close finish.