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Noble Guest Is In Irresistible Form

By Pearcey | 05 Sep 2008 | MYSORE


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Last outing winner Noble Guest defied the huge penalty imposed by the handicapper and cantered away with The RWITC Cup, the feature event in Friday's race card at Mysore. After being winless for more than a year, Noble Guest had come out and blown away the opposition in a Class III event over seven furlongs held about three weeks ago. The handicapper had been impressed by that effort and raised his rating by 21 points. Trainer Puttanna decided to run him in today's feature which was over a sprinting distance. It was perhaps the shorter trip combined with the stiff penalty, which saw the bookmakers offer a surprising 8/1 aginst him. There was fair support for the Foley trained Falling in Love who reached the starting gates as a clear favourite to win this race. Regal Music and Easy were the other two runners to corner some stray support. The race was run at a fast pace with Special Force bolting to the front and opening up a handy lead over Clueless Puzzle, Easy, Falling in Love and Snob Value while the rest of the runners were bunched up at the rear end of the field. The front runner shot his bolt near the bend and suddenly we had a new leader. Clueless Puzzle seemed to have a firm grip on this race and was galloping resolutely ahead of a hard ridden Easy and Falling in Love. Prakash was trying his best on the favourite but was finding nothing extra in the tank. It was at this very stage that Krishnan weaved his was through a tightly packed bunch and brought Noble Guest into contention.Once the horse saw daylight, he galloped resolutely. The race ceased to be a contest thereafter, as Noble Guest showed tremendous acceleration and sailed away to win by a widening margin of more than five lengths.Clueless Puzzle kept his second place while Falling In Love was able to nose out Easy and save place money. Noble Guest is in irresistible form and can definitely score again in his present condition. Puttanna deserves credit for the terific performances of Noble Guest. The supporting event in the day's card was The Chettinad Stud Gold Cup, which was split into two divisions. Trainer Michael Eshwar held a strong hand in both these races and was ultimately able to lead-in the winners in both of them. The upper division saw Milford making mince meat of the opposition, as he won by a street from the heavily whipped duo of Cimmaron and Badda Rupaiyya. Milford was unlucky to lose in his last start in Bangalore, and was able to reproduce that good form today. Huge money was wagered on Cimarron ,but that was obviously misplaced. The lower division saw one-sided support for the Prakash ridden Star Summit, while Read My Mind and Surprise Package had a few supporters. Star Summit refused to raise a gallop at any stage of the race and finally finished off the board. Read My Mind was taken on a star-to-finish mission by Appu , and although the filly was challenged near the distance post by a hard ridden Surprise Package, she found a bit extra and kicked away in the end to win comfortably. Friendless Alinski came with a late run to take third ahead of the early leader Seasons Greetings. Three firm favourites in the morning trade were withdrawn as the day progressed .Southern Magic was withdrawn before racing commenced for the day. Chocolate Brownie was backed by all and sundry, but was fractious in the gates and reared up awkwardly as the field was about to be despatched. Apprentice Gaurav Sapra was hurt and taken away on a stretcher. The horse was withdrawn before coming under starter's orders. The boy did not fulfill his other riding engagements for the day. The third horse to be withdrawn was the half-money Edmondo from Eshwer's stable. This three year old apparently bolted while being led from the stables towards the saddling area. The first two races of the day were reserved for horses in the lowest class. The opening event saw an easy victory for the top weighted Miss Marvelous. She made all the running and the three kilo allowance claimed by Sapra came in handy.With the withdrawl of the on-money favourite Chocolate Brownie, the second race became a total minefield. With King Of Good Times leading into the straight and packing up, it was left to rank outsiders Wonder Splendour and Roulette King to fight it out. Monappa trained Wonder Splendour surprised the racegoers by winning at 25/1. In a sprint race reserved for older horses stationed at Mysore, Golden Kiss got her opportunity and seized it impressively. Rajesh was able to settle her in fifth place behind the early leaders Dom Perignon,Son Of Fortune and Glint Revelation as the horses straightened for home. Finding a big opening through the centre of the pack, Golden Kiss was good enough to take it and won with a measure of comfort. Much More came the widest of all to take the second spot. Glint Revelation stayed on to be third. Trainer Monappa was able to complete a double for the day when Always For You lasted out to hold a stiff challenge from Running Man. Jockey Koch kept him going to win by a short head. The hot favourite for this race was the Suraj Narredu ridden Clouseau. Clouseau was unable to raise a fluent gallop and gave up without a fight. He was able to finish a fair third. However,there was quick compensation for the connections of Clouseau, when, with the withdrawl of Edmondo, Suraj's mount Superlativo was installed as the public choice in the last race of the day and won without raising a fuss. Superlativo was able to catch the frontrunning Xel near the distance post, and skip away from her. Veda Priya ran erratically and finished a close third. The last named needs to be given time to mature. Trainers Michael Eshwer and Monappa joined jockey Appu in sharing the professional honours, and scoring a double each on a day when the horses from the stables of leading trainer Robert Foley drew a blank.