A pedigree is what everyone follows. And for those who were familiar with the ancestors of Rabi Kounga, who has now become a top-class runner, knew that his brother Ode To Nature might blossom late. Exactly after 371 days of Rabi Kounga tasting his maiden victory, Ode To Nature showed a clean pair of heels while taking away the Kr Rajendra Singh Memorial Cup in style. However, none of the professionals were able to reach in double mark at the Delhi races on Monday.

Deepak Kalra-trained Ode To Nature, who had been tracking well lately, was unable to deliver the best in the last three outings. But the additional equipment apart from blinker and tongue-strap changed his luck. He improved by leaps and bounds with basket-bit. After stepping out of the block, he was not so keen in the initial furlong, but another furlong saw him improving rapidly from fifth to third on his own at the corner of the final curve. Hansraj and Ashwa Prisha made the headway into the straight, but Ode To Nature (Gaswar -Blue Hen) soon overpowered them. "Actually, he was not responding so well after the jump but suddenly, I don't know what made him to let me only hold the rein and see him scoring," jockey Syeed Amjad Khan told me.

The horse should follow the path of the elder brother. A consistent Ashwa Prisha had to settle with the runner-up berth ahead of the late galloper Lilly, who might score over a little longer distance. The day's opening event, Road To Glory Plate, saw a rank-outsider Dolton Power adopt a start-to-finish bid over the seven-furlong trip. Taking a huge lead over the field bore fruits as by the time favourite Metallika warmed up, the race was in the safe hands of Dolton Power. The run of the Metallika is best ignored. The Northern Troika Plate, which was earmarked for the class II horses, saw a close finish between the CS Jodha-ridden Ka Ching and Blue Lagoon (DK Ashish atop). Ka Ching prevailed. Blue Lagoon might make amends over a similar trip.

The following race, which was the upper division of the Jerwah Plate, got the decider in the similar way. But on this occasion, Ashish's mount The Preatorian was lucky to have a half-a-length advantage over the Jodha-guided Addiction. The latter should not stay away from the winning bracket much longer. In the lower division of the Jerwah Plate, Nucleus managed to foil the pillar-to-post attempt by Star Sparkle. Zulfiqar Khan-saddled Serious Attitude found no threat in leading the way after the break in the Everynsky Plate.