Pune Derby field had a mere rating of 55.

It was not even a Pure Class 3 field which stands at 40-70. So don't expect much from these horses, specially the outstationed ones (Knotty Ash and Desparado).

The only horse that comes into reckoning is Excellent.

2000M was not his distance. He is best at a Mile and will prove his worth in the 2000 Guineas during the Mumbai Season.

WATCH OUT FOR HIM.

As for Pioneer, he has the PUNE Derby Stamp on him now which is considered UNLUCKY. But you never know. I would prefer him in distance races i.e. 1800M and above. Hope he does well in these races.

Observe the two rides:

A Sandesh on TILL END OF TIME .. simply cruising...Class , majestic and stylish ride..

P TREVOR on PIONEER.... JATKA WALA would have shown some mercy, but TREVOR was cruel and simply whipped poor PIONEER till winning post.

These two rides will clearly depict the quality of the horses.

@ HUNTER.... i never commeneted on arshad alam gave a bad ride or good....what iam saying is just dont be too harsh on the young lad........this will kill his confidence    resulting in another vivek kind of a jockey........arshad is a good rider.......he will improve from here.......as far as you loosing money........its a neverending punters story........may be arshad lost the race bcoz you played the horse.....may be your w not destined to make money from desperado.....and your bad luck eventually resulted in the horse lsoing the race ...

@Godzilla, In case of End of The Time, it was the quality of the horse. Any jockey could have ridden him and won.

In case of Pioneer, it was primarily the quality of the jockey. However the horse had to have it in him to keep fighting. And not to forget the racing tactics devised by the trainer..

Sir, Hunter is right,derb isn't riding school,13 whip lashes by Trevor,3 by tyro arshad,cruising ride by sandesh (p.c race) are part of racing,thoug t grand stand jockeys can have their say as itsi public money not big owners who run race clubs.

P Trevor whipped Pioneer 13 times to get him past winning post,  Deperado didn't have his day.  Another face off between Desperado & Pioneer, I think former would have a bold say.... though its too early to say , one should see how these two progress, but whether the jinx would be broken ... i.e. Pune Derby winner is hardly sighted in Mumbai big races. Knowing Mallesh so well, Pioneer may start favourites in Mum & may fizzle out of frame even.... whereas Desperado may win a big race in Bangalore....

@abbas, The Derby is not a riding school, wherein a poor jockey will take down my money while he is learning to ride in a big race. Sorry, I cannot agree with you. It is expected that in classics, every horse which participates shall be afforded the best possible saddle assistance. Desperado was a clear winner and trainer's and owners' misplaced loyalties cost them a prestigious race. Like Yash Narredu keeps losing races for his pa.

I WENT THROUGH ALL THE COMMENTS AND ITS SHAME EVEN THE EXPERIENCED PUNTERS HERE SPEAK POORLY ABOUT ARSHAD ALAM........WE MUST ENCOURAGE THE POOR CHAP....I GOT A RARE CHANCE TO RIDE A DERBY...HE DID HIS BEST...IT WASNT SIMPLY HIS DAY.....LOSING DOESNT MEAN HE INCAPABLE RIDER OR LACK ZEST FOR BIG RACES......WE MUST LEARN TO ENCOURAGE JOCKEYS WHO BIG RIDED RARELY.......THE GREATEST JOCKEY OF MY TIME..B PRAKASH LOST INDIAN DERBY ON 2 OF THE GREATES HORSES EVER..MYSTICAL AND SOUTHERN EMPIRE.....THIS DOESNT MAKE HIM A LESSER RIDER......NO JOCKEY BEFORE AND AFTER HIM CAN RIDE THEY WAY HE RODE SWEEPING SUCESS IN THE INDIAN DERBY AGAINST THE MIGHT MICK KINANE SPEALS VOLUMES ABOUT HIS CALIBER......ARSHAD ALAM MUST BE GIVEN ANOTHER CHANCE.

a below average horse knotty ash who previously lost by 3 lengths to an average horse horse mr handsome comes 2nd in pune derby by a verdict of neck purely on the merit of the impeccable riding of akshay kumar and to my surprise people in this forum are complaining or suggesting him to learn how to ride in classic races.grow up akshay kumar is anytime better than sandesh or trevor,he just needs the backing of big owners.

I felt if jockey Akshay had changed the whip from left to right the gap would not have appeared for Pioneer to shoot through.I do not know why S.John who was giving trackwork to Knotty ash wasn't engaged to ride the horse.Desperado had a bad day.

Desperado lost and there is nothing  to complain about it.  Arshad did well with in himself, this is how they gona learn, even after loosing on Desperado I admire Neil for giving ride to Arshad, if you don't ride in Grade races you never gona get temperament to handle big races. These races are for token bets so u can appreciate the winner in the end. 

I agree with Godzila here that they did not empress much, the way they were struggling  it's hard to imagine them taking on Sir CECIL. 

WINTER SEASON GONA HAVE SOME REALLY GOOD MILERS  BEYOND THAT,  WELL YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE.  

Superb riding by Trevor, one can depend on him for classics races. He can read the pace of horse at particular distance in the final stage and gives his best with horse and jockey Combination.how ever arshad and akshay kumar needs more experience from pune circuit even though they have given their best effort. 

He is Hyderabad Akshay 

@ Nila and Mavi,

He is Akshay Kumar from Hyderabad.  He rode a superb race on Lincoln too.

Your Cole and Bol have given a wrong name.  I told many punters at Pune yesterday. 

Regards

Virgorau.

Even with Akshay, Desparado should have won.  O K.  Trevor is too  smart and Arshad Alam has a lot to learn and requires at least 10 more years to be equal to him.  But, no excuse for surrendering runner up berth to Knotty Ash.

What next?  Mumbai Derby??  Sir Cecil is there.  Desperado can safely forget Invitation cup races also.  There was a good chance yesterday.  Darashah has been taught a good lesson.  There were just too many jockeys at Pune far better than Arshad.  For good or bad, Darashah could have asked them to ride Desperado.

640/-.  Yes you heard it right.  That was the forecast paid on Knotty ash.  I am sure forecast would not have crossed 80 if Desperado finished 2nd.

That was Akshay Kumar not Akshay as pointed by few Friends, Bol n few racing book printed the name  wrong n was announced during the race time the change in the jockey name, Knotty Ash n Lincoln both were ridden by Akshay Kumar not Akshay, thanks

pioneer did not win trevors whip won the race for him in the last 400 meters trevor whipped close 15 times as he had ground to  make up both desperado and knotty ash jockies  whipped their horses 4 times if the horse was whipped so many times shouldnt action be taken and horse be disqualified for whipping more than the specific limit or dont keep any limits lets see what authorities do suspend trevor for 2 days bury the thing in the carpet  will authorities have the courage? 

He is Akshay kumar of HYDERABAD he gave tWo great rides in PUNE both on LINCOLN and KNOTTY ASH

@ sc sharma miss u for a big day..

Agree Jadoo...

Instead of Arshad even PS Chouhan can won this race... yesterday jockey played major role... I qoute pionner is hidden horse so go with pioneer but  i played DESPERADO intsted of pioneer.

P Trevor again proved that BAP BAP HOTA HAI.....hats of you hard rider. 

In pune derby Akshay kumar from Hyderabad. 

yestrday LINCOLN and KNOTTY ASH was ridden by Akshay Kumar of Hyderabad only this is 100% confrom .

Hunter/SC Sharma

I agree with both of you. That was an awesome and risky ride by 
Trevor. If Knotty Ash tried and closed the gap along the rails, Trevor would have lost.

Still AK has to learn how to beat oppenents with jockeys strategy.

Desperado is the best horse compared with Pioneer and Knotty Ash I still maintain. Poor Arshad lacks big race temperment.

Two things I noticed from Pune Derby:

1. The Winner clocked 2..4.024 timing for the derby distance of  2000 mtrs which any Class IV can clock.

Whereas Ruffina the Class I horse broke the Race record by clocking 1 mt 7 sec for 1200 mtrs. That means the turf condition was amazingly fast. In that case Pioneer and Company should have covered the distance less than 2 mts. That was not the case.

2. The morning odds for Desparado was Evens. During Race time, the odds went upto 18/10. That means many including connections have not backed Desperado. Even indiarace.com did not tip Desperado.

Can you guys clarify me in a polite manner about the Race without getting irritated. My questions will be certainly irritating, but I cannot blindly like to be a YES MAN.

It was Akshay Kumar champion from hydrabad ...not Akshay from Pune ...I was at Pune race course to witness it.

Superb riding skills from Trevor Patel congrats to him and Mallesh..

Akshay Kumar is undoubtedly brilliant rider lots of reserve in him we will witness more winning from this champion ..

Hello Guy's,

Desperado is the best horse ???? I have my doubts, 

Pioneer is not an ordinary one either, it has always finished well in the last 50-100 mts and let me tell you ,he was the choosen one, if given a chance and if "M.Narredu" wants to win, Pioneer will defeat Desperado...

Arshad Alam is a good jockey and Neil is also a good trainer , they have done nothing wrong in this race , all though the three have almost the same timing in their respective 1600 mts race, the best horse one , 

Let's not criticize , they are professional and they know what is best .....Cheers

PiinPio v/s Desperado__ Hunter:  You analysed the race very correctly and highlighted facts about jockeyship which made all the difference. At one stage Pioneer was struggling to pass but Trevor's judgement and confidence and nodieing efforts and coming from inside paid him the dividends. If the trio meet again with different riders it can be anyone's race. Keep posting such write-ups.

Sir, He is not akshay kumar from Hyderabad. He is pesi shroff's stable rider - Akshay.

Spot on. It was quite a close finish and these is where the jockeyship comes to play. Trevor Patel rode a brilliant race, though I would not blame Arshad Alam as he rode as per his calliber. This is where good classic temperament is needed, and I guess YS Srinath on desperado would have turned the tables

If it's up to a mile he will bet him again 

that's not akshay Kumar it's akshay from Mumbai wala