Ratings hold good

By Sharan Kumar
August 10, 2004

Unlike last year's summer season when the classics threw up a confusing scenario, the 2004 edition has lived up to expectations. Fantabulous King, who was the highest rated three-year old in the country at the beginning of the season, maintained his rating and enhanced his reputation by the ease with which he beat the opposition in the Gr 1 Kingfisher Bangalore Derby. Last year, Glorious Colours won the Derby against the run of expectations and thereafter did not win a single race. The form did not hold good and those who had given greater promise, also did not live up to their reputation.

The decline of trainer Rashid Byramji as a trainer of outstanding merit has been cause for concern. Despite his advancing years, the trainer is hard working but a combination of poor selection of horses and intense competition has affected his performance. Legendary cricketer Vijay Merchant said that one should quit when people ask why and not why not. It was Byramji who himself said that in this profession ``you are only as good as your last winner''. Winners are hard to come by and he has almost completely lost his grip on classics, which is a pity because the trainer has over 200 classic wins to his credit. But then time waits for nobody.

Rashid Byramji 

Just as our eyes need light to see, newer ideas are needed to survive in the ever advancing world and it may be too much of an ask at this point of time. Having said this, one has to qualify it by saying that with great people like Byramji there are no problems and they are only an opportunity to be creative. A strong will can still retrieve the situation

Fantabulous King winner of the Kingfisher Derby, Bangalore (Gr.1) was adjudged the Champion Horse of the Bangalore Summer Season 2004 

Be that as it may, notwithstanding the poor run in the Colts Trial Stakes, Fantabulous King clearly established his superiority over his contemporaries and though the other three-year olds are expected to make good progress by the time the winter season arrives, Fantabulous King should maintain his superiority barring any physical problems coming in the way of it. He has amply demonstrated his class. The rest of the three-year olds are more or less closely matched though there is great deal of hype on Berlioz. Despite winning the Gr 1 Poonawalla Breeders' Multi-Million, Blurr did not enjoy a high rating and the handicapper was proved right in his assessment as the daughter of Glory of Dancer did not pick up a single race during the season.

Interestingly, Fantabulous King is not being rested though the general trend has been for the Summer Derby winners to be rested and brought back fresh for the winter season. However, Fantabulous King who underwent a treadmill test to find out whether he needed an operation for his ``choking'' problem has been cleared to run. The vets who examined him have advised against giving him a break and have asked the connections to exploit him during the monsoon classics. Fantabulous King will be seen in action in the Mysore 2000 Guineas and the Poonawalla Derby. And the conditions at Mysore should suit Fantabulous King who is a free runner. 

Spectacular Quest won the Gr 1 Colts Trial Stakes but was found wanting over the Derby trip. The son of Placerville is blessed with a tremendous turn of foot but has failed to maintain his supremacy over his contemporaries consistently. Star Admiral has been running well without tasting success. His turn may come sooner or later. Full Speed ran a noteworthy third in the Derby and could have gone very close with better saddle assistance. Full Speed has been entered for the Mysore classics. The connections have reportedly resisted a tempting offer to sell him and Full Speed thus has a great deal to live up to. Full Speed is indeed talented but the only worrying factor about him is the fact that he is prone to colic attacks. Twice he had a mild colic problem but he is game fighter. Nothing has deterred him thus far.

Spectacular Quest

Berlioz 

Berlioz advertised his classic potential by the ease with which he came out of the maidens' ranks. Son of Sri Pekan who has had a fair share of success as a stallion, Berlioz is a big made horse and he defies his looks. He ran a blinder of a race in his first outing when he covered acres of ground when finishing second behind Thursday Nite. There was still apprehension in the minds of the connections when he ran for the second time because Berlioz was a poor performer on the track and trainer Padmanabhan had warned the jockey to be vigorous in the early part and not to let him fall back. But Berlioz gave no anxious moments winning as he pleased with a start to finish dash. Padmanabhan thinks highly of this horse that is blessed with a tremendous turn of foot. He was frank enough to say that if any one had asked his opinion prior to Berlioz running his first race, he would have unhesitatingly said that he was one of the poor lots in his yard. Trust a horse to prove everyone wrong!

Quite the highlight of the season has been the sensational performance of Stagecraft who started at the rating of 18 and jumped to 56 in just three outings! One has not seen a horse take such a quantum leap in recent years. Much will be hard of the Dhariwal trainee in the coming months. The other significant performance was that of Michael Eshwer trained River God who at six, showed remarkable form to pick up a hat trick of graded races. The achievement is a great tribute to the training ability of Eshwer who has been doing extremely well over the last few years, ascending the ladder of success quite remarkably.
 

Dr. MAM Ramaswamy leading in Own Vision after she had won the Bangalore St. Leger giving him his 400th classic win and Champion Jjockey Prakash his 1000th winner. Also seen is Champion Trainer Ganapathy.