The fifteenth day of the on-going Delhi racing season witnessed four close finishes in a card of six. Saksham Babe, Super Trooper, Black Hawk and Empeachment were the survivors.
Season’s second juvenile race - Indo Tibetan Border Police Jammu and Kashmir Plate - saw Saksham Babe come out of the maiden status over the five furlongs. Breaking out third behind Insane and So Far So Good, she looked to be struggling till the distance post. Suddenly, she gained momentum to get three-parts-of-a-body length better of So Far So Good, a few yards before the post. Strides of the filly, who was earlier the runner up to Beauty of Man, is suitable for the longer trip.
On the other hand, a lack of racing run put the daughter of Case Law and Arabian Shuttle - So Far So Good - to play the second fiddle. She should make amends. Insane, half sister to "Go" and who finished third, dislodged the jockey K Narender, who was unable to fulfil his engagement for the rest of the way, in the retiring area. Since she was detected badly hurt, she was later put to sleep on humanitarian ground. Choice Own, who finished fourth, should not be ignored.
The lower division of the feature event - Indo Tibetan Border Police Cup - found an easy winner. Working quickly on the word "Go", El Dorado did not even break sweat over the sprint's distance. The conqueror is undoubtedly one of the speediest customers hailing from the yard of Aleem Khan, who is closing in on the elite group of the saddlers, who have saddled more than 1,000 winners. Sam Aldo was the best among the rest.
Super Trooper earned a laurel for his owner-cum-trainer Roopendra Singh Shekhawat. Under the guidance of jockey Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, nephew to Roopendra, the eight-year-old chestnut was in the fifth position before the frontrunners, except the torch bearer Clean Bowled, bowed down one after another before the final furlong. He crossed the final hurdle of Clean Bowled, but it was Fast Dose, who was being handled by jockey Dilip Singh in place of K Narender, who put in every thing into the last sprint to spoil his celebrations but failed by a length. Fast Dose could have turned the table over the eventual winner, if he had not made an out-wide run after the jump.
Syed H Abbas-trained Black Hawk heaved a sigh of relief after registering a narrow victory over the fast finishing Arabian Tiger in the senior division of the Indo Tibetan Border Police Cup. Sitting second till top of the corner, apprentice jockey Irfan Ali pushed his mount to have a commanding lead before Shadab-ridden Arabian Tiger came to cut off the margin of victory to mere half-a-length. It was an overdue victory for Black Hawk and incidentally, Irfan also opened his account. Swing Lucky, who finished late third, is worth following.
Jockey R Parvesh did not let the race goers miss out the presence of jockey K Narender in the saddle of Last N Impression. Tucked in second behind Snow Deer, he was forced to assume control over the field before the bend. The favourite, Just Like A Woman, was unable to deliver her best at the time of need.
Following the footsteps of jockey R Parvesh, Dilip Singh, who was engaged to ride in place of K Narender on Empeachment, tamed Dream Debut in the concluding event. The latter's jockey Irfan Ali had raised an objection against Dilip's Empeachment for hampering his way between 300 m and 200 m, but was turned down. Overcoming the mishap, Irfan made a tremendous effort to stop Empeachment from reaching the top of the ladder but half of the body of the latter had already crossed the winning post. Spicy Move, who came from the hind group, finished an impressive third after meeting with an interference in the straight and spending precious time for getting a clear path along the fence. She should win soon.
