Sense of Style upset the calculations in the Class I Battle For Honour Plate held on Wednesday in Delhi. That day the first juvenile race of the country was also conducted.
within a close proximity of 24 hours, and another bunch of top-class runners was sent out for the sprints distance. Like Dedication, a bay gelding Sense of Style left the viewers and listeners with their fingers crossed. Sitting fifth behind Glory of North, Image To Remember, Insaaf and Taurian till turn, Sense of Style improved a little as the first named retired. At the last 100 m marker, Insaf, Image To Remember and Taurian were seen fighting it out for the head before Sense of Style put up a scintillating run from the widest of them and succeeded in passing the post ahead of them. Taurian, who finished third in the Sprinters Cup, found his half a body behind the winner, and further identical distance behind was Image To Remember, who displaced Insaaf into fourth place by a whisker.
Sense of Style, who was sitting pretty well on handicap, was lighter in weight of 14.5 kilos from Taurian and 14 kilos from Image To Remember and that made all the difference at the post. He should be followed up to the mile. Though Taurian once again failed to taste victory, but his capability is well-known. Later or sooner, he would strike. The run of Image To Remember should be ignored as she was never allowed to run freely by Insaaf in the straight and earlier by Adorable and Glory of North. Insaaf, who had developed a gate problem in the previous outing, was unsteady in the gate. He tried to duck under the gate twice and even apprentice rider Jaiprakash received a slight injury on his leg during the race. In spite of that, he rode the filly brave-heartedly and was almost in a position to stake a claim. The filly has come to hands and should be followed over the longer trip over which she had scored.
A card of six races had the first event for the nine juveniles and the level of curiosity about their performance was high. As they broke out, Beauty of Man stepped out first and remained on top while retiring despite running zigzag in the straight. Saksham Babe finished second ahead of the late finishing Golden Gun, who was the stablemate and ownermate of the eventual winner. The trio has the better prospect.
Picking up momentum from the Sail Away Plate (Tuesday), Barchetta showed a clean pair of heels helping her jockey Jai Prakash to open his account. Barchetta took the full advantage of handicap of 16 kilos against Snow Deer, who ran on to be second. Miss Crystal was alerted late on the scene to get the third place.
The upper division of the Air Head Quarter Plate saw a nail-biting finish between four horses. Finally, it was yet another apprentice jockey Irfanula Khan (Absolute Faith) who found the photo-finish camera giving him an upper hand over Yale, Striving Higher and Kilspindie. The quartet was separated by short-head only. Absolute Faith, who came from fourth place, galloped very late but in time. Kilspindie's jockey K Narender seemed to have been confused about the making of run during the crucial stages of the race. Otherwise the result would have been different. Striving Higher, who was on the verge of making a back-to-back double in two days going all out from the word "go", shifted out under the pressure in the straight and that was main cause of his defeat. Yale should make amends.
In the absence of two horses (Command Zone and Endless Srides being withdrawn on veterinary grounds), Desert Falcon got upperhand in the Veterinary Hospital Plate. Running third behind Sinead and favourite Bismark, Ramandeep who was in the saddle of Desert Falcon made no mistake to launch an assault on the leaders from top of the final curve, and lastly shut the door on Sinead. Bismark failed to oblige even in a second burst of speed finishing close third.
The Mig-231 Plate (1,200 m) saw Daggers Point creating the havoc. Daggers Point, who is termed as a slow galloper, was never rested by jockey M Shahid, who replaced jockey GS Shekhawat. Shahid forced the mount to step into leaders boot with more than 300 m still in balance. Go and Sangreal had nothing to offer but to play the role of onlookers finishing second and third respectively. Sangreal should be followed.
