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| Trainer Z Darashah's ward Our Little Savage put up a resolute performance while annexing The Thungabhadra Cup, the feature event in Wednesday's race card at Mysore. Carrying the top weight of 63 kgs., he made most of the running and was seen being eased up near the winning post. This compact looking four year old had made a brilliant impression in the early part of his racing career, and was accordingly taken to Delhi to participate in the local Derby at that centre. He had met with interference in that race, despite which, Our Little Savage had run very close to the eventual winner. His trainer decided to retain him in Mysore for the winter season and this worked out perfectly for his connections. Although there were a dozen participants in Wednesday's race, most of them were unable to match strides with him. His top weight, as well as a history of bursting a blood vessel in one of his starts, was enough for the bookmakers to offer generous odds against him in this race. Gnaneshwar was quick to seize the initiative and took Our Little Savage to the front in the early stages of this race. The speedy Windsor Square and Laguna Blue were in close attendance, while the others were finding it difficult to keep pace with the frontrunners. It was easy sailing thereafter, as the favourite lengthened his strides and ran away from the field. Gnaneshwar was able to relax his hold on him and have a peep over his shoulder. Evanston came with a long stretch run to take the second spot ahead of a tiring Laguna Blue. Our Little Savage shall be moved back to Bangalore to continue his racing career in Class I. The afternoon's racing produced many shocking results. Apprentice Himanshu blotted his copybook by riding a couple of poor races on piping hot favourites Destiny's Wish and Victory Queen. Both these runners had finished second in their previous starts and looked good in their respective events. Destiny's Wish, who was backed to the exclusion of her opponents, was seen trailing the field in the backstretch. Himanshu made no apparent effort to improve the position of his mount, and came the widest of all as they straightened for home. Destiny's Wish improved with each stride and was unlucky to lose this race. The favourite finished a very close third behind Prettyyashyashvini and Vertical Limit. In another race, Victory Queen was travelling a handy third behind Amelia Cordell and Champions League as they took the rising ground. There was a huge gap between the frontrunners, and Himanshu had all the chances to save ground while taking this obvious path. He chose to produce the mare on the wide outside before essaying her challenge. Victory Queen devoured ground thereafter, but was a 'neck' shy of Champions League at the finish. The winner gave Gnaneshwar and Darashah their double for the day. Champion's League is reported to have burst a blood vessel during the race. Himanshu was successful on Rakesh trained Final Frontier, who got a dream opening on the rails and came through a closely packed field in a seven furlong race for horses in Class III. Final Frontier had been given gate practice a couple of days ago, and that exercise had apparently been a great help in sharpening him up for today's race. There was strong support for Super Strike, but that turned out to be misplaced. Super Strike was prominent till the turn before retiring from the fray. Worth A Million produced a strong gallop in the closing stages and ran on to finish second ahead of favourite Greek Ship. The upper division of this race was won by Secret Fury. Ride and Shine and Tantrik were strongly fancied, but both of them were out of depth in this event. Tantrik showed that he is more suited over a sprint, when he packed up near the 200 metres marker. Ride And Shine was seen to be flatfooted throughout the race. N M Khan rode a rare winner when he brought Secret Fury with a flourish and ran away from a late finishing Briannsta. Demanding was in the lead for most of the way before he drifted out and lost his chances. He still managed to finish a close third. Another surprise in the day's card was sprung by the unheralded Collateral. This horse is known to be a sprinter, and today's distance of a mile was supposed to be beyond his capabilities. The allowance claimed by apprentice Vijay seemed to have worked wonders for him, as Collateral came with a flourish and downed the colours of Star Of Paradise near the winning post. Fancied Veda Priya cut pace with the speedy Midsummer Star, and lost all his chances before entering the straight. Buddy came from the rear of the field and ran an impressive third. The day ended on a bright note for the punters, as Looking To Lead managed to put his head in front near the post, and win the last race of the day. The only odds-on favourite in the eight event card, Looking To Lead was finding it difficult to overtake the speedy Mint Royal till well into the straight. Just as he managed to wrest the initiative, he was challenged by All Round. To the relief of his many supporters, Looking To Lead was able to keep going and won in a three way finish from All Round and Mint Royal. |
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