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| Bourbon King |
Rio Bravo is generally playful while being loaded, and in the past, handlers have had to coax him into the gates. His innermost draw today saw him being loaded ahead of the other runners. He walked in quietly and stood motionless as the other runners were being boxed. To the dismay of his many supporters, Rio Bravo was left in the starting gates as the field was despatched from the seven furlong marker. Holding Court made the early running and led into the straight before retiring from the fray. He was participating in an actual race after a gap of more than a year, and with this forward run under his belt, Holding Court should be a different proposition in his future starts. Aurelian and Vanquish, who were racing close behind him, took over and flattered briefly before Bourbon King arrived on the scene. Prakash put him in top gear and this magnificent horse responded bravely. Making light of the heavy impost, he drew away from the rest. It was left to Lionheart, who actually happened to be the oldest horse in the field, to essay his challenge and take the third spot ahead of Vanquish and Southern Empire. Rio Bravo was a distance behind the second-last horse near the home turn, before he started to gallop and went past a lot of tired horses. He eventually ran a fair sixth and will be too good to miss in his next assignment. Bourbon King is back in business and should be difficult to beat in terms races to be run over middle distances later in the season.
The day's racing commenced with the first two year old race of the season. Four out of the seven runners belonged to the biggest owner at this centre, and the presence of champion jockey Prakash on Misty Moonlight made her a hot favourite in this race. The bookmakers offered a measly 30/100 on this Ganapathy trained filly, and expected her to run way from the others. What ultimately transpired on the track was totally different to what was expected. Samar Singh's Idar Princess was eased into an early lead in this sprint, and quickened nicely when Rajesh asked her to do so. She skipped away for an effortless victory over Ganapathy's other runner Star Assembly and Rashida. Misty Moonlight ran a pathetic race and finished down the field. It was another expensive lesson for racegoers to be wary of supporting short priced two year olds in their first career starts.
The Kunigal Trophy was the other trophy event held during the afternoon. In an open betting race, trainer Irfan Ghatala was delighted to see his two wards Cannavaro and Sugar Blaze electrifying the stands. Sugar Blaze was prominent behind Panchakshari and Southerner, before Shiva Kumar seized the initiative and pushed her into the lead. Sugar Blaze seemed to have it all sewn up, before Cannavaro shot through the chasing pack, and got up on the last stride to emerge victorious. River Island had all the chances, but could do no better than finish a close third ahead of Callista and favourite Andronicus. Most of the horses involved in this close finish are capable of winning an age group race later in the season.
Michael Eshwer's three year old Edmondo was an easy winner of a seven furlong race in Handicap Company. He was racing against nine opponents of his own age, and was giving chunks of weight to most of them. He ultimately proved to be too good for them as he drew away from a hard ridden Supreme Splendour. The runner-up was the only one to have won a race earlier in his career amongst this bunch of maiden three year olds. The others in this race ran poorly, and most of them will have to wait a while before entering the winner's enclosure.
A Class B race saw a dead field of ten runners taking part in that event. The open nature of this race was reflected in the odds displayed on the boards. Aspiring Seven was the only one amongst them who was blessed with initial speed. He was accordingly seen heading the field at 4/1. Gaurav Sapra pushed him to the front, and led Amazing Flora and the rest into the straight. It was evident that Aspiring Seven was tiring and the apprentice was finding it tough to keep him going, but the opposition was so poor that all of them were seen to be plodding. The winning post came to the rescue of the leader, as three horses were locked together near the finish. Aspiring Seven was declared the winner ahead of Classic Movements and Amazing Flora. In another close finish, Event Horizon was able to keep his nose ahead of Shisham in the last race of the afternoon. The two of them fought a grim battle for most of the way, before Ashok Kumar made use of his stick on the winner and beat Shisham near the winning post. Southern Magic got up in time to save place money ahead of Prayatna.
