The Octogonal Trophy was easily won by the Irfan Ghatala-trained Dinesa at Mysore on Thursday. This sprint event for horses in the highest class saw 12 runners facing the starter with Hyacinth cornering most of the betting. This ward of Prasanna Kumar had good credentials in terms of performances and recent form, and combined with the fact that most of the earlier six races in the day had been won by long priced horses, the punters went nap on Hyacinth. On the other hand, the speedy Dinesa was available at 15/1 because of her dismal performance in her only ran at Bangalore less than two weeks ago. Irfan is known to transform his horses in short periods of time, and this was another example of the same. Dinesa's run in the days feature left many old-timers spellbound.
The race started with Hyacinth and Fire Brigade jumping out smartly, but Denisa soon passed them. Apprentice Vinod Shinde did not have to do much except to make sure that he rode a well-balanced race on his mount. He seemed to be messing it up when Dinesa led into the straight and started to shift outwards. It took quite an effort from this young lad to keep her from going onto the outer sand, but then, she was so much superior to her rivals that she cantered away from the field. Hyacinth and Fire Brigade finished a fair distance behind the winner while the rest of the field was totally outclassed. Dinesa shall move back to racing in class I company at Bangalore and it shall be interesting to watch her progress.
The day’s racing was dominated by long priced horses winning most of the events. The trend was established in the very first race itself when Secret Moment with a rating of minus one, was seen going away from the rest. The day’s card had been framed in such a way that the first four races were meant for horses in the lowest class. Analika, Father's Glory and Born Purple won the next three. There was not much to say about these victories except a masterstroke by trainer Sharat Kumar in the third race. His charge Father's Glory had been carefully brought down to this class and he declared jockey N Imam to ride him in the said race. Since nobody can really remember when this jockey last won a race, Father's Glory was available at fancy odds. A while before the start of this race, there was an announcement about Imam being indisposed. To cut a long story short, Sharat Kumar declared P Krishna to ride Father's Glory, backed this horse down to clear first favouritism and was soon sighted leading him into the winner's enclosure. It would be interesting to check with the Mysore Race Club's doctor about what actually happened to N Imam. It is a bad precedent to set, and unless checked, we may see many more trainers resorting to similar tactics.
The punter's problems were further compounded by nature. Most race cards and racing pundits had tipped Appu-ridden Suleman Pasha as the day’s best betting proposition. This Pradeep-trained gelding was accordingly backed down to 70/100 and was seen cantering on the heels of front running Pure Gold as the field started negotiating the bend. Jagadeesh astride Pure Gold pulled out his stick and started increasing his lead while Appu was seen struggling on the favourite. Forever Grande and Time Is Life were seen running into place money, while Appu was noticed pulling up Suleman Pasha as he dismounted even before passing the winning post. It was later announced that he had bled through his nostrils.
The followers of Pradeep and Appu were again on the backfoot when they backed Romantic Design. This last outing winner was seen struggling to match strides with Everblazing, who had taken over the running on the wide outside as heads turned for home. Romantic Design finished second ahead of Millenium Force who was bidding for his hat-trick for the season. Everblazing is a very steady performer and seems to win a race for his master every six months.
A sprint race for horses in class IV was split into two divisions. The upper division was won by the recently demoted Dare You Say who had run third in the higher class in his previous outing. This front-runner had no problems as the joint favourite in this event. Victory Queen lost a distance at the start. Dare You Say, in the hands of an apprentice boy, made all the running and easily held on from a hard-ridden Lanzarote and Glint Revelation. The lower division saw the Hyderabad import Time To Sparkle come with a long stretch run and nail Red Emblem at the post. This horse had run a dozen times in Mysore without touching the board. The punters cannot be faulted for ignoring him in the betting ring.
The day ended just the way it started. Rank outsider Advocate General skirted the field round the bend and sped away for an easy victory over the well-fancied duo of Worth A Gold and Activisto in this seven-furlong trip. Trainer Sharat Kumar was the only professional to have a double for the day.
