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| Middle Man tasted a long overdue victory in the lower division of the Delhi Race Club Racing Official Cup here at the races on Friday. Roopendra Singh Shekhawat, who trained the victor, was the lone professional to reach in three, while two Mumbai-based reinmen Dashrath Singh, Nadeem Alam and saddler Irfan Ali booted home double each. Mrs Anita Chauhan's Middle Man, who after figuring second to Cornelia Supra in the class two event on the season's opener, had developed fitness and even leg problem in the very next outing. However, to overcome it, he was kept on preparation. With the time gone by, he came down on scale and was kept out of hunt for almost two months. Meanwhile, the horses with whom he ran had either reached the top class, gone out of form or retired for stud. Seeing the situation turning into his favour, he was alighted to the task. For a moment, racegoers found themselves caught under the trap by the extraordinary previous performance of the Mumbai-schooled Tapis, but soon they recollected their memory when Middle Man was hugely supported by the connections. When Middle Man, under the guidance of jockey Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, broke out quickly for the six-furlongs contest, the rest found no better way but to surrender. The gelding stopped the watch at one minute and 11.47 seconds, may be the second best timing recorded this year after the local living legend Brahmpautra, who has the course record on his name with one minute, 10.19seconds. The gelding should definitely re-reach to the top level. Tapis, being the opening favourite, did not even bother to run near the previous mark despite travelling over the favourable distance and finished third behind Solitary Man. The latter, who was poorly handled during the previous outing, proved that he should have been guided properly. RS Shekhawat’s trainee Ashwa Paddma added extra flavour in the victory of stablemate by lifting the senior division of the cup. The dark bay gelding, who was the first horse of the season to complete a hat-trick, was knocking at the door from the last couple of occasion. Dashrath Singh kept the mount closer to the leader First N Impression before reaching top of the curve. Once after taking up charge, he established such a widening lead over the improving favourite Murban that by the time the latter gathered momentum, he was able to seal the fate of the competition. Dilnawaz, who ran after a long lay off, had received check initially,. but in spite of that managed to keep the late challenge of Zabardast at bay. The run of latter is best ignored. Earlier, Dashrath showed his prowess on Ashwa Shourya, who foiled the start-to-finish bid of Celestial Cat just at the post. Dashrath never allowed the three-year-old maiden gelding to breathe freely en route to victory. The loser has the speed of her dam (Majestic Bay). His mother used to be one of the speediest customers before being retired for breeding. He will be in different shape in the next season. Incidentally, Ashwa Paddma and Ashwa Shourya are also owned by Anita Chauhan. Two Mumbai-schooled Fire Queen and Marmaris ravaged the field in the Nobody Knows Plate and upper division of the Smooth Operation Plate respectively. Interestingly, Nadeem Alam guided the fortune of the victorious duo and that too in a pillar-to-post affair. Irfan Ali-trained horses were the favourite. Real Scotch, who was consistent with performance in the last two outing, eventually got Divine Thunder and Ashwa Pragya at the wire. |
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