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Suraj had Countess racing up front from the word ‘go’ with the rage of the ring Glamourous Spirit on her flank. Not too far away was Snowberry. Glamourous Spirit closed as the half-money public choice while Countess was available at 6/1. In the straight, Countess kicked on without fuss while the ‘rookie’ Glamorous Spirit was running green. The 5-length verdict was a true measure the winner’s potential while fashionably bred Glamourous Spirit (Razeen-Veena’s Pet) is sure to come on after this run.
The day commenced with Daniel David-trained Flaming Comet putting his best foot forward after a string of failures. The extended trip of 1800 metres suited him to the hilt while the favourite Betelgeuse found the pace of her stablemate Rock Superstar too hot to handle. It was left to SimplyPerfect to issue a challenge in the straight but by then an elated apprentice Md. Sabbani already had the race in the bag.
The Friendly Dancer Handicap saw the afternoon’s most exciting finish. Sephora, Conde Nast and Scorsese crossed the wire locked together. Farley Rodrigues-trained Scorsese never ceases to baffle the opposition when least expected. Surjeet Singh had the mare on her usual start-to-finish mission while Conde Nast issued his challenge on her outside and Sephora hugged the rails in Kishore Kadam’s hands. Sephora headed the front-runner for a short while and looked as if she may pull it off. The trip of six furlongs proved once again to be out of her ambit.
Piping hot on-money favourite Fire Within was the afternoon’s most facile winner as he romped home a clear winner in the Smart Charmer Handicap. The Imtiaz Sait-trained runner was the first of C. Alford’s two winners on this day. One is not quite sure just why Queen of Hearts was accepted to run this race. One hopes the speedy and talented filly doesn’t get burnt out with such frequent entries and failures.
The unluckiest loser of the day was undoubtedly Saddlers Star in the last race, The Aladancer Handicap. She was squeezed out in the 12-horse field and graced the wrong end for the first 400 metres of the five-and-half furlong race. She was then switched to the wide outside, took the turn eight wide and came on gallantly to finish within half-a-length of the winner Foot Tapper. Frequent flier Glory of North failed to take off. Thus, the John Stephens yard once again provided the day’s bombshell. Lucky or not, they deserved it!
