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| The La Ditta crystal Trophy, on paper, seemed a tough race with more than half the field of 15 runners having good credentials to land the spoils. The main market fancies were Romantic Impact (9/4) and Secret Glory (13/4) going to post. Romantic Impact bolted when they reached the gates and was withdrawn. Medtias Pride shot into the lead and had Sea Gull, Spitz (Warrshan – Aquatic Wonder) close behind with Highland Bounty, Encouragement and Top Action not too far away. Secret Glory and Giannatassio were badly positioned and paid heavily for this blemish. Medtias Pride came in homewards enjoying a handy lead. Sea Gull went all out and just as they passed the 400 Metres, Samuel Fargeat got Spitz to accelerate. The bay colt owned by Dr SC Jain, Mr. JM Patel & Mr. Vivek Jain and bred at the Ruia Stud, bolted in a trice and established a winning lead past the distance post. Fargeat, however, kept goading him till the end taking no chances whatsoever. Spitz, saddled by Zadmal Singh, won by a good 4 1/4 L. Medtias Pride ended a determined second while Highland Bounty wrested the third spot from a fighting Sea Gull. Secret Glory can blame the luck of the race as she never got going and even in the homestretch was widest out - closer to the outer railing. Giannatassio did relatively better and finished on beating a few horses coming from the tail end of the field to finish one off the frame. All eyes were on Juventus (Glory of Dancer – Flying Home), bred at the Nanoli Stud, who has earned quite a reputation among the Classic aspirants. Will he emulate his sibling Hotstepper -winner of the McDowell Indian Derby 2008? Well, he did his reputation no harm and compiled a fluent, clinical victory, clinching the Mathradas Goculdas Trophy in great style. Sitting well in touch of the leaders, Juventus pounced on the front runners and then tore away from the pack with giant strides. He was devouring the turf at a brisk pace and clocked the fastest timing of the new season 1:10.76 – under half a second off the course record (1: 10.33) for 1200 metres, without being extended! Juventus' breeder/owner Mr. F. Rattonsey was visibly pleased with this show as was veteran trainer S S Shah. Speaking to Indiarace.com, Mr. Rattonsey said "Yes, Juventus won very well and I have every reason to feel delighted. We did expect him to win comfortably. Danny (Grant) told me post race that he had still something left and that he galloped fluently, finding a good rhythm from the start. That was heartening to know". Asked what the next assignment for Juventus would be, Mr. Rattonsey said "We will straight away take a crack at the Indian 2000 guineas next. After his show over the mile race, we will sit together and take a call on his future prospects. We are not looking too far ahead". About Juventus' staying ability, he added "he won the Shapoorji Breeders' Juvenile Colts Championship (Gr 3) (1600m) in Mumbai last, so up to a mile he has proved himself. Hotstepper got the Derby trip and being a full brother I can only feel optimistic that he will stay" he concluded sounding content and pretty confident. Aquilo was an eye-catching second despite a rather lethargic start. He kept improving and in the straight, simply collared the big field and only Juventus remained elusive. The old timer is evidently running into good form and I won't be surprised if he pulls a surprise during the season. Star Always (Senure – Lone Star) was sizzling right through to clinch the A. Cambell Trophy keeping all and sundry at bay. Joining The Brave Heart soon on start, Star Always the duo matched strides for most of the early part of the race. However, at the business end, Star Always shifted gears and moved ahead quickly opening a widening gap. Premier Perception, who was not too far from the front running pair, appeared to get closer but Star Always kicked on out of reach. Premier Perception was all out but found the winner too good. Born To Lead ended a decent third. Star Always (Norton) owned by the Mistrys of the Manjri Stud is shaping out to be a good sprinter and is likely to pick up more races this season. Ambrogio was a disappointment and did nothing of note. Mr. Haresh N Mehta & Trainer Cooji Katrak combined to land a very lucrative day. Together they won four out of the 10 races with Rajendra scoring on two heavily backed favorites and Amyn Merchant providing the outsiders on two others. Young Offender (Alnasr Alwasheek – Caractere) started the trend with Amyn Merchant having a fair hand in the success. Not in the best of positions at the start, Young Offender was not even in the picture for the best part of the homestretch. Pomme De Terre took charge early in the straight and past the distance post came under pressure. Star Luxurious and Blue Jay were gaining on her. The three were involved in a grim battle but with 100m to go Merchant got the desired response from Young Offender and Katrak ward hit the wire just a neck ahead of Blue Jay who looked a winner, only a couple of striders before. Roaming Fame (Ontario – Here Goes) was the second link to the hat-trick with Merchant again rising to the occasion. Essaying it start to finish, Roaming Fame strode to a comfortable pace and brought the field home. Needforspeed was his first challenger who even passed him momentarily near the distance post. Barbara meanwhile was moving along on the rails and Thanda beginning to warm up on the outside. Roaming Fame fought back bravely as Needforspeed looked spent. But the real challenge was still lurking as Barbara first and Thanda threw in a final assault closer home. Roaming Fame held on in a close finish sparing 1/2 a length to Thanda who clearly needed more ground. Barbara went all out to run a close third and a mention must be made of a decent re-run by Ashwa Prabha who finished at the haunches of the trio pegging back Needforspeed at the post. An impressive number of debutants line up for the Animal Husbandry Department Trophy. This race as specially coined by the RWITC to acknowledge the co-operation extended by the department by way of expediting the precautionary and inspecting process for a smooth start of the Mumbai Season. The Government Authorities had been absolutely receptive to the RWITC's request to clear the movement of horses and all the formalities involved were worked out efficiently and quickly to ensure the start of the season. Versaki (Verglas – Ghassak) who most of many track experts swore by did not let them down and prevailed both on the track and the stewards' room as well. However, when almost all the horses were loaded in the gates, some of the gates opened suddenly and a few horses rushed out. Fortunately the ones that came out were quick to realize that the starter had not given the orders were checked and returned to the gates in time. However, Sea Of Kisses and Carmen were withdrawn. As the race was finally let off, Creme De La Creme showed early speed to lead the bunch but had Versaki following keenly a couple of lengths away. Aristocratic and Harmonica were not prominent till well into the straight but finished on well to grab the third and fourth place respectively. The final furlong and a little more was a keen tussle between Rajendra astride Versaki and YS Srinath atop Forest Flair. Versaki had the clear advantage when Forest Flair came to challenge. Versaki started to drift out and in the process Srinath claimed he was hampered to the use of whip. He claimed that Versaki was shifting drastically and dangerously resulting in his mount not being able to finish to the optimum. The Stewards, after due examination and questioning the jockeys concerned rightly overruled the objection. Rajendra, however, was called after the races for not exercising proper control on the horse. It was interesting to note that both Versaki and Forest Flair were fast (0.59.37 and 0.59.44 respectively) and nearly matched the days best timing of Star Always (0.59.32) Class II on their debut. Thus was a run of three victories on the trot for M/s Mehta and Katrak. Insite Soul (Black Cash – Infinite) got them another in the 9th race but not without anxiety. Hymns To Freedom threatened to disallow the winning charge of Insite Soul as the Magan ward stole a march early in the straight and kept going. Rajendra got to top gear and started to gain but the gap between the two seemed too much to cover with the fast approaching winning post. Reminding one of the inimitable Aslam Kadar "punching for home" as late commentator S N Harish would call it, Rajendra used all the power he could pack to snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat. The bettors too screamed "Insite Soul" in unison thumping their fist in the air as the well backed favourite sneaked home by a neck. All this while, as the focus was on the fighting duo, Classic Star put up a sustained run in the straight to end another neck behind for the place money. Classic Star's run is one to be noted and remembered in his next outing if that is a sprint. Chios (Storm Trooper – Zenana) won the last race with a measure of comfort. Entering the straight with the luxury of a handy lead, Kharadi handled the Dhunjibhoy property deftly to thwart any possible threat. There was none! Riyasat lost all her chances taking the turn wide and drifting further in the straight. Western Challenge was too far back to get any closer in time. La Joie De vie too came from the dead to do well in the end and earn place money. The first two races were a bolt from the blue with long shots Constantia (Indictment – Number Thirty) and Firey Future (Regal Intention – Firey Maiden) flooring the bettors. |
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