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| Al Fatha |
Trainer Shehzad Abbas and Jockey Daniel Grant had one of their best days at racing in recent times, completing a quadruple. Their wins came through Aphrodisiac, Earth Bender, Al Fatha and Sparks. Jockey Nitin Singh scored a treble, while trainer Narayan Rao picked up a lucrative double.
Earth Bender went to the front as the field approached the 600 metre marker and took a decisive lead on the straight which helped him to win the 1 EME Centre Rolling Trophy from the fast finishing Strategic Partner. Being kept off the pace till the final bend Strategic Partner was asked for a tall task in the final furlong and although he covered a lot of ground, could finish only second, three parts of a length behind the winner. The winter track has become hard as a tarmac and Strategic Partner bore the brunt, returning lame in the race.
With the day's best betting proposition, Sparsh being withdrawn on veterinary grounds, well in advance, all the betting interests centered around Citi Storm and Glaring Godzilla. Leo D'Silva who was expected to take the Secretariat Cup with Sparsh, made sure he got the Cup with his other runner, Lancashire. Buddy Brothers and Lancashire fought out every inch of the final 400 metres with the latter prevailing by a neck at the finish. True Legend came up late to finish third ahead of Citi Storm.
Narayan Rao bagged both the divisions of the Patrons Cup to add two more to his tally. The speedy, Champion Star, romped home in the lower division creating a new course record breaking the minute barrier. Nitin Singh who had an armchair victory on Champion Star, had to sweat out a bit on Kohinoor Diamond in the higher division. Hardccore along the rails, Kohinoor Diamond in the centre and Superflous on the far side were in full flow, on the entire home stretch. Nitin, who had two wins earlier in the day, made sure he wouldn't miss his treble, with some great piece of riding, passed the winning post a neck ahead of Superflous.
Monochrome has struck form, was evident by his win in the Next Move Plate. Trainer Faisal Hassan, who has the knack of fine tuning his horses, encashed for the second time in a fortnight on Monochrome. Lucrative led the field with Monochrome along the rails and Corsica on the far side passing the distance post. Within the last 100 metres, the race got to a boil with Parineeta and Millenium Queen closing up fast on the wide outside. It was at this juncture, Nitin asked for an effort and Monochrome obliged brilliantly to maneuver his way through and win. Parineeta finished second ahead of Millenium Queen.
The piping hot favourite, Aphrodisiac made every post a winning one in the lower division of the Step Aside Plate. After jumping out smartly from the inner most draw, Aphrodidiac hugged the rails about three lengths in front of Mighty Prince. Passing the 200 metre marker, the jockey just niggled his mount and Aphrodidiac picked up speed to draw away by eight lengths.
Abbas and Grant who had started the day on Aphrodisiac, signed off in style, on Sparks, in the concluding race. Mandavi missed the jump, losing about three lengths at the start and was quickly brushed up, finding herself heading the field as the heads turned for home. Sparks came like a bullet on the straight and flashed past Mandavi. Ruby Crown changed course on the straight and finished second ahead of Mandavi.
