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| Rhapsidion Snow |
The free striding Rhapsidion Snow was eased into an early lead by Wayne Smith, and the duo led at a comfortable pace from Originality and Diego Rivera. The horses at the back were finding this pace too hot to handle. While the chasing group came under the stick, Rhapsidion Snow was noticed to be galloping well within herself. Her rider was yet to flex his muscles. Wayne Smith decided to shake her up near the distance post , and the response was immediate. The filly showed admirable acceleration at this stage , and went away to stop the clock at 1 minute 23.87 seconds. Dancing Dynamite came with a long stretch run to nose out Diego Rivera for the second spot. The winner is in rousing form and her trainer can look forward to some exciting times in the near future.
Celestial Way had impressed while score her maiden win in her only start this season. She was pitched against Forest Flair and Cruising, who had been racing in much superior company. Her only advantage was the weight that she was recieving from Forest Flair as also the services of champion jockey Suraj Narredu in the saddle. By winning today's race, Celestial Way has stormed into the "big league" and in all probability will be campaigned in the Classics hereafter. Celestial Way found herself at the rear end of a closely packed field , and had to weave her way before seeing daylight on the inner rails at the 200 metres marker. Early leaders Nox, Cruising and Forest Flair seemed to be slowing down at this stage. Celestial Way dug deep into her reserves and came up with a startling performance. She ran away from her opponents and scored in a timing little more than a second over the course record set by Rhapsidion Snow barely an hour earlier. The filly has a bright future.
The other two wins for the stable came in the form of Caprioska and Peacemaker. The unlucky Caprioska had been playing the role of a bridesmaid for a long time. He was the highest rated four year old maiden at this centre. Caprioska got his turn today and ran away from Luminous Gold and Royal Bank. The favourite made all the running and won in a canter. Noble Kingdom was unfortunate to have suffered a broken stirrup. but for which, he would have ended a clear second.
Peacemaker gave jockey Appu his first win after the leading professional returned from an injury break. The young man was losing his confidence as he was winless this season. He waved his whip after passing the winning post to express his joy at being amongst the winners once again. Peacemaker won at the expense of Sun Classique, who was unable to catch up with the winner. Mighty Prince ran another forward race to finish third, and can be expected to race prominently after his return to Hyderabad.
Darius Byramji's Alviano made a brilliant start to his career. The well bred colt (China Visit-Fond Fantasy) was looking heavy in the paddock. His looks did not inspire confidence and that ultimately resulted in his odds drifting from 3's to 6's. Christopher Alford took him to the front and that was all he had to do. Alviano raced like a seasoned campaigner and beat a late finishing Criminal Lawyer. Hugely fancied Red Renegade ran poorly. The on-money favourite was prominent till the bend before he faded into fourth place.
So Much More was another one to win in his first appearance of the season. With money flowing in the direction of dickey legged Leon Cavallo, a surprise result was always on the cards. Leon Cavallo set the pace till the bend and retired gracefully to finish in the ruck.He took a lot of money down the drain. Ready To Mingle and Super Sonic made a belated bid to catch So Much More , but their task was made difficult by the strong riding of Srinath on the leader. The winner may win a similar event if the connections decide to race him again before the end of this season.
The day ended with a win for last outing favourite Neel Gagan. This horse from the yard of Samar Singh was supported in an age group race last week, and could do no better than ending a poor second on that day. He had led into the last furlong before stopping in his tracks. The different tactics used by apprentice Madhu Babu today,turned out to be rewarding. Neel Gagan was held back in fourth place behind the fancied pair of Step In Style and Spark Of Jewel. The two favourites had no answer to the final assault of the winner. Spark Of Jewel got up on the last stride to go past a tiring Step In Style and ran into second place.
