 |
| Rimpuche |
The D M Shivaswamy Memorial Cup was the added attraction in the seven event card framed for the afternoon. This sprint race for horses in Class III was another wide open affair. With the odds against Ganapathy's Poetic rising at an alarming pace,money began to pour in the direction of a recent promotee from Warren Singh's yard. Another Destiny was the recepient of this support. Both Another Destiny and Poetic ran prominently till the bend , before retiring gracefully from the scene. Rank outsider Smart N Special led briefly thereafter, but was soon overhauled by Dominic's Music Forever. Wayne Smith rode powerfully to keep him going till the winning post. The winner had won back-to-back races during the winter season and possessed the requisite credentials to land this prize.Unfancied Kajuraho made a late dash from the rear to take the third spot. The unexpected nature of this result was reflected in the unsolved exacta pool.
Dominic and Wayne Smith thus completed a double, as they had won an earlier race with Bucephalas. It was a race that they had lost narrowly on the track, but had succeeded in getting the order changed in the Stewards room. Bucephalas, Cinnamon Rose and Brunetta had come into the final furlong of this race with a marginal advantage over Virtuoso and the others. Virtuoso had made a few unsuccessful start-to-finish bids in his previous starts. There was a definite change of plans today, as John settled him nicely at the back before producing him in the straight. Virtuoso galloped strongly on the wide outside and swept past the leading pack. The effort seemed to have taken its toll as he rolled onto the rails and hampered the passage of Bucephalas.Wayne Smith lodged a perfectly worded objection, and it was only a matter of time before the same was upheld.The Stewards were unanimous in their decision to uphold this protest. Imran Chisty made a vain bid by lodging a double objection against the two that had finished in front of him. This was a futile exercise as there was nothing on the screen to substantiate his claims.
Imran Chisty had started the day with a couple of victories astride Incredible and Pretty N Fast. The well bred Incredible (Burden Of Proof -Chill Out) was lucky to find herself in the lower division of a maiden's event. The Byramji trained filly was too speedy for her rivals and gave Imran an armchair ride to victory. Star Presence was the best of the rest. His riding astride a lethargic Pretty N Fast came in for a lot of praise. The five year old was still a maiden ,and was rated zero by the handicapper. She was on the verge of being asked to leave the Club's premises. Pretty N Fast lost a few lengths at the start, and was soon trailing a well spread out field of ten runners. On-money favourite Leading Lady and second in demand Mega Joy were at the helm of affairs as the runners came into view. Leading Lady shot her bolt at this stage and slowed down to a canter, while Mega Joy assumed command and galloped clear of his pursuers. Pretty N Fast was given a couple of cracks near the bend, and she was in a responsive mood today. She began to devour ground on the outside and was good enough to nail Mega Joy in the last fifty metres of this race.
The two divisions of a sprint race for horses five years old and over in Class IV were pretty ordinary affairs. It was an event for those who were yet to win a race in the last twelve months. Lokanath made a valiant bid to win both the divisions with Zaios and Darktan. Apprentice Sreekanth was declared to partner both these runners.The bid with Zaios was fruitful as this speedy horse proved to be much too powerful for Free Glider and Black Splendour. He came with a steady gallop through the middle and soon found himself in front. On the other hand, Darktan was stunned close home by a late finishing Damgood. Shoban Babu rode a strong finish on this horse to give trainer Inayathulla a rare winner.
