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| Gypsy Magic |
Cruising and D'artagnan took off early and occupied the box seats in front of Gypsy Magic and the others, as they raced through the backstretch and began taking the turn . Appu had little difficulty in settling the temperamental filly on the rails, and she in turn was running kindly for him. Cruising led into the straight and was able to shake off a modest challenge from D'artagnan. Gypsy Magic, Fleet Indian and Leonardo began their moves from the rear, and the runners began to bunch up at this juncture. With Cruising moving towards the centre of the track, Appu chose to bring Gypsy Magic on her outside while Jagadeesh and Fleet Indian ducked in towards the rails. It was pretty evident at this stage that the filly was moving better than the colt. Gypsy Magic got stronger and began to draw away from a hard-ridden Fleet Indian. Cruising, D'artagnan and Leonardo filled the rest of the frame. The other runners were totally outclassed. The most significant performance in this race came from Fleet Indian. This horse had cleared the maiden ranks only seven days back, and was one of the lower rated runners in this bunch. Gypsy Magic ran a well settled race today. Trainer Padmanabhan can look forward to setting some bigger goals for his ward in the future.
The Squanderer Trophy, a terms race for maiden three-year olds was split into two divisions. Arjun Mangalorkar's modestly bred Lush Lashes entered the winners enclosure after four unsuccessful efforts earlier in her career. There was strong support for Pradeep's Alcestis, but this filly was found wanting in the straight. Alcestis seized the advantage from Smart Fresh at the bend, and sailed for home. She was able to hold the challenge of both Step In Style and Game Dancer, but had no answers to a late bid from the John ridden winner. Lush Lashes finished strongly in the last 100 metres and was more than two lengths clear at the finish. Arjun was unable to win the lower division with Devil Grandma. Lokanath's One Track Minded was too get for this set. Suraj had little problem in taking her to the front and staying there till the end. Devil Grandma finished a comfortable second, and showed that she would be better suited over a slightly longer trip.
The only other trophy event in the afternoon was The Col Rajkumar C Desraj Memorial Cup.This Class III sprint saw a vastly improved performance from Talisker. A change of ownership and stable seemed to have worked wonders for this colt. His new trainer Md Abbas was quite confident of his chances, but the punters refused to look beyond an on-money Six Shooter. The favourite overtook a couple of front runners and led into the home stretch. In the mean time, Christopher and Talisker started to move from the back. After a brief duel near the distance post, Talisker accelerated past Six Shooter and left him standing. Coorg Honey came late to take the third slot. The winner is in great heart, and must be followed in his next start.
A Class II race over seven furlongs was also divided. The upper division gave Suraj his double for the day. Riding Flaming Lamborgini for his father, Suraj gave a flawless performance on this horse. After chasing favourite Phoenix Reach till well into the final furlong, Flaming Lamborgini got up in the last few strides to nail the leader. In The Zone galloped late onto the scene, and ended a close third. Fancied The Contender ran a doleful race and finished in the ruck. The lower division saw the eclipse of The Spartan. This Padmanabhan trainee has started stopping in the last 20 metres of a race. For the second consecutive time, The Spartan looked like a winner till the very end. He was overtaken by a hard ridden Affirmed Crown near the winning post. Prakash rode this winner for trainer Ganapathy.Prakash had earlier steered Karan Singh's Fantastic Flame to a popular win ahead of Vayuputra and Immortal. The duo had led from the start and were much too powerful for their opponents. The winner thus won a second consecutive race for his trainer.
The only other race in the day's long card of nine events was the opening race of the day. With much money flowing in the direction of Attaturk, this Sharat Kumar trainee was backed down from 5's to 2's. This runner had steadily come down a class, and looked superior to the others. The four-year old was racing in the lowest category, and was the youngest horse in the field. But his supporters came to grief, as he lacked early speed in this race. With 62 Kg on his back, he was unable to make up ground on a runaway Mexican Wave and Great Chieftain. Bottom weighted Mexican Wave, in the hands of Chouhan, lasted out to win by a neck from Great Chieftain.
