Fire Of Joy Wins Amidst Heavy Showers |
| With monsoon showers arriving in this part of the country,racing at Mysore in the next few weeks is bound to be affected by soft underfoot conditions. The local track is capable of handling a fair amount of water ,especially with the good drainage system that they have in place at the MRC. It will be common to see mudlarks enjoying themselves and putting it accross some of the more fancied runners. Racegoers would do well to be careful during the remainder of this season. Racing in the last couple of months has been almost true to form, and well prepared horses have had opportunities to please their connections. A fairly high percentage of fancied runners have won during this period. Thursday's small card of six events ran kindly for punters,when three prime favaourites and three well supported horses scored in wet going. Jockey Suraj Narredu made a rare trip to Mysore to don silks for Z Darashah. Gnaneshwar, who regularly rides for this stable ,had picked up a two day suspension. After a win astride Rich Rogue yesterday, Suraj was declared to ride Fire Of Joy and Artic Princess today. He scored with both these runners .His win astride Artic Princess was achieved by making all the running , and keeping a heavily backed Witch Doctor at bay. Ante-post favourite Golden Flowers ran a poor race and finished off the board. Green Passion signalled a return to form by finishing a close third. It began to rain soon after the above mentioned race. A class III sprint saw Fire Of Joy taking the top spot on the betting boards. The four year old filly was opposed by ten older runners. She had run a fair race earlier in the season by finishing an easy third to Hawaiian Sunrise. Having been subjected to steady preparation thereafter, Fire Of Joy was looking the part in the parade ring. With some late support flowing in the direction of Holiday Date, the runners were loaded amidst heavy showers. Holiday Date, High Hennnessy and Matter Of Opinion raced alongside and led from Fire of Joy till they straightened for home. The mud was flying all over the place, and the horses at the back were definitely suffering because of this. Suraj had no option but to wait on the rails and hope for an opening. Most of the horses began to roll out under pressure , and it was Matter Of Opinion on the wide outside who seized the advantage. Just as the front-runner was being hailed the winner, a huge gap appeared for Fire Of Joy. The favourite shot through ,and under the strong guidance of Suraj, finished powerfully. The effort was good enough to go past the leader and score a popular victory. Maratha Conqueror ran on from the rear and finished in third place. The day had started with a win for the heavily backed Pokemon Master. This maiden four year old had made many futile attempts to win a race. He had apparently suffered from numerous minor ailments earlier in his career. The owners had given up with him and put him up for sale. A new owner resulted in a new environment. It seems to have done him a lot of good, as he landed a huge gamble with absolute ease. Tracking Mutual Fund till the distance post, he skipped away from the helpless leader and delighted his supporters. The Star Supreme Cup , a mile race for horses in the lowest class was the feature event of the day.Well bred Saddle Point garnered a lot of support and started as a 5/4 favourite to win this race. Although this horse had never touched the board, his recent track work had indicated his readiness to win. The money was totally misplaced as this horse ran a hopeless race and confirmed that he is a dud. His action was totally wrong with the hind legs flying all over the place. It will be a good idea to leave this horse alone in his future engagements. Nano Blue scored in the hands of Madhu Babu and gave trainer Monnappa his only win for the day. Stckiewicketdotcom ran on to be a close second. Madhu Babu ended the day with another victory astride favourite Special Force. The apprentice did not have to do much more than steering this speedy horse from start to finish. There was a fight for the minor placings with Billy Blackjack nosing out Raider's Sun for the second spot. Special Force is in good form ,and another win looks to be a strong possibility. Last outing winner Boston Ranger scored an encore in another mile race for five year olds in class III. This race witnessed an eclipse of hot favourite Beauty On Duty. The Bobby trained mare had run a cracking second in her previous outing, and looked better than the opposition that she was facing today. The favourite tracked Jedi Knight till well into the straight before assuming control of the situation. Boston Ranger was racing a few lengths behind her, while the others were not even sighted. It was either the top weight , the slushy going or both these factors that got the better of her. Beauty On Duty began to shorten her strides and allowed Boston Ranger to go past her. Saddamiqbal rode the winner for trainer M P Kamath. Jedi Knight dropped his saddle cloth and the weights bag during the running of this race. After a brief Stewards Enquiry, the runner was disqualified from his fifth position. |
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