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| Nobale Prince | |||
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This was the story of Noble Prince. This Padmanabhan trainee paid a huge tribute to his master by performing in this fashion. Noble Prince has raced against the best of his age in the country, and has beaten most of them at some point in time. The big made horse has been plagued by niggling problems throughout his career. He has been campaigned sparingly and carefully. It is normal to see him being sharpened in a mock race prior to being pitched at the deep end in an actual race. The same procedure was followed this year. Noble Prince was set to take on a small group of six opponents on Sunday. He was suited by the terms of this event and had a distinct advantage over the others. Moreover, there was a cloud over the fitness of Arabian Knight, who "on paper" was considered to be his biggest threat. The fact that he performed in such authoritative fashion augurs well for his future. He has to remain perfectly sound to post similar victories in the next few months. For the record, Angelique performed the best of the rest, and finished powerfully to take the second spot ahead of a tired Vanquish and Mr Greedy.
The other noteworthy performance during the afternoon came from trainer Neil Darashah. The young professional took centre stage by saddling three winners, and was a bit unlucky not to have made it four, when his Mighty Heart got beaten on the post by a whisker. The stable set the tone with the day's opener. The decision to seek the services of champion jockey Suraj Narredu turned out to be a good move. Carnival Of Joy and Celestial Princess were equally fancied by their respective yards. Although Celestial Princess had seized the advantage near the distance post, Suraj brought Carnival Of Joy with a smooth run, and lowered the colours of the leader. Carnival Of Joy has a lot of scope for improvement and can be expected to win again in her next start.
Aston Park was the other three-year old to win for them. Suraj decided to come from the back once again, and it proved to be a successful tactic. Even-money favourite Grand Rapids led till the bend and surrendered tamely once challenged thereafter. Aston Park lengthened his strides and confirmed that his previous victory was no "flash in the pan". This tough looking chap should turn out to be a smart handicapper. Neil completed his treble with Celestial Son in the last race of the day. Frenchman Breux did duty for the stable on this winner. Celestial Son tracked Alcmene till well into the straight before overtaking her comfortably. For some strange reason, Alcmene decided to roll onto the false rails. Apprentice Madhu Babu made a feeble effort to reverse the result by lodging a frivolous objection, which ultimately turned out to be a waste of time. Calming Influence and Van De Star filled the rest of the frame. The last named came from way off the pace to finish close to the leading group. He will be too good to miss over a galloping trip.
A Class II sprint produced the most thrilling finish in the day's card. The race looked like a straight fight between Kyles Of Bute, Mighty Heart and The Contender. The bookmakers held a similar view and the three runners were quoted in the same order. The fact that they finished accordingly was only a co-incidence. Suraj and Mighty Heart waited patiently before overtaking Lava in the final furlong and sailing for home. The Contender and Kyles Of Bute were racing way behind them at that stage. John was able to rouse Kyles Of Bute to dig deep into his reserves. The Arjun Mangalorkar trained colt responded gamely, and got up in time to nose out Mighty Heart near the winning post. The Contender ended a close third.
Pradeep Annaih opened his account by saddling Alaric to a popular victory in The Smart Chieftain Trophy. This sprint for maiden three year olds saw the appearance of Irfan Ghatala's Brunetta. This filly had never missed the board in all her four career starts. She was installed as a hot favourite before money began to pour onto Alaric. PS Chouhan took a smart jump with Alaric and steered her to a smart victory. A late bid by Harish astride Brunetta was only good enough to take the second spot. Devil Grandma did well to finish third in her first run. The winner is looking well and is capable of scoring again in the coming weeks. Annaih and Chouhan tried to make it two-out-of-two with Dark Horse in the lower division of The VG Saravanam Memorial Cup. To their misfortune the horse wasn't at his best today. He was trotted and checked by the veterinary doctors at the starting gates. Finding nothing obviously wrong with the runner, he was asked to be stalled. Dark Horse was in obvious distress as he changed his legs, rolled around a bit and finished in the ruck. The race produced a shock result in the form of Leagues Apart. Immortal ended a close second. Fancied War Child made all the running, but failed to sustain this effort, and managed to lose the third spot to a fast finishing Good Companion.
The upper division of the above race was won by Warren Singh's India Shining. Harish rode a copybook race on the winner. Keeping him tucked up till well past the bend, India Shining was produced near the rails. To the credit of this seven year old, he quickened nicely and drew away from a packed field. India Shining responded to the stick and lengthened his strides. Duckworth came with a late run on the wide outside to deprive Dante's Peak of the runner-up berth. This was Warren's second winner in as many days after returning from a month-long suspension.
