Spearhead Lifts The Narasimharaja Cup
By Pearcey

Bangalore, Mar 13, 2009
Dr Vijay Mallya's racing establishment at Bangalore has really blossomed in recent times, and the victory of Spearhead in Saturday's feature was another feather in their cap. Their vision of grooming young Suleiman Attaolahi has paid dividends, as this trainer has been sending out winners at regular intervals since the beginning of the Winter season. A nice looking chestnut colt named Spearhead from his yard won the prestigious Narasimharaja Cup at the Bangalore races on Friday. This rich event has been usually won by some top class youngsters in the last few years. The current year's edition saw a small group of four acceptors parading in the paddock. Regal Glory and Star Of Marmalade had posted impressive victories in their only career starts, and were accordingly installed at the top of the betting boards. Vivacity had flopped as a favourite a few weeks ago , and therefore, the nice looking filly had fewer supporters today. Spearhead was the only non-winner in this race , and was set to recieve weight from his adversaries. The last named was easily backable at 10/1.

Spearhead
David Allan had no hesitation in sending the favourite Regal Glory to the front as the four runners took off from the gates.Star Of Marmalade and Vivacity were in close attendance, while Harish decided to bide his time and kept Spearhead at the tail end of this field. The leader began to send distress signals near the 300 metre marker , and the others started to come close to her. The four of them were almost abreast near the furlong pole. Despite the strong urgings of Suraj Narredu, Vivacity could find nothing extra in the tank and began to tire. She rolled onto Star Of Marmalade, who went onto Regal Glory. The last named got squeezed on the rails and this resulted in her being pulled up well before the winning post. Spearhead was gaining ground all this while, and was soon at the helm of affairs. After a brief duel with Star Of Marmalade, Harish drove Spearhead to an emphatic victory. The result had to be reconfirmed in the Stewards room ,as Prakash raised an unsuccessful objection against the winner. It was evident from all angles that the winner was not responsible for any interference that may have taken place during the race.

Harish rode a brilliant race on Succeeding Star, when he outwitted champion jockey Suraj Narredu in The Delhi Race Club Trophy, a long distance race for horses in the highest class. Darius Byramji had entered two fancied runners amongst the five that reached the starting gates. Mothers Pride with Suraj in the saddle was a marginal favourite ahead of Succeeding Star. Both these runners had great credentials to tackle the ten furlong trip. Harish decided to dictate terms, and was soon sighted leading from Superior Surprise and Mothers Pride. He kept the colt on a tight leash and was never more than a couple of lengths ahead of the ones behind him. In a great tactical move, Harish relaxed his grip near the three furlong pole, and Succeeding Star bounded away to a five length lead over Mother's Pride. This lead came in very handy at the end, as Succeeding Star won by a diminishing margin from a hard ridden Mother's pride. Harish seems to have planned this race well ahead of race time , and executed it neatly on the track.

The other double in the day was credited to Suraj Narredu. Both the wins were gained with a measure of comfort . The opener was won astride Eshwer's Superyacht, who was a hot favourite in this race. Suraj was unperturbed as Atlantus set a scorching pace till the distance post. Superyacht was popped the question at this stage, and the response was immediate. The favourite lengthened her strides and sped away from Kalyan. The win astride Dhariwal's Aristos was easier. This half-money favourite was asking for his head from the very begining. Suraj held him back for a while behind Van De Star and Edmondo before releasing his grip on him. Aristos bounded away from the rest a won easier than the official verdict. Cimmaron came from the rear to take the second spot ahead of Read My Mind and a tired Edmondo. The last named was plodding at the end.

The only maidens event during the afternoon saw Neil Darashah's Native Talent justifying favouritism and romping home to an easy victory ahead of High Gleam and You're A Stud. A fancied runner in his only other career start, Native Talent had finished second to Gloriosa on that occasion. He was the third on-money horse to win today. Gnaneshwar took him to the front from the innermost draw, and never looked back thereafter. You're A Stud ran a forward race and can be earmarked for a win in the near future. Alaric was another runner to catch the eye. This filly was gracing the wrong end of the field before finishing fourth. She will definitely benefit from this outing.

Irfan Ghatala's Ahira made her opponents look ordinary while posting a start-to-finish victory in The Kailash Cup. This was the second win for this filly who is known to have a blood-vessel problem. She is known to have bled on a couple of occasions earlier this season, but she was comfortable today. Apprentice Shiva Kumar kept her on an even keel and did not punish her in the race. Sheer Gold made up much ground and ran a close second.Act Of Duty came with a long stretch run to save place money.

Irfan's effort to make a double with Mac suffered a setback, when this big made horse wasn't able to carry the top weight to victory in the last race of the day. Ashok Kumar rode a nice waiting race with this horse ,but was a wee bit too late while finishing a "short head" behind Star Blue. Gaurav Sapra on the other hand, made full use of his low handicap and raced in front. He rode a powerful finish on the seven year old winner. The ultra consistant Brother In Arms ran another good race to finish a close third ahead of a much fancied Kandiate.
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