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| Lokanath trained Mercurial seemed to have sported a pair of wings in the closing stages of The Stewards Trophy, when she came with a smooth run on the inside to sail away from Aristos on Friday at Bangalore. The day's feature had attracted the best sprinting talent currently available at this centre, and this being a handicap event, it was Lionheart who headed the scales at a backbreaking 69 Kilos. Aristos had won a couple of races in the last few months and had moved up in weight. Cart Wheel and River Island had a great handicap chance as they were in receipt of chunks of weight from most of the runners. The others had no current form and were neglected in the betting ring. Not many were ready to look beyond Aristos while selecting their bets for this race, and he was supported confidently at even-money. Suraj had no difficulty in taking Aristos to the front, and making the running ahead of Cart Wheel, Logan's Run, Flaming Lamborgini and Mercurial. The favourite was galloping well while taking the final bend, and the only one that was able to keep pace with him was Mercurial. Harish on Mercurial was content to take the same path as traversed by Aristos, and followed him like a shadow. The last furlong saw the two of them racing abreast, before Aristos veered out under pressure and presented a wide opening to his challenger. Mercurial took that opening, lengthened her strides and won comfortably. Top-weighted Lionheart came with a strong run to deprive Cart Wheel of the third spot. Logan's Run came under pressure and veered out at the end to run a close fifth. Mercurial had not won a race in the last couple of years, but today's performance was a reminder of her old form, when she had run against the finest sprinters at Bangalore. Lokanath has done well to bring the mare back to her best form at the age of five. Harish rode another brilliant race on Warren Singh's Stone Of Destiny in the upper division of The Garden City Trophy. He took a good jump with this known lethargic starter, and kept him in striking distance till the bend. Although Game Fighter skipped away at this stage, Harish did not panic and kept working on his mount. In a finish that was restricted to the two front runners, Stone Of Destiny was guided to a narrow victory ahead of Game Fighter. A switch of jockeys would have, in all probability, resulted in a reverse verdict. Lush Foliage was prominent till the last furlong and lost steam thereafter to end a tame third. She is best suited over a sprint, and her trainer would do well to campaign her accordingly. Read My Mind came from last position to run a close fourth. Another professional to impress during the afternoon was David Allan. He has delighted racegoers throughout the season, and today was no exception. He did a perfect "guiding" job on Padmanabhan's Nox, who made all the running and won comfortably from Real Magic and Shotgunn. The last named attracted a lot of money and eventually closed as the first favourite in this race. Shotgunn ran erratically, and showed that he needed this educational run. Nox ran like a seasoned campaigner and won without a fuss. David Allan's riding on Awesome Beauty was commendable. The five-year old got into trouble at the start, and was seen racing in mid division for most of the way. Early leader Panchakshari had opened up a fair lead at the distance post, and seemed to have a firm grip on this race. Awesome Beauty was produced on the centre of the track, and she responded immediately to David's urgings. To the delight of her numerous supporters, favourite Awesome Beauty surged past the leader and won near the final post. Tina's Triumph came from the rear to take the third spot. The other division of the maiden's event was won by Spark Of Solitaire. This Prasanna Kumar trainee was too speedy for her rivals and romped home with a start-to-finish effort. Trillion Win came with a flourish to close the gap and run a game second. Favourite Appolonaire was prominent till the distance post before he began plodding. He was heavily whipped to save place money ahead of a late finishing Rai's Style. The last named bears watching in the future. The Narmada Trophy, a mile race for horses in Class III, attracted a nice lot of four-year olds who had finished alongside each other in their previous clash. They were tightly handicapped and it was difficult to pick the winner. The bookmakers’ odds indicated the open nature of this race. The first favourite was available at 4/1. Sunny Colours was taken to the front by Srinath, and led till the final bend before retiring from the fray. The Last Samurai took over at this stage and galloped away from the rest. Raptor Force went in chase, and after some hard riding by De Souza, got up on the last stride to nail The Last Samurai. One faded away to finish a poor third. A powerful finish by Suraj Narredu astride Blink saw this Eshwer trainee win a race after a couple of close efforts. He had been supported on a few earlier occasions, but was unable to deliver the goods. In a race which saw many horses fancied by their respective yards, Blink came with a sustained run and collared India Shining with ease. A couple of taps from Suraj saw Blink gather momentum and extend the margin of his victory over India Shining, Milagro and Chilly Wind. Madam Rich and Colonel Duff ran below par to finish in the ruck. The stable tried to make it a quick double for the day, when they sent out Sheza Star as an on-money favourite in the last race of the day. In the hands of Suraj, this well-bred filly was considered to be too speedy for her rivals and received one-sided support. Suraj took her to the front and seemed to be travelling well within herself before she shortened her strides in the last 100 metres of the race. Her connections were dismayed at her plight, as Chilli Chocolate moved menacingly from behind and collared Sheza Star with ease. Fly For Sure, who was held up at the back for most of the way, ambled along to be a very close third. This horse bears watching and should be backed whenever the connections decide to let him go. He covered a lot of ground and displayed his true abilities. |
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