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| Reaching from city of Joy to the walled city, it took trainer Arjun Manglorkar hardly three to four hours. But the duel fame of the Jewel in the Crown event - The Derby, exactly took two days to see him to be on cloud nine. After setting the Royal Calcutta Turf Club on fire with ABS FABS in the Eveready Derby Stakes on Saturday, the first day of the following week welcomed him at the Delhi Race Club. This time the champion was Tomsk, who lifted the richest Derby stakes ever offered at the National capital race course on Monday. Outstation horses have mostly dominated the North India Derby barring few occasions. Ever since Dr MAM Ramaswamy decided to opt out from the Delhi racing, the local professionals and owners had heaved a sigh of relief as Coco Chanel and Brahmaputra were the victors in the following years. But the huge stake money once again seemed to be changing the trend as more than 15 outstation horses made the nomination. However, only three made a leeway - Tomsk, Lycia Falcon and Fearless Negotiator. Interestingly, Tomsk was the highest ranked participator in the last blue-riband. With barely a gallop and gate practice, the colt was supposed to take on the field. Jockey S John, who had been assisting the colt for a long period, was very confident about the victory. The day he went for the fast work, he came across me and on being asked about the next work out, he simply told me there was no need for whatsoever. He rode brilliantly and cleverly by keeping him widest but just ahead of the tail-ender till the half way down the mile. As soon as the field of nine approached the final curve, he suddenly came with an electrifying run to take the baton. The rest became the history for the connections. The class one runner from Bangalore will soon be leaving for the parent centre. The duel classic winner Stunning Rose failed to shoulder the local hope. She was well up with the pace till the top of the homestretch, but she got into action very late and that made all the difference. She was the fastest finishing runner-up by just a little over body length behind the southern champion. Undoubtedly, she was looking best among equals. The daughter of Royal Gladiator and Mount Rose had developed fitness problem during the previous season but the way she was nurtured was remarkable. She has the potential, which may even bring more laurels beyond mile. She is quite capable of taking on the best horses at the other centres. The Rock, who ran third, has now come to hands. However, the horse who caught the eye of many was Senegal, who adopted different strategy and that bore fruitful. Running off the pace in rear, he was shown the daylight only in the straight and made him to finish late fourth. He should soon strike over the mile. The day once again turned out be nightmare for the goers as apart from Tomsk, Cavalry Brigade was the other favourite to survive in the card of seven. It appeared Divine Heights had made herself prepare for the day by toppling the favourite Rapid Fire. Though, the looser had received severe interference in the early furlong, yet she woke up late in the very second outing of her career. She should make amends. Sonic Boom and Nucleus bear watching. The Galloping Acres Stud Farm Cup saw El Toro showing a clean pair of heels in a start-to-finish bid over the sprint's distance. The timing under which he completed the course was much faster than the following class one event – Royal Western India Turf Club Cup. The three-year old colt by Eljohar and Early Wonder crossed the wire in one minute: 12.37 seconds , whereas Ashwa Pratap who defied the massive weight of 63.5 kilograms en route to victory was slower by 16 of 1000 seconds. As I mentioned in one of my earlier articles regarding the progeny of Eljohar, it once again proved that in the matter of speed he has an upper hand. The colt should reach the top class. Saphire, another foal of El Johar and who ran nowhere, should soon find his way to victory. Ashwa Pratap, who was stunned by Time Gentlemen in the last stride over seven furlongs, again put up a bold show and was good enough to keep the late burst of another top weight (61.5 kg) carrier Cornelia Supra at bay. The favourite She's Sexy ran off the board. El Dorado was unfortunate who could not find better than fourth place under Bangalorean apprentice Faraz Waheed. Englishman Richard Smith, who has been showing his prowess at Malakpet, guided Sudarshan Chakram to maintain the wire-to-wire attempt over the mile' Stewards Cup in a close call. Jovial, who failed to get the better off the eventual winner, was seen getting to final work at the eleventh hour. The public-fancied Intricate was unable to deliver her best. The last two races were fully dominated by the combination of jockey Ramparvesh, trainer Ishwar Singh Parmar and owner Sunil Kumar Verma through Cavalry Brigade and Little Master. Both are capable of repeating the performance. |
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