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| Trainer S. Ganapathy receiving The Mayor's Cup from Mr. Dilip Rau, IAS, Administrator, BBMP. |
Imran Khan made use of the innermost draw and pushed Affirmed Crown into an early lead ahead of Corbett and Lady Banks. The rest of the field was strung out accross the field. They entered the straight in almost the same order, and the early leader was expected to make way for the favourite as well as his better fancied stablemate. To the surprise of most racegoers, Affirmed Crown refused to give up, and began to get stronger at the finish. Imran Khan drove him relentlessly and he drew away from Corbett and a late finishing Star Speed. Neeraj Rawal found Corbett to be slowing down at the end, and had to give him a couple of backhanders to retain the second spot in a close finish. This was the best opporunity for the favourite to win today. It is difficult to visualize him picking up a race in the latter part of the season. Better performed yougsters are bound to appear as the season progresses.
The other trophy event in the day's card was picked up by Prithviraj's Rare and Precious. The hot favourite was making his first appearance in Class I, and was trying to make it three in a row. Jockey Harish has struck a nice partnership with this four year old, and the duo seem to relish a fast pace. In his usual style of coming from behind, Rare And Precious was held back in fifth place as Einstein showed the way into the straight. Harish guided him through a tight field and came alongside the early leader. It was smooth sailing thereafter as the favourite lengthened his strides and went away from the rest. Einstein, Sugar Ray and In The Zone filled the rest of the frame. With this performance, Rare And Precious shall see his ratings cross the magical figure of a hundred ,and he shall be stepping into the big league.
Christopher Alford appeared on the local track after a fairly long time. He was riding for outside stables and was very careful about choosing his rides. He accepted to ride Oban for Dhariwal and Redford for Faraz Arshad. There is no doubt that he is a gifted rider. He rode powerful finishes on both these mounts and scored a convincing double. Oban was brought from mid division to nail the two highly fancied runners in his race. Native Talent and Senora Encima were seen fighting for supremacy before Oban arrived on the scene. He came through the middle and settled the issue. He rode Redford differently. Alford took the favourite to the front and opened up a fair lead near the distance post. Although Win Prettybaby came with a smooth run at this stage, it wasn't sufficient to nail the public choice.
Trainer Dhariwal was the other professional to score twice. Before Oban, he had already won with Chilli Chocolate. This four year old filly has totally transformed in the past couple of months. She used to bolt before stopping in the straight. She seems to have got over that habit, and settled beautifully on Saturday. Chilli Chocolate put the issue beyond doubt when she responded to the urgings of apprentice Parmar and won by a widening margin ahead of Fond Approach. Market fancy Enduring Speed was totally flat footed and ended a poor third.
The most impressive performance of the day came from Neil Darashah's You're So Beautiful. Although she was pitted against a lot of poor horses, her style of winning indicated a bright future. She was never off the bit while winning in a timing almost a second less than the winner of the upper division of the same race. This filly shall do well for her connections. Zambezi Sun ran a fair second. This well built horse seemed to find the six furlong trip a bit short for his style of running.
The upper division of the same race was won by Prasanna Kumar's Spark Of Jewel. She was backed with confidence by her stable, and gave no anxious moments to her supporters. John decided to take no chances by pushing her to the front. She affirmed her superiority by posting an easy victory ahead of Greenbro and Gold Crown. Fancied Trillion Win put up a poor show by finishing off the board. The runner to catch the eye was Mighty Monarch. He was a disinterested participant till well into the straight before he was ultimately given his head. Mighty Monarch finished very fast ,but missed the third place by a small margin.. He should win before long.
