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Red Renegade set a solid pace and tried to run away with the race. Son Of The Soil joined him in front and the pair of them were a distance clear of Fleet Indian, Messalina and the rest as the horses began to take the rising ground and turn for home. With the two leaders shooting their bolt at the bend, it was Fleet Indian who led from Messalina and Mystic Quest, while favourite Sprint Star looked like a spent force. Srinath on Fleet Indian and Wayne Smith on Messalina waged a grim battle thereafter. Fleet Indian began to drift out under pressure and Messalina was always on his outside. Anticipating further traffic problems, Wayne Smith momentarily checked his filly, changed course and charged for home. But the finishing efforts of Srinath astride Fleet Indian were much too powerful as he stormed to a two-length victory over Messalina and Mystic Quest. He rode a good race on the winner and returned to a thunderous applause from the record crowd present at the Mysore Race Club. An announcement soon after confirmed that Fleet Indian had shaved off more than three seconds from an earlier course record set by Full Speed in 2004.
The Messalina camp tried to reverse the placing in the Stewards Room. Wayne Smith objected on the grounds of interference. He said that the winner had taken his ground in the last three hundred metres, and that Srinath was guilty of waving his whip "very close" to the face of my filly. He had been forced to stop riding and this had cost Messalina a certain race. The numerous replays showed that the objection was not sustainable. After normal deliberations, and taking into account the views expressed by the "stipes", the Stewards justifiably decided to allow the result to remain unaltered.
The Derby victory completed a treble for Srinath today. He had earlier scored astride Warren Singh's pair of Free Glider and India Shining. The victory astride Free Glider was gained with a minimum of fuss, as she made all the running and romped home with ease. It was the win on India Shining which looked more spectacular. Srinath got caught in a traffic problem in the backstretch and decided to remain calm. He chose to bide his time and wait for the right opportunity. A gap appeared near the distance post and the horse was good enough to take it. Making free use of the whalebone, Srinath drove India Shining to a close success ahead of strong favourite Arabian Memories and Recollection.
Suraj Narredu was the other professional to hog the limelight. He had come into the final day's racing with a marginal lead ahead of B Prakash in the jockey's seasonal championship. Both the boys had good rides during the afternoon, and their horses received strong support in the ring. At the end of the day, it was Suraj who won by a "street". He rode four popular winners in the ten event card .Lokanath's One Track Minded gave him the right start. His fans were happy to see him riding a confident race on the winner. He did not need to move a muscle as the filly did everything for him. She was much too speedy for Definite Believe and a late finishing Baffled.
The very next race was The Daisy Appoo Cup. It was a terms race for three year olds. Neil Darashah's Youre So Beautiful was a short priced favourite to lift this well endowed trophy. The filly had beaten Angelfire and Oban out of sight in their earlier clashes. There was no reason to feel that she would not do so today. Her stablemate Hatsuhaana was reappearing after a long time. She had apparently suffered a setback in training and was sent to a stud farm to recuperate. The other runners did not merit attention. The race itself produced a different result. Angelfire did the customary front running and led till the last few strides. Youre So Beautiful came with a smooth run at the bend and flopped thereafter. Despite the strong urgings of PS Chouhan, the filly refused to lengthen her strides. On the other hand, Suraj brought Hatsuhaana from the back and got up on the last few strides to collar Angelfire. Youre So Beautiful ran a close third. Neil Darashah needs to closely examine this drop in form of the favourite.
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B Prakash had a solitary success astride Mejestical. This Western India import was taken on a start to finish mission, and had no problems in keeping a hapless Amelia Cordell at bay. He was expected to ride another winner astride Ganapathy's Misty Moonlight in the last race of the day, but because of a physical impediment, was replaced by Vinod Shinde. Misty Moonlight drifted out under pressure and Vinod found it difficult to correct her. Four horses flashed past the post and it was extremely difficult to separate them with a naked eye. Rank outsider Suave got the nod from the judge ahead of Regal Image, Master Strategist and Misty Moonlight. Less than half a length separated the four of them.
Veteran trainer B Puttanna was feted by Mr Chanduranga Kanthraj Urs and the Stewards of The MRC for completing saddling 1,000 winners in his career. A silver trophy to commemorate this wonderful occasion was presented to him in the paddock.
