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Weizhou (Senure – Priceless Moments) finally found his best form to trounce the opposition effortlessly. Sitting at the rear end with only the favourite Arts behind him, Weizhou was unfazed as Absolute Reality cantered to lead the field by more than five lengths early on. A confident S Sunil waited patiently until the turn to make his move. He got Weizhou to move out and took the turn the widest. Absolute Reality could not keep up the momentum and bowed out. La Joie De Vie had barely taken over when Weizhou started devouring ground with gigantic strides and put the issue beyond doubt. Weizhou stretched out smoothly and was clearly superior. Arts ended a tame third beating Golden Symbol close home.
The September Handicap saw Noble Salute (Placerville – Classical Elegance) pull off an upset victory over strongly fancied Cambiasso. After Bravado brought the field homewards, Noble Salute quickly took charge and galloped on resolutely. Cambiasso was hanging in and wouldn’t get into a good rhythm. Si Como No tried hard coming from the rails but could not match strides with neither. Both Prakash and Narredu went all out with Noble Salute holding on to win narrowly. Chanakya covered good ground to find a place in the frame.
Titan (Warrshan – Pas De L’ Argent) put up a great start-to-finish show that saw him comfortably win the Party Whip Trophy untroubled. Partnered by Malesh Narredu replacing Neeraj Rawal due to the latter’s fall the previous day, Titan was led to the front soon on start. Ijlal, Rajdoot, Torrential, Auraria, Blessings, Mohabbi and Kite Runner followed in close behind in a well-knit bunch. Fragrances took her time to settle down and tailed the field. At the turn, they were still huddled together. However, Titan drew away once they straightened for home. There wasn’t a single worthwhile challenge coming as favourite Blessings just did not quicken. Torrential took the rail run to come in next closely followed by Kite Runner who did well to run into place money. Fragrances covered ground late and was notable among the beaten lot.
Cavaradosi (Indictment – Innocent Pleasures) won the Bountiful Treasure Plate over the Derby distance remaining in charge from the gate to the post. Hitting the front soon on start, Cavaradosi dictated his own pace and finished on well. Highland Glory who was ridden well off the pace, tried to make a race of it and came hard at Cavaradosi in the straight, but carrying 15 kilos (the winner carried 44.5) more proved too much for the Katrack charge. Flashing Flame tried to have a go but petered out. Tsesebe looked good and gained ground and even headed Highland Crown but the latter wrested back the initiative and even got closer to the winner in the final few strides. Go Guzzi Go also put in a decent run to catch a place in the frame.
One interesting fact that needs mention is that Cavaradosi and and the three others who finished in the frame viz Highland Crown, Tsesebe and Go Guzzi Go clocked better timing than Kojagiri’s 6 year old record timing of 2:33.46 which was bettered by Yana only the previous day. Yana clocked 2:31.70 while Cavaradosi stopped the clock at 2:32.50.
Fancied Native Strategy tried to run away with the race in a start-to-finish attempt that failed to come through. Leading the pack soon on start, Native Strategy remained in front though narrowly, until the distance post. War of Attrition grew stronger thereafter and pulled away from the rest. Misschevious Trot came in a bit too late but finished on fastest to end on the haunches of the winner.
Luis Figo garnered heavy support despite running after a long lay off. Rave On hit the front and had Luis Figo and Johnny Bravo close behind. Refuse to Bend recovered from a slow start to come alongside the front-runners at the turn. Johnny Bravo and Luis Figo were involved in a tight tussle when Sudden Impact lit up and came with a sustained run to pass the duo in the final stages of the race. Joelton woke up too late but finished on well to figure in the frame.
The concluding event of the day saw Suraj affecting an upset victory over the more fancied True Elegance and Maverick. Sitting second behind Medtias Pride, Suraj was travelling beautifully all through. Even in the straight while Here Comes The Don, and the others in the vicinity were off the bridle, Suraj was going double handful until well into the straight. Once jockey Rathore asked for an effort, Suraj sped away to post an impressive win.
