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With Deep Blue Sky setting a fairly modest pace in this race, the jockeys on the fancied runners had a tough time settling their mounts. Suraj on Aztec Gold and Chouhan on Foreign Exchange literally fought with their horses before tucking them behind the front-runners. Imran Chisty allowed Balmoral Castle to run her race, and the filly was quick to join the leader, as the seven-horse field approached the home turn. Wanting to make full use of her lowest handicap, Balmoral Castle was rushed to the front. She opened up a nice lead at this stage, and skipped away from Deep Blue Sky, Braavo and Bucethalis. Chouhan and Suraj tried to make their moves at the same juncture, but both Foreign Exchange and Aztec Gold refused to quicken. It was left to Ordained One to make a menacing move from the rear, and this big made chestnut came with giant strides to finish a close second. Imran Chisty's strong riding enabled Balmoral Castle to keep going till the winning post. Foreign Exchange got up on the last few strides to put his neck in front of a tired Deep Blue Sky. The first two finishers will now be targeted at The Mysore 1000 and 2000 Guineas.
The other feature of Friday's racing was the bloodless victory posted by the Dhariwal-trained Oban. This filly had taken down a lot of good money in her last two starts. In fact, she had finished more than 15 lengths behind Star Assembly in her last start. In that very race, Native Talent had finished half a dozen lengths in front of this small made filly. The two runners were meeting on the same terms today. Suraj ridden Duke Of Edinburgh, who was attempting to complete his hat-trick, was the first choice of the railbirds. The favourite adopted his usual free running tactics, and led into the straight. However, he had no answers when Oban arrived on the scene. Frenchman Stephane had her on a tight leash for most of the way. Without even being fully urged, the filly sailed into the lead and won by a widening margin from Duke Of Edinburgh, The Last Samurai and Native Talent. Within a couple of weeks, Oban had dramatically reversed the form with Native Talent. This remarkable transformation can be attributed either to her crafty trainer, or to the jockey who had managed to "hide" Oban from the public's eye in her previous start.
Stephane had an equally comfortable ride on the Byramji-trained Yas Marina in The RR Komandur Memorial Trophy. Her third in the Summer Million gave her an outstanding chance in this race. Stephane generally likes to ride from behind, but in this case he wasn't given a choice. Yas Marina dragged him into an early lead, and gave him an armchair ride to victory. She cantered away from a hard-ridden Golden Quest and Flying Tricolour. The winner is in fine form, and looks capable of picking up another couple of handicap events before the close of the season. However, her progress could be retarded if the connections decide to campaign her in the ensuing Classic's.
Trainer JS Pillay enjoyed the afternoon by scoring a well-priced double with Yes I Can and Youre A Legend. Harish urged Yes I Can to overtake the early leader Gara Fluid in the last furlong, and the four year-old responded immediately. He lengthened his strides and went away from a tired Gara Fluid and the late-finishing Constance. Pillay decided to use the services of apprentice Vaibhav on top-weighted Youre A Legend. The speedy horse relished the four kilos off his back, and charged to the front. The youngster pushed him with confidence and rode him to an easy victory. Appolonaire, Kapathos and Time Flies finished in a heap and were separated by a couple of short heads.
The two divisions of a sprint race for horses in Class IV were won by visiting three year-olds from Bangalore. Lokanath's Methodical repeated her speedy performance and won from end to end. Apprentice Shiva Kumar managed to keep a straight course, and succeeded in getting the better of favourite King's Admiral. The latter was a trifle unfortunate, as he met with interference near the home turn. Imran Khan tried his best, but the winner was always travelling the better of the two. Spark Of Napoleon rallied late to end a close third. The lower division was annexed by Faraz Arshad's Recharged. Suraj took the top-weighted horse to the front, and the pair of them proved to be much too strong for Flame Back, All For Cash and Enduring Speed. In fact, the jockey looked back repeatedly in the straight before easing his mount.
The only other race in the day's card was won by the Ganapathy stable. 10/1 outsider Grand Topaz made every post a winning one, and won untroubled from Noble Sacrifice, Savvy Concept and World Is Toomuch. This was the lone success for Imran Khan today. This victory came prior to his three successive second place efforts astride Kings Admiral, Golden Quest and Ordained One. The stable has decided to campaign their charges throughout the season, and it may be prudent to follow their progress. The horse that caught the eye in this race was Savvy Concept. He was hopelessly placed at the top of the straight, and had no room to gallop. Gaurav Sapra chose to come through the inner rails and the horse rallied brilliantly. Savvy Concept will be too-good-to-miss over a slightly longer trip.
