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The RWITC Trophy was slated as the day's feature. It was a seven-furlong handicap for horses in Class I. Prakash-ridden Star Wave had shown a welcome return to prime form by running a nice race earlier this month. She had carried a back-breaking weight into second place on that occasion. The winner of the Mysore 1000 Guineas last year was known to possess a lot of ability, and was expected to run a big race. Despite receiving strong support in the ring, she was displaced at the top of the betting boards by Soberano. The six year-old had been entrusted to Suraj today. The two of them ran on expected lines, and at the end of it all, it was Suraj's ability to outwit Prakash in a "game of tactics" that tilted the balance in favour of Soberano.
Western Command and Mighty Heart set a strong pace and led by a few lengths from the pair of Star Wave and Soberano. The rest of the runners looked to be under pressure even before entering the straight. The front runners raced abreast in front, while Suraj brought Soberano on the outside of Star Wave and had her nicely covered as they raced towards the wire. With less than two furlongs to travel, Western Command caved-in and allowed Mighty Heart to go ahead. At almost the same juncture, Suraj brought Soberano with a smooth run to join the issue. Prakash and Star Wave were travelling comfortably, but had no place to go. They were literally stuck for room. It became a battle of wits thereafter. Nobody touched anybody, all ran straight like an arrow and the winning post was getting nearer and nearer. With less than 100 metres to go, Suraj pulled out his stick and asked Soberano to quicken. He went past Mighty Heart with relative ease and set sail for home. Star Wave saw some daylight at this stage, put her head down and began to get stronger with each stride. She tried her best to tackle this Herculean task, but was distinctly unlucky to lose this race by a neck.
A pair of juveniles from Suleiman Attaolahi's yard picked up the two divisions of a maiden's event this afternoon. With ace Irishman Chris Hayes aboard, both Supremacy and Stormyred came with late bids and stormed home to popular victories in their respective events. The well-bred Supremacy (Burden Of Proof-Supervite) was an odds-on choice to win the day's opener. She allowed no-hoper Amazing World to lead on sufferance till well into the straight, before arriving on the scene. Her long and fluent strides were good enough to see her sail past the leader and finish ahead of a late finishing Sky Rider. The latter seems to be improving with time and may win before long. Adonis ran green throughout the race, and he may take a while to mature.
The odds against Stormyred began to lengthen as money began to pour in the direction of Arjun Mangalorkar's Morova Goodtime in the upper division of this event. Her paddock looks were impressive, and so was her breeding. Her dam Havana Goodtime was a top class filly of her times. Flying Tricolour was the other one to merit attention. He had unfortunately lost his only career start near the winning post. Stormyred looked like a rangy colt in the paddock, and the experienced railbird opined that he may find today's scurry a bit short for his liking. However, the scene began to change in the next couple of minutes. The moment Morova Goodtime was led onto the track opposite the grandstands, she began to swish her tail. Some thought that she was in "season" while the others attributed it to general nervousness. It all began to get clearer after she jumped from the gates. The speedy filly lost all interest in the proceedings, and was busy waving her tail while racing at the rear end of a ten horse field. Flying Tricolour, Bugatti and Stormyred raced in close order before the last named got stronger near the post and won from Bugatti. Flying Tricolour ended a close third. Morova Goodtime made up acres of ground to run within two lengths of Flying Tricolour, and showed that she has a nice turn of foot. She will surely get her turn in the next few months.
Warren Singh and Srinath have been combining effectively this season. They were able to win another race on Saturday. Warren entrusted Western Palace to Srinath in the last race of the day, and apparently told him to go to the front. The top professional displayed immaculate judgement of pace and a power-packed finish while guiding this runner to an exciting victory. The connections of Dark Horse rued their decision of declaring Afsar on their horse. Dark Horse was obviously the best horse in the race, but a desire to get better odds with the bookmakers by entrusting their ward to a rookie, led to his defeat. The boy was totally at sea while riding him. Afsar was unable to decide whether the horse enjoyed the use of a whip or not. To cut a long story short, Srinath made full use of his opportunities and scored another point this season. Early morning favourite Solitary Champ ran like a dud and made his jockey PS Chouhan look like a novice.
The above victory completed a double for both the professionals, as Warren had already scored with Stone Of Destiny, while Srinath had won the earlier race with Strong Minded. It took one full year for Stone Of Destiny to re-enter the winner's enclosure. The stable had persistently campaigned this horse over longer trips, and failed repeatedly. Stone Of Destiny had come down in Class, and his run over a sprint today was a revelation. Harish brought him from the middle of a tightly packed field, and got the measure of a front-running Caprioska. The unsound leader gave up after a brief striggle. Classical Dancer ran in patches to finish a close third. The rest of the field was totally out of depth in this race.
Srinath's win astride Britto's Strong Minded was on expected lines. This horse had come down a class after finishing a close sixth in his previous start. The other fancied runners in this race were Born Beauty and Sunnyland. Both of them were carrying penalties for earlier victories, and their respective stables were hoping for an encore from them. However, Strong Minded proved to be a hard nut to crack, as he carried his top weight with confidence. He responded brilliantly to the stick and had little trouble in keeping Born Beauty and Sunnyland at bay.
A neat little touch was landed by the Sharat Kumar stable, when Chandrasekhar-ridden Southern King lowered the colours of market leader Persian Princess. Persian Princess has repeatedly let down her followers this season. Samuel Fargeat goaded her to go past Good Gift, but had no answers when challenged by Southern King in the final furlong. The winner came from the back and showed remarkable acceleration in the straight. He won easier than the official verdict announced by the judge. Good Gift ended a very close third.
A neat little hat-trick was completed by Prithviraj's Sparklingadventure in a seven-furlong race for horses in Class III. The trainer needs a huge compliment for keeping this dickey-legged horse going. Sparklingadventure loves to race in front and possesses immense speed. He has been improving with each run and defying the handicapper regularly. One simple factor illustrates this improvement. Sparklingadventure received four kilos from Man United and beat him by one length while scoring for the first time in his career. In his next start he gave Man United half a kilo and beat him by over five lengths. Today's feat was the best of the lot. He conceded eight kilos to the same opponent and beat him out of sight. Voice Of India was the only one who could narrow the gap with this winner, as he came with a late surge from the rear to finish a fair second.
