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With Unleashed and Sun Dancing being slightly hesitant at the start, it was left to Camorra to set a strong pace ahead of Saloni and Make My Day. David Allan urged Unleashed to improve his position on the rails and was soon alongside the leaders, while Imran Chisty was content to allow Sun Dancing to grace the wrong end of the field. Saloni raised the hopes of her fans by leading briefly at the bend, but was in all sorts of trouble thereafter. Imran asked Sun Dancing for an effort at this stage, and the response was electric. She bounded forward with amazing acceleration. With the jockey waving his stick, Sun Dancing powered away from the rest and clocked a superb timing on this track. Unleashed, Make My Day and Saloni fought their own little battle at the back and finished in that order.
Sun Dancing's victory gave Irfan a quick double for the day. He had won the earlier race with Bhagirathi. This four year-old filly was re-appearing on a race track after a gap of more than a year. Her last year form had been outstanding and her recent track trials indicated her readiness to strike. Having recovered from a knee chip fracture, Bhagirathi was looking fit for the fray. The confidence of the stable was reflected on the betting boards. The odds against her shortened with each passing moment, and reached as low as 6/4 by the time the field got despatched from the gates. While Carnival Of Joy and Bolzano were being hustled to hit the front, jockey Paswan and Bhagirathi were content to canter along in third place as the runners took the rising ground and entered the straight. Carnival Of Joy stopped in her tracks and surrendered her advantage to Bolzano. The grey led briefly, but only till Bhagirathi joined the fray. It ceased to be a contest thereafter, as Bhagirathi proved to be much too powerful for Bolzano and a late finishing Trillion Win. The winner is in such tremendous form that she must be backed confidently till she is beaten on the race track.
On an afternoon when "doubles" were the order of the day, Neil Darashah and James Doyle were the other ones to score more than once. After numerous lacklustre performances in as many starts, All Rise got his turn to enter the winner's enclosure. In a scurry event for horses in the lowest class, All Rise raced well within himself while scoring from start to finish. The young trainer saddled this winner for his mother. James Doyle gave him a balanced ride and All Rise proved to be much too speedy for Smart Cooky, Aspiring Seven and Cute Angel.
Neil's other winner came in the form of Friendly Bond. This debutant was opposing some well-performed horses like Bugatti, Yas Marina and Bala's Glory in a sprint event reserved for maiden three year-olds. The speedy Bugatti led at a furious pace and shot her bolt at the bend. She gracefully retired to the tail end of the field. Friendly Bond chased the leader into the straight before assuming command of the situation. He quickened thereafter, and was ridden vigorously by James Doyle to contain a belated challenge from Yas Marina. The one runner that caught the eye in this race was Gluteus Maximus. He finished powerfully from the rear and took the third spot.
For the second consecutive day, jockey PS Chouhan won the first and seventh race in the day's card while completing a back to back double on Friday and Saturday. It was strange to see the odds against his mount Abnoba increasing manifold from evens to 9/2 in a matter of minutes. The bookmakers were competing with each other to lay this horse. Abnoba had run a fair fourth in his only start this season. The others were either making their debut or had finished off the frame in their earlier starts. Day Trader and Sparkling Cat led the runners into the straight before running out of steam. It was left to Abnoba and Dance N Celebrate to fight out the finish. They galloped alongside for most of the way and flashed past the post in an extremely tight finish. The digital camera separated the two runners, and awarded the race to the Prithviraj-rained Abnoba. The verdict was only a nose.
Chouhan scored the other point with Faraz Arshad's Enduring Star. This horse had been running some good races during the winter season and had finished second in his last two outings. Sparklingadventure was reappearing after completing his hat-trick in mid-February, and his effort to make it four in a row was thwarted by the winner. Enduring Star chased Sparklingadventure till the last hundred metres before taking the lead. He wasn't hard pressed to retain his hold on the race. Raptor Force ended a poor third while the others were totally outclassed.
Chouhan's efforts to make it three for the day with Timelss Treasure failed narrowly. The on-money favourite failed by a nostril, as he was unable to catch Desert Rule. Imran Chisty rode a powerful finish on this winner trained by Byramji. Desert Rule had been campaigned in the highest class a couple of times this season, and was reverting back to Class II today. He was also racing over his favourite distance of seven furlongs. It was a treat to watch the two horses fighting a breathtaking finish. Top weighted Caprioska led into the straight before retiring from the fray. He ended marginally ahead of Noble Kingdom and saved place money for his connections.
The day ended with a popular victory for Lokanath's Super Spear. She was a firm favourite to win this mile race ahead of Attaturk, Good Companion and Dark Horse. Sylvester De Souza gave her a nice and competent ride while guiding her to a facile victory ahead of Seven Star and Dark Horse. Super Spear was always in the thick of things, and once given her head, there was no way that she was going to be beaten today.
