|
Jockey S A De Sousa had scored with a strong finish astride Dear Liza a race earlier to clinch the McDowell Signature ‘Bold And Beautiful’ Trophy in a packed class III field. After taking a good jump Dear Liza fell back a few places as Sea Queen darted into the front along with Flames of Fire. They were all pretty closely huddled as the heads turned for home. Dear Liza produced a fiery gallop just past the 400 and sped ahead leaving the rest to chase her down. El Tropico offered a game challenge and went after Dear Liza soon after but that brief dazzle between 400 and 200 was good enough for Dear Liza to hold on narrowly from El Tropico who finished a commendable second. Rajasthan Royals was all out but could only finish third, ahead of Highland Vision who covered a lot of ground to end up with a place in the frame.
Dancing Dynamite (Glory of Dancer – Double Wish) put in a powerful run to outpace his opponents to claim the R N Kanga Gold Trophy with a measure of comfort. Sitting off the pace for the first half of the mile-long journey, Dancing Dynamite tracked down leader’s Beyond Belief and Priapus quickly on entering the straight. Past the 400, Dancing Dynamite began to devour ground impressively and ensured that there wouldn’t be any last part surprise. Even the late but strong finish of Diego Rivera made no impact on Dancing Dynamite who won with jockey looking over his shoulder more than once.
Trainer Imtiaz A Sait returned with winning two trophies for his owners with Deep Purple in the first and Silver Sands in the last race of the day. Both were impressive winners. Deep Purple (Mr Mellon – Scenic) ran a well judged race with McCullagh aboard, taking the shortest way home. Benedictus led the field homeward and retired. Kalinga Star was prominent but failed to quicken when it mattered. Deep Purple made his way to the front with 300 to go and stretched out with purpose to win drawing away. Sacred Relic was just ahead of Deep Purple entering the straight, but watched helplessly as the Imtiaz trainee surged past and galloped out of reach. Sol was never prominent yet made a late bid to run a face saving third.
Silver Sands (Ontario – Extreme Contact) won a hard fought battle with Feona and Highland Warrior breathing down her neck at the finish. River Gem brought the field in and held sway until midway in the straight. Pacemaker too tried to make a race of it but failed to sustain. Silver Sands moved to grab the lead soon after but had Feona coming up to challenge. The duo were fighting it out when Highland Warrior switched lanes to cover ground briskly. The winning post came to the rescue of Silver Sands who just held on from a severe attack from Highland Warrior who got Feona, but failed narrowly to conquer the winner.
Hunter Bay (Brave Hunter – Temple Bay) provided just the kind of winning ride jockey Richard Hughes would have wanted to get into the winning groove on such a big day. Sitting in the mid bunch, Richard moved forward in cruise mode until he got alongside the leader Rising Glory nearing the 300 metres. There, he just niggled Hunter Bay who charged forward forcefully to put the issue beyond doubt in a matter of seconds. Tattenhoe ran on to finish second and Fish Pilot did well to run into place money. Enticement was listless and ended in the rut.
Moon Star (Royal Kingdom – Au Revoir) this time lived up to the support and won well despite drifting out in the final stages of the race. Grey Phantom had run away to a yawning lead and entered the straight well ahead of the rest. Moon Star stuck to the rails and when he got the chance ripped through the passage and shot ahead. Frost Fairy and Lionwoods did their best but couldn’t catch up with Moon Star. Adams Prince ran on to finish third ahead of Rigel who too made his bid far too late.
Moon Flower (Alnasr Alwasheek – Raptures) regained her Pune form just in tome to post a fashionable victory of the D Day ahead of a more fancied formidable trio comprising Scholar, Churchill and Harmonica. Churchill led the field of half a dozen runners homeward and eased himself out of contention meekly. Moon Flower grabbed the initiative soon in the straight and Samuel Fargeat got the Nina Lalvani filly going at quite a clip into the last furlong. Scholar was all out and so was Harmonica but neither was making any impression on Moon Flower who sailed ahead to post a facile victory in great style. Irish Queen came with a long stretch run to end a notable third.
Jockey Martin Dwyer made his ride before the Derby count astride Fire Vault (Royal Gladiator – Backburn Rocket). Vincero essaying the Derby trip from the start packed up earlier than expected in the straight. Fire Vault made calculated progress entering the straight and was ready to strike when asked. Fire Vault was eased into the lead by Dwyer past the distance post and easily staved off the challenge from Francis of Assisi first and another one from Lightening Cavalry closer home, to prevail by just over a length.
