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The grapevine had it that Imran Khan’s mount Star Luxurious was ‘past the post’ if he takes level start in the 2,000 metres race for the Lt Gen Jameel Mahmood Memorial Trophy. He did take a level start and followed Temptation all the way till the distance post. The story ended for him there as C. Alford brought the favourite and heavy-weight Adriano with a great run on the outside.
Credit Squeeze was considered to be a sound bet in the Eastern Command Cup. However, there was a buzz that all was not well with the colt and quite a bit of money came on Celtic Charm. Neither of the stables had bargained for ‘maiden’ apprentice Babu Singh pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the season astride Palme Dor. He took the shortest route home and staved off a serious challenge from Celtic Charm. As for Credit Squeeze, he was well and truly out of sorts and never looked that he would raise a gallop. It has been a dramatic decline in form for the winner of the Monsoon Colts Trial.
After his facile win on New Year’s Day, Kestrel was backed to the exclusion of all others in the race for the PP Ginwala Memorial Cup. Kamlesh had the forward gelding racing second before taking up the running in the straight. The persistent Neeraj Rawal had Golden Globe tailing him all the was down the straight before edging ahead close home. Top-weight Chinatown returned bleeding in this race.
A similar plight awaited Corazon in the six furlong sprint for the Aperitivo Cup. The filly left behind the early pacesetter Fire Within but had no answer to the challenge from her nemesis Thundering Hooves. The latter not only defied his penalty of 7.5 kg but also the 5kg pull that apprentice Sameer had claimed on the last occasion. Exclusivity seems to have lost his penchant for the track and took his own time to come out of the stalls.
The curtain came down with Jasbir Singh-trained Sea Sprite making a start-to-finish affair of the Brave Patriach Handicap. The mare gave jockey Pawan Sharma an armchair ride. This was the final straw in the Jackpot and 70 per cent of the pool was carried forward.
