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In the 2,000 metres race for the Republic Cup, Innovator set a cracking pace with Vijay Singh-trained Washington Irvine (Alford up) in the second slot. Second favourite Spectacular Style moved up from the last position to challenge the favourite at the bend but may have found the 5 kg he was conceding to the Razeen colt a little too much to handle. In this race, Flashing Flame was left at the gates and did not take any active part.
Bath-trained Glorious Knight was an impressive second to Aksinya in his last essay. He was installed as a 9/4 favourite in the Play On Handicap run over seven furlongs. Lying a handy third till the bend, Alford had him cruising along past the pacemaker to win by a widening margin of seven lengths. Mark Reuben astride Horse Raddish had brushed up his mount to be a good fourth at the distance post and eventually finished second.
Alford completed his lucrative afternoon with Bid For Gold in the Delhi Race Club Cup. The sprinter from Darius Byramji’s yard hit the front as the gates opened and stayed there all the way to the winning post. Second favourite Recardo was in hot pursuit till the bend where Ruzaan decided to call it a day. Rutherford-trained Solid Success was a fairly good second under Islam’s hard riding.
The day commenced on an unhappy note for punters as the fancied runners fell by the wayside in the Avalanche Star Plate and it was left to the friendless Xavier to pull off a stunning upset by pegging back Illuminati. The real disappointment was Strike A Deal who was a 10/6 on favourite.
Runjeet was quietly fancied by the connections but he failed to match strides with the pacemaker and decided to pull out of the firing line at the bend. Meanwhile, Strike A Deal was seen to struggle in the rear of the field all the way. It seemed as if Illuminati may pull it off but Nirmal Jodha brought the Javed Khan-trained gelding (Duja-Miss Sunshine) with a great run on the outside.
Despite running prominent races in his two earlier efforts over seven furlongs, Bath-trained Secret Gallop was hugely neglected by turfites in view of maiden apprentice Shezad Khan’s presence. Known for his early speed, Secret Gallop was unable to take advantage of an inside draw. His superiority was plain for all to see as the gutsy apprentice took him all the way round the field to land the spoils in telling fashion.
In this race, Constant Wonder was installed as the firm favourite in view of two good mock races. As the old-timers say, it takes more than a mock race to get the better of a runner who has the benefit of a good race run. It is quite possible that Constant Wonder may prefer a little more distance in his own age group to hoist a winning flag.
The curtain came down with Arti Doctor-trained Asiatic Star pulling off a thrilling win in the El Padrone Handicap. By taking a line through Extraordinaire, Ashwa Gamini was far better placed than the top-weight winner but Kamlesh obviously took advantage of an inside draw while Ashwa Gamini had to move up slowly from the 12th draw. Though she was gaining ground on the eventual winner, the winning post came to the latter’s rescue. The disappointment was Alford’s mount Royal Dance who must be an exasperated colt as he is being placed over all sorts of distances and then tried. The poor fellow must be a little confused.
