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Trainer Ravi Shanker and B Sreekanth combined effectively to score a popular brace with Classic Concept and Miss Ruby. Classic Concept was indeed lucky to have been demoted to the lowest class. The trainer was quick to understand this horse. In his last three starts over longer trips, Classic Concept had been prominent till the bend before he had got tired in the straight. Ravi Shanker decided to run him over the shortest trip today. The colt made light of his top weight by cantering away to a popular victory. Sreekanth chased Stinger till the bend before asking Classic Concept to quicken his strides. He responded nicely to go away for an easy victory. Sauce Piquant came with a rattle from behind to dislodge Stinger from the second spot. For Sreekanth, the victory astride Miss Ruby was even easier. The filly darted to the front and kept increasing her lead. Nice Guy and Witch Doctor could do no better than finish a distance behind the winner. Miss Ruby gave indications of her brilliance, and it may be a good idea to keep supporting her over similar trips in the future.
The Md Sajid camp was equally elated by the efforts of Yankee Lane and Feel My Heart. The former was running for the first time at Mysore. His last four runs at Mumbai had been quite ordinary. He had won a couple of races at Pune in 2008. The horse was known to possess immense speed and the trainer had apparently seen some sparkle in him, as Yankee Lane was backed to the exclusion of his rivals He darted out of the gates and had little difficulty in going away from a tired Matter Of Opinion and Collateral. The race was more like a procession, as the pattern of running of these horses remained the same from start to finish.
Feel My Heart paid a rich tribute to her master by winning the fourth successive race in as many months. A real interesting part of all these wins has been the "winning margins". The seven year-old shows a lot of speed by rocketing to the front, and thereafter begins stopping in the straight. Somehow or the other, the winning post comes to her rescue. On careful perusal of the records, it is seen that the four winning margins have been a short head, three parts of a length, a short neck and again a short head today. Feel My Heart was a couple of lengths clear of True Force, Royal View and Green Vision till the runners entered the last two hundred metres of this scurry. The shortening strides enabled the others to gain ground on her. Green Vision bounded forward and finished by the side of the winner. Royal View had to remain satisfied with the third spot.
The Bipin-Stephane bandwagon continued to roll with Swiss Queen on Wednesday. She had come down a lot in her ratings, and the stable was quick to capitalize on this opportunity. She justified the short odds quoted on her and won with a minimum of fuss. Maratha Conqueror led on sufferance and folded up in the straight. Stephane released his hold on Swiss Queen, and she responded with ease. Now that this nice looking mare has resumed her winning ways, one can expect Bipin to make full use of her potential. Masurathi showed marked improvement to run a fair second.
The last race of the day was a nine-furlong race for horses in Class III. Darashah's three year-old Behram was bidding to pick up a fourth race in his short career. This compact-looking horse had won over the same trip in his earlier start. The way he had handled the back-breaking weight and the extended trip on that day, ensured that he would be the first choice in this race. He was running on promotion and was set to carry a much lighter load on his back. Another last outing winner named Ahira was also fancied by her connections. Since the filly is a known "bleeder", her camp hoped that she would return sound after the race. With the two market fancies cornering most of the support, the other runners were almost friendless today. The runners took off to a level start, and the field was spread out in the back-stretch before it began bunching up in the straight. At this stage, Hakuna Matata held a small advantage over Evanston and Ahira, while Behram was noticed to be struggling to come through the rails. Under a strong ride from Noorulla, Feroz Khan's Hakuna Matata continued his good work and stayed ahead of the others. Magical Spirit came fast on the wide outside to finish ahead of Evanston. Behram ended a poor fourth while Ahira ducked-in under pressure to fade away from the scene.
