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The Trainers Seasonal Championship looks like a two-way affair, with Irfan Ghatala and Dhariwal keeping up their good work and striding away from the others. Both of them scored twice today, and retained their position at the top. Irfan's four-point lead over Dhariwal looks fairly formidable at this stage, and considering the quality of horses that he houses in his stables, Irfan seems set to walk away with his first such "trophy". He scored a quick double by winning the first and third race of the day. Old warrior Mac sported a pair of wings and flew from the rear of the pack to nail favourite Yamaguchi near the winning post. PS Chouhan rode a strong finish on him. Yamaguchi had won his earlier start by a widening margin and the handicapper had been severe on him. Even a youngster finds it difficult to defy a twelve kilo penalty on the Bangalore track, leave alone a five year old like Yamaguchi. Mac was a rank outsider and could be easily backed at 30/1.
Irfan's Bhagirathi was a firm favourite to repeat her last outing performance. This dickey-legged filly has come "right", and the connections have a very high opinion of her. They lost little time in solidly supporting her credentials and were a delighted lot at the end of the day. Bhagirathi raced well within herself and got up in the final furlong to collar Game Dancer with a measure of comfort. Jockey Paswan showed her daylight at the bend, and the filly did the rest. Irfan can add another point to his tally by running this filly again before the end of this season.
Dhariwal's double came in the form of Camelot and Marie Curie. Camelot looked like a totally transformed horse today. He did not waste any energy by playing up on the way to the start, and went into the gates with a minimum of fuss. He justified the favouritism with a neat performance. Camelot led from the start, and in the hands of apprentice Sreekanth, sped away from Red Lad and Classic Concept. His long and smooth strides in the final furlong indicated the possibility of another success for him in the near future. On the other hand, Marie Curie had to fight every inch of ground to get the better of Spark Of Solitaire. The latter received one-sided support to start as a firm favourite in the last race of the day. John sent him to the front and Spark of Solitaire galloped strongly into the last hundred metres of the race. They were surprised by the fast finishing Marie Curie, who responded gamely to Prakash's call and lengthened her strides. Lad's Gladiator galloped late on the wide outside to finish a close third. He is one for the notebook, and can be earmarked for an early success.
The Ardent Knight Trophy, a seven-furlong race for maiden three year-olds, produced one of the closest finishes of the day. Darius trained Born To Fly opened as a firm favourite to lift this trophy, but one look at him in the paddock was enough to show that he was far from totally fit for this race. Punters began looking for something to oppose this favourite, and ended up backing Ganapathy's Scorching Ace. This decision turned out to be disastrous, as PS Chouhan ridden Rezoom made every post a winning one. He held on by a narrow margin and scored from Athabasca Star. Despite looking gross and running green, Born To Fly put up a spirited performance to finish a close third. The last named, who is bred as a brother to the well-performed Archipenko, will be a different proposition in his next start.
With so many upsets earlier in the day's card, Imran Chisty's double astride a pair of public choices came as a whiff of fresh air for the betting public. His wins astride Byramji's Caspian Sea and Warren Singh's Romance In The Air were gained through sheer perseverance and hard riding. He chose to bide his time with Caspian Sea, and allowed Super Speed to lead the pack into the straight. He alerted Caspian Sea near the furlong post and gave him a couple of backhanders.The horse bounded forward and ran away from Royal Player and Spark Of Isis. His tactics on Romance In The Air were totally different. Imran rushed the five year-old mare to the front and rode a neatly balanced finish in the straight. She defied the penalty for having won her previous start with aplomb. Cannavaro was the best of the rest. He rallied well on the inner rails to take the second spot ahead of Strong Minded and Stylish Bay.
