B R Sharan Kumar

Sunspirit edged out Abnoba in the Jog Cup, the feature event of races held on Friday thanks to an opportunistic ride by Richard Hughes. An uncharacteristic ride by Suraj Narredu saw him getting bottled up at a crucial juncture of the race on Abnoba and this was exploited to the hilt by the eventual winner. The better horse on the day suffered a narrow defeat. The six event card turned out to be a drab affair. Abnoba who had recoded a hat-trick of wins and Sunspirit were both supported enthusiastically in equal measure by their respective connections. In a slow run race, Portaone led the field with Suraj on Abnoba restraining the horse and getting stuck along the rails as Sweet Caroline raced outside of the joint favourite. Sunspirit not only graced the rear but had to travel wide right through. Rounding the final turn, Suraj failed to maneuver a clear run and by the time he could work his way out, Hughes was flat out on Sunspirit who went on to neck out his pursuer. If there were a f

There has been clamor for bracketing of horses as several horses belonging to the same owner run in the same race and at times, the lesser fancied horse wins at the expense of the favourite. On Sunday, Polish Patriot won from stablemate and favourite Becket by a whisker with the first six runners finishing within reach of each other. The finish was a handicappers dream though the result was due to the terms of the race which leveled the chances of most well performed horses in the fray. The protagonists of bracketing of horses are making a renewed demand for bracketing of horses because such a system existed very long ago. We do not know whether the system will work in the present scenario and in multi-pool betting system. We do not have studies to suggest that bracketing can eliminate all the mistrust. Bracketing of horses means that two or more horses belonging to same owner are given one number for purpose of betting. The odds will be the same and the bettor would win his bet irresp

The Hyderabad Race Club has lifted the ban on movement of horses to and fro from Bangalore to its premises following fears of an epidemic affecting the stables of Bangalore Turf Club. About 39 horses were reported to been suffering from fever last week which had resulted in several horses being withdrawn from the fray for last weekend races. The HRC unilaterally announced the ban barring Bangalore horses from entering its premises along with an advisory to the professionals that those who ride in Bangalore will not be permitted to ride at Hyderabad. With the winter season at its peak now, the decision of HRC had come as a rude jolt to racing. The Bangalore Turf Club swung into action and had requested for the meeting of the Veterinary Commission which is the official body of the Turf Authorities of India. The Commission met in Bangalore on Monday and visited the stables of turf club. According to the findings of the Commission, about 39 horses had suffered from fever and they responded

The Hyderabad Race Club perhaps acted in undue haste in issuing a notice banning movement of horses and personnel from Bangalore much before the veterinary commission of India met and took stock of the situation. The Hyderabad Race Club’s notice of Sunday is bound to cause panic in racing circles as the decision of the club has come without critical evaluation of the existing scenario. With the winter classics picking up momentum and a number of classics scheduled for the month of January, the decision of Hyderabad Race Club to ban movement of horses and personnel is seen as not being in conformation with the Standard Operative Procedures for monitoring and surveillance of equine diseases and mandatory health requirements for movement of thoroughbred horses in India. The Hyderabad Race Club’s notice states that in view of occurrence of Pyrexia (fever) of unknown origin in horses at Bangalore, horses stationed at Bangalore will not be permitted to enter the premises of HRC until further

Jaggy Dhariwal trained Oban came up with stellar performance to win the 1600 metres Topmost Cup, a race for horses rated 80 and above which featured Christmas day racing on Saturday. The small made four-year old daughter of Greensmith was driven out for a fine win by jockey Silvester De Sousa who rode the horse with greater understanding. His job was made easier by the fact that the connections of Criminal Lawyer chose to gift the race on a platter by electing to declare jockey Selvaraj who as of now is not equipped to win in a competitive race which requires riding skills as well. Trainer Irfan Ghatala has lost quite a few races during the season by his decision to entrust his wards to jockeys who lack both talent and temperament. Bottom-weighted Camelot was the favourite to win the race though the race had a very open look about it. Criminal Lawyer who had let down as a favourite last time out, showed out in the paddock parade and looked set to make amends. Oban continued to have her

The Hazara Stud Farm bred Araceli won the Bharachukki Cup, a five and half furlongs race for two year old maidens, the feature event of races held on Friday. The highlight of day was the performance of Padmanabhan trained Kilimanjaro who swamped the opposition in the manner of a horse which could be trusted to make a mark in exalted company. With the track being firm and devoid of moisture, fast timings were par for most races. The progeny of Adler, Shoot Out cornered all the betting in the race meant for first season runners. The manner in which the odds shortened on him, it looked as though he would have to just complete the formalities of going through with the race. With most horses in the fray being backward, it was understandable. Araceli was working well but the widest outside draw was a dissuading factor for the majority. Shoot Out belonged to trainer Suleiman who has a poor record on favourites. Appu had Win Again dictate the pace as Araceli, from the outside draw, was settled

Padmanabhan trained Red Renegade who was running in a sprint race for the first time in his career, made an effective switch back in distance by staving off the opposition in the 1200 metres Karnataka Police Trophy, a race for horses rated 80 and above, the feature event of Saturday’s races. The long absence from the track had its bearing on Red Renegade who was grinding to a halt but the winning post came to his rescue even as Rare And Precious came menacingly close. Red Renegade had been campaigned over long trips and had even won the Deccan Colts Trial Stakes last year over a mile. Red Renegade did not relish the mile and quarter trip in the two Derbys that he participated in. Compounding his problems was the fact that he bled in one of his runs which saw him being kept off the track for a long time. He made a winning return in summer over seven furlongs and then ran a close fourth in his next outing in a close finish. Red Renegade was sharpened for this race with the benefit of a

Irfan Ghatala trained Sun Absolute unleashed a winning performance in the Royal Calcutta Turf Club Trophy, a seven furlongs terms race for three year olds, the main event of Friday’s races. Sun Absolute who was taking on higher rated horses, had no problem in beating the opposition and lived up to the promise of her debut victory. With the race card throwing a confusing scenario in most events, winner picking turned out to be an exacting exercise. Darius Byramji trained Unleashed who had let down as a favourite in his last run, was expected to make amends in the feature event especially since he was the highest rated horse in the fray by a mile. However, the progeny of Warrshan who was sporting blinkers for the first time let down again as jockey Srinath rode him in too much restraint and possibly waited too long to get the favourite to unleash a big run. From a forward position at the bend, Sun Absolute was pushed to take over the running at the top of the straight and the produce of

The Vijay Shirke, Khushroo Dhunjibhoy, Berjis Minoo Desai owned Jacqueline who became the darling of Indian race goers after winning four Indian classics before losing by a whisker to Becket in the Gr 1 Indian Turf Invitation Cup has been sent to the US along with Aurora Aurealis. The two mares left India on Wednesday and arrived at their destination after a long haul. Both these mares are covered by Glory of Dancer and are due to foal sometime in March. The plan chalked out by the connections is for these mares to spend the statutory 90 days in quarantine at the US before being shipped to Ireland to be covered by a top stallion possibly Galileo who is currently the best stallion in the World. The schedule is tight but it can be managed. The progeny of these two mares may be raced either in Ireland or England where these owners already have several racing horses. It may be recalled that last year, Jacqueline was to travel abroad for the purpose of breeding along with other star perform

Irfan Ghatala trained Sun Kingdom was a racing certainty in the Gr 2 HDIL Bangalore 2000 Guineas and the son of Royal Kingdom won the second classic of the season as expected on Saturday but not in the manner expected. Jockey Suraj Narredu nearly made a mess of it but the Equus bred horse was so superior that he was able to overcome the shortcomings of the jockey and still win with a measure of comfort. Electing to make a run along the rails, Suraj had his passage closed and though the front running Braavo and Aprillia had established a useful lead, they lacked the class and stamina to sustain which went against them as Sun Kingdom, after being pulled out, came home with big strides to seal the race in sight of the post. Sun Kingdom looked unbeatable and as such, ran at cramped odds as there was no perceptible threat. Magisterial appeared the only one capable of essaying a challenge but then this talented horse does not have sound legs and had barely managed to win a handicap race as a

It is not just politicians who can throw a spanner in the conduct of racing. Bureaucrats can prove to be much more troublesome given the powers that they are vested with. The Mysore Race Club lease is pending and from what one gathers, the government has every intention of extending it. In fact, at the height of government’s forceful demand on Bangalore Turf Club to relocate out of its existing venue, the government had suggested that the club conduct its activities in Mysore till such time an alternative infrastructure was in place. This is a clear indication that the government does not want to meddle with the Mysore Race Club land. In fact, the government has been very understanding and is reportedly considering reducing the tote turn over tax in order to help the club develop its infrastructure in lieu of the land given up to expand the Administrative Training Institute which resulted in the loss of more than 200 stables at the nearby venue. It is just that the local politicians i

Jaggy Dhariwal trained Captivating grabbed the Bangalore Turf Club Trophy, a terms race for three-year olds and over, the feature event of Friday’s races, from the word `go’ and simply gave no chance to her challengers to come anywhere near her shadow en route to a smashing win. The well performed Captivating is due for retirement for stud duties and this were to be her last run, one cannot ask for a better swan song for the talented daughter of Burden of Proof who has literally won `start to finish’ of her career. The field for the feature event looked pretty closely matched though Captivating stood out by virtue of her performance. The front running Captivating has always thrived on challenges and this time out; she achieved her target with ease. Jockey Chris Hayes had Captivating dictate the pace cleverly and when the opponents closed in with a rush with a furlong out, asked the favourite to quicken which she did with remarkable ease to record a facile win. Atlantus made a good rall

The six-year old son of Danehill, Admiralofthefleet whose promising career was cut short by an injury during the Dubai Racing Carnival two years ago, has been nursed back to stand as a stallion. In his first year at Ireland, he covered 10 mares and seven of them are confirmed to be in foal. India’s leading owner Dr Vijay Mallya, who also runs the hugely successful Kunigal Stud Farm, had bought Admiralofthefleet to race him after the son of Danehill won three races including two group races. However, he broke down and there were doubts whether he would be able to stand up to the injuries suffered and still have a stud career. The efforts have paid off and after one year of stud duty abroad, he has arrived in India and he is at the quarantine station at Chennai before he arrives at the Kunigal Stud Farm to join the most productive sire of the farm, Burden of Proof (Fairy King). India boasts of a number of sons of Danehill currently doing duty in India as stallions at various stud farms.

Faced with the daunting prospect of facing Siachen, the opposition surrendered meekly in the HDIL Bangalore 1000 Guineas, the first classic of the Bangalore Winter Season on Saturday. The Jaggy Dhariwal trainee, Siachen had the opposition stranded to win her second classic in smashing fashion. The Kunigal Stud Farm produce Siachen had won the Gr 1 Fillies Trial Stakes in summer before a setback kept her out of Derby action. Siachen was running after a longish absence from the track but the fact that was well with her was advertised by her brilliant mock race as also the outstanding work out of the season as a lead up to this race. As such, she was the strongly fancied favourite in the Guineas. Barring String Along who had won the Mysore Guineas, the other runners did not have many credentials. There was great deal of expectation on One Life To Love after her smashing win but the question that remained to be answered was whether she had the requisite class to make a mark in a classic.

Trainer Ganapathy’s classic hope Magisterial barely managed to scrape through in the mile long Hemavathi Cup, a race for horses rated 60 to 85, one of the highlights of races held on Saturday. Magisterial looked far from ready as he struggled to stave off the challenge of a poorly ridden Sweet Caroline en roué to his success as a cramped on money favourite. Lady Duff won the day’s feature on a day when Kunigal Stud Farm stallions had a role in four of the seven races programmed for the day. Magisterial was touted as a horse of great classic potential as he recorded two back to back wins during the summer season. Magisterial looked far from ready in a mock race last week. He went into the race as cramped on money favourite on the basis of the hype that he carried though he is troubled by a few problems to his leg. One is not sure exactly what the problem is but it is difficult to visualize him winning classics after this performance. Though jockey Imran Khan did not give him a good rid

Hazara Stud Farm is one of the up and coming stud farms based in Haryana. The stud farm is making all the right moves to make a big splash on racing on India by bringing in top stallions and good got abroad mares to complement them. Only last week Vijay Damini won the Gr 2 Golconda 2000 Guineas to start the stud far on classic conquest and more are expected in the years to come. The stud farm is the dream project of former Haryana Revenue Minister Nirmal Singh who is a great racing enthusiast. The stud farm was operating on a modest scale in the stud farm located at Ambala. In the last few years, Nirmal Singh has made a serious effort to make a massive expansion. He has imported two stallions namely Rebuttal (Mr. Greely) and Dancing Forever (Rahy). The latter is an attractive chestnut Group I winning son of Rahy. A number of mares purchased abroad, primarily in the popular Goff’s sale have added to the strength of the mares. Among the current lot of three year olds of the stud farm rac

The unpredictable nature of horse racing came to haunt race goers on Friday as the small card of six races proved to be a minefield. The feature event of the race itself produced a shocker when the market trio was outclassed by Kingdomofdreams who had time and again let down his supporters. The four year old progeny of Diffident who ran unconcerned till the final bend, came through the rails with a blistering run, perhaps relishing the soft underfoot conditions and sailed away for an effortless win much to the chagrin of trainer Darius Byramji who was forced to sport a sheepish look as his other ward Braavo who was a favourite, was not sighted at the busy end. Two favourites came home but the other four races had the punters get a knockout punch. Braavo who had won at Mysore over seven furlongs in soft underfoot conditions, was made the favourite to win the Kabini Cup, a sprint race for horses rated 60 to 85 though close to race time the picture changed dramatically. Balas Glory who h

One of India’s leading race horse trainers Haskell David passed away in Bangalore on Saturday after brief illness. Haskell was a gentle giant who made a big impact at Bangalore and Kolkata where he trained horses principally for Deepak Khaitan in the final decade of his career. Haskell was 87 years old. David was known as a gentle soul and was kind and generous to a fault as jockey Robin Corner for whom he gave a leg up to start off his career put it. David won two Bangalore Summer Derbys during the time I came into racing through Astounding and Romantic Dancer. He also trained Aspirant which won the Calcutta Triple Crown. From the interactions I used to have with Haskell, he came across as a person with great wit and humor and full of anecdotes to keep the party table going. He and Aris David who was the first Indian trainer to saddle more than 100 classics always used to friendly dig at each other as to who is superior. Aris always said that since his name starts with A, he was supe

Arjun Mangalorkar trained Immense recorded a matter of fact victory in the 1600 metres Kempe Gowda Cup, a race for horses rated 80 and above, the feature event of Saturday’s races. However, the victory of dual classic winner was far from convincing and he needs to bounce back with greater vigour if he hopes to make a mark in the Indian 2000 Guineas which is the target that his trainer has set for the progeny of Gaswar. Immense had won both his outings in the monsoon season impressively but he did not particularly enjoy the ambience of the Mysore Race Course because he was very fractious on way to the starting gates on both the occasions that he ran there. He also reared up as the start was being given for the Mysore Derby, causing jockey Prakash also to get imbalanced and fall on favourite Sun Kingdom. Immense did not throw any tantrums when he was run in a mock race last week. As there was no threat perception in the race, he was quoted at cramped odds. He did not show out in the pa

Dr and Mrs. Vijay Mallya owned Aprillia took a quantum jump when she held off the challenge of seasoned performers en route to victory in the 1200 metres Rajyotsava Cup, a terms race for three-year olds and over, the main event of Friday’s races. Aboline began as a favourite but the odds drift was a clear indication of the shape of things to come but one had not bargained for last year’s Derby winner to finish down the field. But then that has been the story of Aboline and jockey Christopher Alford. Both are known for their inconsistency. The bookies perhaps had made an error when they quoted Aboline as a firm favourite in the ante post odds. They were quick to realize that something was amiss as they kept expanding the odds and by the time the runners were stalled, Aboline had faded away from public’s eye so much so that the poor show of Aboline did not come as a surprise. Aprillia was nursed from the outside draw to take over the running by Zervan from Magnanimity and the progeny of

Having chronicled sports events for three decades, I have come across top sportsmen who have overcome adversity to achieve glory. Tiger Pataudi who led the Indian cricket team with distinction, had lost vision in one of his eyes following a car accident but fought back to achieve glory in cricket despite the handicap. Nowadays we have seen the phenomenon of jockeys wanting to highlight the threat perception to their lives more than the glory that accompanies success. They tend to withdraw if they have to cope with adverse conditions. What is sport all about? It is about being courageous. Courage does not mean absence of fear. Courage is about overcoming fear. The true test of a sportsman is his ability to cope with all conditions and handicaps. One of my colleagues, Suresh Menon, had put it succinctly while writing about how much the fear of injury plays on the mind of a sportsman and what ultimately determines his success. ``In no other field of human endeavor does the ultra violet

These days jockeys protest too much! If there is rain, they are reluctant to ride. Safety of jockeys is of course paramount because injury and even possibility of death is something that a professional has to contend with. However, soft ground does not necessarily mean it threatens the life and limb of a jockey. In fact, horses tend to relish soft underfoot conditions. There are no breakdowns during racing held in soft underfoot conditions. Racing in soft underfoot conditions can prove to be a minefield only for punters as it places a premium on the fitness of horses. Also some horses relish the conditions better than others. In fact, rain and slush have been part and parcel of racing during the Bangalore Summer Season. In my 20 odd years of racing experience, I haven’t come across any accident related to soft underfoot conditions. In fact, many of the serious accidents have happened in firm ground where horses have broken down, bringing down the jockeys and causing them grievous injur