B R Sharan Kumar

The Capricorn Stud Farm bred Sirono won the Gr 3 Deccan Chronicle Juvenile Sprinters Million, the feature event of Sunday’s races in a thriller from Carla. The winner clocked a fast time of one minute 12.02 seconds. The day’s races did not run kindly for punters as just one strongly backed favourite obliged in a card of nine events. The bookmakers’ perception did not match the ground realities. Carla and Sirono had both recorded impressive wins in their previous runs and were closely matched in terms of performance and timing achieved. However, Carla came in for one sided support, with Sirono running at a much higher price than warranted. In the event, the Prithviraj trained Sirono fought a thriller with Carla for the entire length of the straight before getting the nod in the closing stride of the race. The race also heralded the emergence of these two horses as sprinters to reckon with. Vijay Damini set a fast pace as the field set out for the six furlong trip, with Carla and Sirono

Irfan Ghatala trained Advantage Logan maintained his amazing consistency by recording his fifth win from seven outings on Saturday. The Capricorn Stud Farm bred Advantage Logan held off the challenge of 10 other contestants en route to victory in the 1400 metres Karnataka Sub-Area Cup, a race for horses rated 80 and above, the feature event of the day. The race had an open look about it, with about half a dozen horses being fancied by their respective connections to pull it off. Top weighted Atlantus came in for more support than the rest despite apprentice Chethana being declared to ride the five-year old gelding but the jockey was not up to the task of delivering the goods as the favourite lost a forward position within the first two furlongs and then was brought wide to essay his challenge. Atlantus was a well beaten fourth. Caprioska did all the front running before being overhauled in the final furlong by Advantage Logan who quickened for home with a resolute effort. Magnanimity c

The BTC Managing Committee, led by Harinder Shetty can successfully negotiate with the government for new land and time only if the club members and others from the fraternity offer complete cooperation and don’t throw hurdles in the path. For the record, the Bangalore Turf Club has filed the Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court on Thursday against the High Court verdict, asking it to vacate its premises by September 22. ``The SLP has been filed by the club in order to protect its interests and not to take an adversary position against the government. We are bargaining a good deal for the club and we should be able to sign the lease agreement for the land at Doddaballapur within the next 20 days. The Chief Minister has been very kind despite the club antagonizing him on several counts. We have been having fruitful meetings with the top functionaries of the government and the process of allotting the land to the club is on fast track. We have field the SLP as per the mandate of t

Chief Minister Yeddyurappa assured that he would give land and time to Bangalore Turf Club provided they started work on the land that would be allotted to them shortly in an informal chat after Meet The Press programme organized by the Press Club of Bangalore and Bangalore Reporters Guild on Thursday. The meet was organized in connection with the successful completion of two-years of BJP rule in Karnataka. ``The decision to shift the race course is final. There is total unanimity on this score,’’ Yeddyurappa said. ``The High Court has fixed September 22 as the deadline for the turf club to vacate its premises. Though the court has not mandated giving any alternate to Bangalore Turf Club, I am giving them land. It is in the process of finalization. About 120 acres of land in Doddaballapur is being identified as most suitable land. Let them start the work, then I will give time as well,’’ Yeddyurappa added. This piece of news coming as it does straight from the horse’s mouth should prov

Irfan Ghatala trained Sun Kingdom emerged as a strong contender for the forthcoming Kingfisher Derby with a classy performance which had the field well beaten in the Gr 1 HDIL Colts Trial Stakes, the second classic of the season on Sunday. Sun Kingdom has all the attributes of a champion. He relaxes during a race; changes gear instantly and possess a wonderful temperament. The progeny of Royal Kingdom can land the glamour event of the season if he maintains his form and fitness, retains the zest he showed while winning the classic in a smart time of one minute 37.80 seconds. Arjun Mangalorkar’s Immense came up with a long stretch run to finish an impressive second. The rest of the runners don’t quality for consideration as being contenders for the Derby. Sun Kingdom’s imposing credentials had made him the overwhelming favourite to win the coveted race. Ciel Indienne and Immense had their share of supporters while the rest were not considered to be in the reckoning. Ciel Indienne led fr

On sheer weight of performance, Padmanabhan trained Becket was unbeatable in the Gr 3 Chief Justice’s Cup, the feature event of Saturday. The race in the past had seen giants of Indian racing produce some exhilarating stuff. The Sohna Stud Farm bred Becket lived up to expectations of belonging to the elite league by the weight of his performance. What contributed an element of drama to the proceedings was the fact that the son of Hawk Wing was made to cover too much ground in the straight. Despite going into the race without any solid preparation, Becket stretched out magnificently to edge out Mysore Derby winner Fleet Indian close home. Spark of Gold ran on to be third while the hyped up Onassis continued his dismal run. Jockey Zervan on Cotswold Arms upset the rhythm of the race by bolting to the front and established a distance lead over his nearest pursuer Aristos while Fleet Indian raced in the third position while Becket was held quite far back. Approaching the final bend, jockey

Villoo Poonawalla’s death last Tuesday has caused a big void in racing world. Being the wife of one of leading faces in Indian racing, Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, she was easily the most recognizable person in horse racing at Pune and Mumbai. She was a great racing enthusiast and was instrumental in Dr Cyrus Poonawalla keeping a substantial number of horses to race in his colors. She also goaded Dr Poonawalla to buy quite a few got abroad horses for purpose of racing them in their colors. In fact, Phenomenale who won the Pune Derby two years ago, raced in her colors. India's best known nursery of thoroughbreds, the Poonawalla Stud Farm, is owned by the Poonawalla family. Having been an amateur rider herself in her younger days, Villoo had passion for racing and made it a point to be present at the racecourse to cheerfully lead in the winners owned by the family. She led in Change of Luck who won the Casino Royalel Indian St Leger in March earlier this year, with great delight. She express

Jaggy Dhariwal trained Siachen produced an electrifying burst of speed and sealed the fate of the Gr 1 Fillies Trial Stakes, the first classic of the season well before favourite Moonlight Romance could squeeze her way along the rails. Though Moonlight Romance closed with a rush, the lead established by Siachen was too much to bridge. Eloise also finished on impressively ending up third. Sunset Boulevard, who would have gone into the race as a fancied runner, was withdrawn at the declaration stage on veterinary grounds as she was reported to be in season and had attendant problems. Jockey Srinath rode a perfect race and gave Siachen an unhindered run and contributed significantly in the victory of the second favourite. Moonlight Romance was not subjected to any hard preparation which was quite unusual for a horse coming from the stables of Cooji Katrak who is known to train his horses hard. Possibly Moonlight Romance had some problems to overcome before she was targeted for the fillies

The day began ominously with dark clouds and steady drizzle soaking the track much before action began at 2.30 p.m. Three races went through without any hitch but just as the horses were to arrive for the fourth race, it started to rain. The rain intensified into a downpour and it lasted for half an hour. Rain stopped completely thereafter and one was expecting the horses to come out but the jockeys conveyed to the authorities that they were not willing to ride as they felt the track was going to be pretty bad after the rain. Chief Stipendiary Steward Raman went on an inspection by walking round the track and quite evidently he saw no reason for races to be cancelled judging by the announcement of re-scheduled start. However, the jockeys refused to budge and jockey P S Chouhan went round with a lead horse to ascertain the fitness of track for racing. With the authorities unsuccessfully persuading the jockeys to ride, it became apparent that the remainder of the races would get washed

Cooji Katrak trained Moonlight Romance has the class to win the Gr 1 Fillies Trial Stakes, the first classic of the season, to be held on Sunday. The daughter of China Visit has already served notice of her classic potential by her tremendous win over a mile in the Gr 3 Forbes Breeders’ Fillies Championship at Mumbai. The striking acceleration that the Usha Stud Farm produce displayed was reminiscent of her Derby winning dam Wandering Star. Moonlight Romance has had the benefit of a mock race. Interestingly for a horse belonging to trainer Katrak who is known to train his horses hard, Moonlight Romance has not been subjected to aggressive preparation. She has had light workouts right through her sojourn in Bangalore. This may be the dissuading factor for many to support Moonlight Romance with strong conviction. Having said that Moonlight Romance goes into the classic with imposing credentials, one has to give healthy respect to the other contestants. Unfortunately Ganapathy trained Aw

Despite the fact that Chief Minister Yeddyurappa has sanctioned about 120 acres of land for Bangalore Turf Club to relocate and offered certain concessions, the turf club is likely to file the Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court following some serious reservations expressed over suitability of the land at a meeting of the former Chairman of Bangalore Turf Club on Wednesday. Karnataka Chief Minister Yeddyurappa is very keen on giving some land as he has time and again expressed that he needs the club land to fulfill his vision of building a tourist attraction along with developing a theme park even if his plans may run into legal hassles. The government readily sanctioned the land at Chikkajala tank bed area when the BTC sought that land but since the land allotted was a tank bed area, the High Court did not permit the use of that land for developing the race course. BTC’s writ petition in the High Court, contending that it owned the land, resulted in failure, with the court gi

The hurdle in the way of BTC getting land to relocate its activities is being resolved at least going by the fact that about 120 acres of land at Doddasonehalli (in Doddaballapur) about 36 kilometers from Bangalore is awaiting sanction. The land for this purpose has been identified and the file containing this information has been forwarded from the office of the Deputy Commissioner of the Bangalore Urban District to Revenue Department for further action. After due process and cabinet approval, BTC may get the land on lease. The file had been sent to Advocate General for opinion and obviously the same has got his consent form the legal point of view. This has been conveyed to the Bangalore Turf Club according to sources in the government. It may be recalled that Chief Minister Yeddyurappa had repeatedly stated that he is not against racing and that he would positively give alternate land to BTC. He is keen that BTC should honor the court verdict of vacating its premises by September 22

It may sound ironical but at this point of time, Bangalore Turf Club has no other go but to approach the Supreme Court for its survival. It was BTC’s mistaken belief of being the owners of the race course land was the reason for the club to approach High Court for redress in preference to the negotiating table. However the plan misfired with High Court strictly going into the issue of whether the turf club was the actual owner of the land or a plain lease holder and giving finality to the move of the government to evict the club from the existing premises. The High Court has fixed September 22 as the date for the turf club to vacate its premises. In the intervening period, the club has unsuccessfully tried to imitative dialogue with the Chief Minister after daring him by taking the matter to court. As a result of the prevarication, the club is caught in no man’s land. The Special Leave Petition which should have been already filed by now is delayed indefinitely and time which is of cru

Contrary to public expectation of a close tussle between established sprinter Palazzio’s Sun and fast improving Astral flash, the Gr 3 Chief Minister’s Cup, the feature event of Sunday’s races turned out to be an anti-climax with both these runners not figuring at the finish. It was Padmanabhan trained Golconda 1000 Guineas winner Celestial Way who overcame a hiccup in the early part of the race to overhaul the front running Originality to win against the run of expectations. The soft underfoot conditions no doubt helped the cause of the Kunigal Stud Farm produce but there was no doubting her class. Celestial Way has had her share of problems but the small made daughter of Orpen seems to be at home on the Bangalore track where the give in the ground is certainly to her liking. Palazzio’s Sun who had won this event last year, was the obvious favourite though the lack of a preparatory race run was bound to be a disadvantage as the going had been rendered soft due to rains in the precedin

Suleiman Attaollahi trained Spearhead was simply unstoppable in the 2000 metres K N Guruswamy Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 80 and above, which featured Saturday’s races. The progeny of Burden of Proof had lost steam after a graded race success at Mumbai as a three-year old and was a listless performer thereafter. After being gelded, he bounced back to his old form earlier in the season with a smashing victory and despite considerable penalty for his runaway win; he defied the same with effortless ease. Saturday was a day most punters would like to cherish for long as it was one of those rare days where favourite after favourite obliged with amazing consistency. The bookmakers got some relief towards the fag end of the day when Nityanand trained 100 to 1 shot, Oceanic Wind broke the sequence followed by his other ward Pinnakini winning the concluding race of the day, albeit as a lesser fancied runner. There were apprehension about Spearhead defying the penalty and this perhaps