B R Sharan Kumar

The Bangalore Turf Club which had been kept on tenterhooks by the government could heave a sigh of relief only on Sunday night as the license for conducting racing and betting on other centers was inordinately delayed. The club had not made any announcement with regard to conduct of off course betting on Hyderabad races scheduled for Monday, February 1. Interestingly, the government had issued license to Mysore Race Club license for conducting racing activity for the month of February while withholding the same for BTC till Sunday night. The Bangalore Turf Club is a divided house, with the forces dragging the club in different directions much to the detriment of the sport. Time and again, BTC has found itself in troubled waters though the only plus point is that it has acted better under crisis. The present fight with the government has come about because of the hard-line taken by the club, with the Managing Committee being a divided house. While the majority in the committee had pass...

The Kunigal Stud Farm bred Arabian Prince produced a stunning run in the homestretch to win the Gr 1 Vijay Textiles Golconda Derby, the star event of the winter season, in front of a capacity crowd on Sunday. Arabian Prince won the race in a record timing of two minutes 28.07 seconds which bettered the timing of Zurbaran by fractions. Jockey Suraj Narredu, who seems to be doing nothing wrong at the moment, rode a peach of a race despite being handicapped by an injured wrist. Classerville tried to win the Derby the hard way by making the entire running but faltered close home. Arabian Prince’s victory capped a brilliant year for Kunigal Stud Farm which has had three individual Derby winners through Aboline, Fleet Indian and Arabian Prince. On recent form, Systematic had the best credentials as she had won the Bangalore Oaks by edging out Youre So Beautiful and the latter had gone on to finish second to Becket in the Bangalore Derby. As such the form was strong but Systematic ran into ho...

Seven-year-old Dancing Forever (Rahy), winner of the Gr.1 Manhattan Handicap and third in the Gr.1 Breeders’ Cup Turf behind Conduit and Eagle Mountain, has been bought to stand in India and is one of the most significant purchases by an Indian breeder this year. Nirmal Singh, who owns Hazara Stud Farm and is a former minister in the Haryana Government, has invested in a big way to make an impact on Indian breeding and Dancing Forever will soon join Rebuttal at Hazara. Apart from buying significantly at last year’s Goffs Mares Sale, the acquisition Dancing Forever is a major step in boosting the fortunes of the stud. The Hazara Stud Farm, which is located in Haryana on the banks of river Yamuna, has been getting plenty of attention both for its idyllic location, as well as the valuable mares purchased from abroad.. Leading Indian trainer Padmanabhan, who also owns Radiant Bloodstock, was responsible for the purchase along with Dr John Weld. The fact that he is from the Blushing Groom m...

The Bangalore Turf Club failed to get any substantial relief form the High Court as the proceedings were adjourned till February 10 on Thursday. The court ordered for status quo to be maintained till such time. It may be recalled that the Government of Karnataka has refused to renew the lease of land for the BTC premises which expired on December 31, 2009 and the club had approached the High Court for relief stating that the land was in possession of the club for over 100 years under a grant for the exclusive purpose of conducting racing activities. The club also highlighted the crippling economic impact that the government’s move would have on the racing industry. Honorable Justice A Gunjal advised the BTC to implead itself in the public interest litigation that has been filed before the division bench of the High Court against the grant of Chikkajala tank bed land for purpose of relocating racing activities in order to show that it is not against shifting and also make its stand clea...

Padmanabhan trained Becket proved why there was so much hype about him by slamming the opposition in the Gr 1 Poonawalla Bangalore Derby, the star event of the Bangalore Winter Season here on Sunday. Despite running only for the fourth time in his career, Becket left the field stranded in the final furlong to win as he pleased to bring himself into strong contention for the Indian Derby to be held on the first Sunday of February. The Indian Derby is the mother of all Indian Derbys in the country. Becket went into the race as a strong favourite despite the fact that he was progressing from seven furlongs to mile and half which is not exactly the way a Derby horse is prepared. But then Becket, with his exceptional ability was expected to overcome all these handicaps as he had given hopes of being an extraordinary specimen. Jockey David Allan was able to settle Becket in the mid group as Strelitzia took her own time to do the job of a pacemaker to her stablemate Star Alliance who graced t...

The presence of Becket has helped the Gr 1 Poonawalla Bangalore Derby to keep the glamour quotient intact. The winter Derby which is traditionally held on the Republic Day has been a poor cousin to the glamorous Kingfisher Derby held in July as the top competitors at this point of time make a beeline to Mumbai for the Indian Derby which is held on the first Sunday of February. The exceptionally talented Becket has had many niggles which has kept him out of racing for considerable periods of time. The big made Becket is the focus of attention of all race goers on Tuesday as the Padmanabhan trainee has been putting in brilliant workouts in his morning trials and he is widely expected to romp home notwithstanding concerns about his ability to carry his brilliance over a grueling trip of mile and half. How well Becket performs will give a clue to his prospects in the Indian Derby. ``Becket is a brilliant horse and he is easily one of the best horses that I have trained. I hope he wins the ...

Michael Eshwer trained Blink’s consistency was finally rewarded when he recorded a win which had eluded him for a long time in the Karnataka Trophy, a seven furlong race for horses rated 80 and above, the feature event of Saturday’s races. Bourbon Bay looked outstanding in the race but he failed to put his best foot forward and was even relegated to the third place by late rallying Soberano. Jockey Suraj Narredu was in the limelight, booting home five winners while trainer Narayan Gowda had the most rewarding day of his career, with a treble. Interestingly, Bourbon Bay has won thrice and all the times only over a sprint. Despite placing over a mile long trip, he hadn’t shown his mettle over seven furlongs. Also he has rarely performed well on firm going. This was the only question mark about the prospects of Bourbon Bay who otherwise looked cut above the rest. Jockey Suraj Narredu who replaced the injured Appu, who had a bad fall during morning workouts, took Blink on a start to finish...

Saturday's card appears very tricky. Bourbon Bay selects himself as an outstanding betting proposition though the lack of intent of the stable when their horses at short pirces, has been baffling. However, Bourbon Bay who beat Lady Duff in his last outing, should not miss despite the underfoot conditions which are firm now, being being suitable to his style of running. Subsequent to that defeat, Lady Duff has remained unbeaten. Spark of Solitaire who went down narrowly shapes like a good betting proposition. Keep an eye on Duchess of York who can make a winning debut. Tanzanite and Thumping Victory also merit consideration.

Sardar Singh trained Lady Duff[ profile ] recorded her fourth successive win by easily claiming the F K Irani trophy, a sprint race for horses rated 80 and above, the feature event of Saturday`s races. Jockey Suraj Narredu stole the limelight with a quadruple. The F K Irani Trophy is named after the former Chairman of Mysore Race Club who steered the club as its head with distinction. Lady Duff was well placed to strike and considering the fact that the progeny of Burden of Proof possessed sparkling acceleration, it was difficult to look beyond her to win this event as the others were not top notch sprinters. And quite expectedly, Lady Duff took over the running within the first furlong and then sped away form her rivals to record a facile win by over three lengths over top-weighted Atlantus[ profile ] who has proved to be a consistent performer after taking an eternally long time to come out of the maidens` ranks. The well performed Noble Guest who has changed stables and who was runn...

Michael Eshwer trained Edmondo literally swept the rest off their feet to win the Chatrapathi Cup (Div I) which featured a truncated card of six events which were gone through shortly after the millennium’s longest eclipse on Friday. Edmondo showed so much speed that the rest of the opposition found it hard to match strides and when the pace quickened at the final turn, they were left gasping so much so that Edmondo was sighted a winner long way from home. Inspiring Trust put behind his disappointing run as a favourite to edge out favourite Enduring Star in the lower division of the race. Lock And Load was made the firm favourite to win the race though the run of Burden of Proof had been campaigned over a longer trip and had run a mock race over a mile and quarter only last week. The seven furlong trip was bound to be sharp under such circumstances. Desert Rule had his share of supporters despite his disappointing run last time out. Jockey Silvester De Sousa had Edmondo take charge and...

Padmanabhan trained Noble Prince overcame all the disadvantages imposed by lack of a lung opener when beating Spark of Gold in the closing strides of the race to record an exciting win in the Chief Minister’s Trophy, a terms race for three-year olds and over, the main event of Saturday’s races. The well performed classic son of Placerville looked far form ready in the paddock parade as he weighed at least 10 to 15 kgs heavier than normal but this did not adversely affect his performance as he came up with a spirited performance in the final furlong to record his third straight win on the Bangalore track. Mysore Derby winner Fleet Indian was the favourite to win though the terms of the race were not in his favour. He was also taking on seasoned performers. Classerville had his share of supporters though he too was short of a race run. Noble Prince was ignored in the betting ring as he weighed about 525 kgs and looked to be on the heavier side. However, being a champion that he is, once ...

Classerville who is running with the advantage of weights, can win the Chief Minister's Trophy despite the fact that he has just two wins over sprint to his credit. Classerville has been shaping well in work outs and can put it across Fleet Indian who is in rousing form but may find the weight a stopper. Among the other races, the recommended bets are Sunspirt and Frozen Fire. Two other horses, Kripa and Man United also deserve a fling.

The Santosh Lad owned Systematic won the Gr 2 Bangalore Oaks, the first classic of the New Year, in thrilling fashion from Youre So Beautiful on Saturday. The M P Mahaesh trainee was ridden in exemplary manner by India’s leading jockey Y S Srinath who did not put a step wrong while guiding the small made Usha Stud Farm produce to an exciting win. Youre Beautiful made a late rally but found the winning post coming too soon. This was the third classic success for M P Mahaesh who had in the recent past won the Mysore 2000 Guineas and Mysore Derby through Splendid Surprise for Santosh Lad who has proved to be a successful and lucky race horse owner. The Oaks field attracted eight runners including one outstation challenger in Pesi Shroff trained Strelitzia who had just come out of the maidens ranks back home at Mumbai. Systematic was reckoned to have better chance than Youre So Beautiful who had won the Bangalore 1000 Guineas against the run of expectations if only because the former appea...

Though Aristos recorded a fine win in the Kelachandra New Millennium Cup, a terms race for four-year olds and over, the feature event of Friday’s races, the horse which caught everyone’s fancy was Becket who was running for the first time during the season after being laid low by a setback in training. Becket justified the high expectations of race goers with a smashing performance which brings him into strong contention for the Bangalore Derby though he is just three races old. For the record, Becket has won all this three outings in spectacular fashion. One has not seen a horse as talented as Becket in recent times. The son of Hawk Wing out of Boiling River has held the high hopes of the stable though several niggles have kept him out of the classics thus far. The big made handsome colt, Becket had won at Mysore and Hyderabad in smashing manner and he was widely expected to sweep the classics in the winter season. However, just as he was getting ready to run in the Bangalore 2000 Gui...