All eyes on Becket in the Poonawalla Bangalore Derby
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 Derby in brilliant fashion,’’ said leading trainer Padmanabhan who has made a habit of winning big races consistently.
While the focus of attention of race goers will be on the Derby, there is also growing concern whether BTC would be successful in getting a stay on the government’s intent to close down racing operations at the existing premises. The High Court has posted the matter for Thursday, January 28. The State Government has made it clear that it is not going to extend the license given to the club beyond January 31 and has said it was not duty bound to provide alternate land or give tax holiday to build a new race course though the government had allotted land at Chikkajala which was not taken by the club. The land subsequently became a disputed property.
There are 12 runners in the fray, with four of them being entered for the plum event with late entry fee of Rs 3 lakhs plus. The reason for the optimism for the connections to put their horses as final entries stemmed from the fact that the Derby had an open look about it as there was uncertainty surrounding the running of Becket. Trainer Pesi Shroff, who is enjoying a glorious season back home in Mumbai, has brought three horses Cabriolet, Strelitzia and Star Alliance, two of them being late entries. Cabriolet lost the Pune Derby narrowly but then went on to win a seven furlongs race in record time. However, he fared poorly in the Indian 2000 Guineas. Pesi Shroff always thought highly of his ward and hence the decision to try him out in Bangalore. He has requisitioned the services of one of World’s renowned jockeys namely Richard Hughes who has been regular to India on big occasions. Richard Hughes on Sunday had guided Jacqueline to a sensational win in the Indian Oaks at Mumbai.
Star Alliance has been regularly in work. Though there is no his ability to stay the grueling trip, there is question mark about his class to win a race as big as this. Unpredictability in racing is what gives hopes and Star Alliance’s entry may be put in this category.
Mysore Derby winner Fleet Indian ran poorly in his lead up race to the Derby. However, there is no denying the fact that he is a worthy challenger and his poor has to be attributed to one bad day in the office. He is bred to stay and he should surely cause a flutter or two.
Youre So Beautiful, who won the Bangalore 1000 Guineas, ran a close second in the Oaks to Systematic and trainer Neil Darashah is enthusiastic about the filly’s prospects. The connections of Systematic have chosen to run her in the Golconda Derby which will be held on Sunday at Hyderabad.
Interestingly, there has not been a single from trainer Rashid Byramji’s yard. The trainer who was a towering presence on the Indian racing circuit has been on the decline and after recording over 200 classic winners in his 50 odd years of training, he has had a poor run in the last five to six years. The same goes for trainer Ganapathy who trains exclusively for racing Baron Dr M A M Ramaswamy. Though the famous gold and brown brigade has a few runners in the form of Star Assembly, First of A Legend and Moon Memories, they don’t have the weight of performance.
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 Derby in brilliant fashion,’’ said leading trainer Padmanabhan who has made a habit of winning big races consistently.
While the focus of attention of race goers will be on the Derby, there is also growing concern whether BTC would be successful in getting a stay on the government’s intent to close down racing operations at the existing premises. The High Court has posted the matter for Thursday, January 28. The State Government has made it clear that it is not going to extend the license given to the club beyond January 31 and has said it was not duty bound to provide alternate land or give tax holiday to build a new race course though the government had allotted land at Chikkajala which was not taken by the club. The land subsequently became a disputed property.
There are 12 runners in the fray, with four of them being entered for the plum event with late entry fee of Rs 3 lakhs plus. The reason for the optimism for the connections to put their horses as final entries stemmed from the fact that the Derby had an open look about it as there was uncertainty surrounding the running of Becket. Trainer Pesi Shroff, who is enjoying a glorious season back home in Mumbai, has brought three horses Cabriolet, Strelitzia and Star Alliance, two of them being late entries. Cabriolet lost the Pune Derby narrowly but then went on to win a seven furlongs race in record time. However, he fared poorly in the Indian 2000 Guineas. Pesi Shroff always thought highly of his ward and hence the decision to try him out in Bangalore. He has requisitioned the services of one of World’s renowned jockeys namely Richard Hughes who has been regular to India on big occasions. Richard Hughes on Sunday had guided Jacqueline to a sensational win in the Indian Oaks at Mumbai.
Star Alliance has been regularly in work. Though there is no his ability to stay the grueling trip, there is question mark about his class to win a race as big as this. Unpredictability in racing is what gives hopes and Star Alliance’s entry may be put in this category.
Mysore Derby winner Fleet Indian ran poorly in his lead up race to the Derby. However, there is no denying the fact that he is a worthy challenger and his poor has to be attributed to one bad day in the office. He is bred to stay and he should surely cause a flutter or two.
Youre So Beautiful, who won the Bangalore 1000 Guineas, ran a close second in the Oaks to Systematic and trainer Neil Darashah is enthusiastic about the filly’s prospects. The connections of Systematic have chosen to run her in the Golconda Derby which will be held on Sunday at Hyderabad.
Interestingly, there has not been a single from trainer Rashid Byramji’s yard. The trainer who was a towering presence on the Indian racing circuit has been on the decline and after recording over 200 classic winners in his 50 odd years of training, he has had a poor run in the last five to six years. The same goes for trainer Ganapathy who trains exclusively for racing Baron Dr M A M Ramaswamy. Though the famous gold and brown brigade has a few runners in the form of Star Assembly, First of A Legend and Moon Memories, they don’t have the weight of performance.
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