Angelfire obliges in Gundappa Gowda Cup
Jaggy Dhariwal trained Angelfire duly accomplished the task assigned to her by winning the H D Gundappa Gowda Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 80 and above, the feature event of Saturday’s races. Angelfire’s credentials were impeccable as apart from her racing form, she was blazing the track, had the weights in her favour and also stood out in the paddock parade. Zervan rode the favourite with great tact. This apprentice jockey from Mumbai seems to have improved a lot during his stint in Bangalore.
The race had a competitive look about it though Angelfire was widely expected to have a bold show. The odds offered were generous and this was in keeping with the expectation of a close duel among the seasoned horses. Jockey Alford took Ticket To Ride to the front from the outside draw as the horses set out for the six furlong trip, with Another Destiny Soberano and Angelfire racing ahead of the rest. Atlantus appeared to have lost balance at the jump out but as is his wont, he didn’t show initial speed and graced the rear. Angelfire cruised past the front running Ticket To Ride inside the final300 metres and broke into a useful lead as her immediate pursuers lacked the ability to change to gears in a trice. Angelfire appeared to slacken inside the final 100 metres but Atlantus who showed out on the wide outside with a powerful run had no earthly chance of catching up with the front runner. His finishing burst, despite a carrying an imposing weight on his back, served to heighten the excitement. He was shy by a shade less than one length at the finish. There was a cluster finish behind, with Soberano nosing out long time leader Ticket To Ride for the third spot. Star Wave, Slickit and Rare And Precious finished in close order.
First timer Scionic from Mumbai was backed down spiritedly to win the Fire Haven Plate, a five and half furlong race for maiden three year olds. The daughter of Diffident threw tantrums all the way up to the starting gate and then tossed her jockey from the saddle while being loaded. She expended considerable energy as she fought with the handlers whose persistence paid off in stalling her. The race turned out to be eventful with Don Diego who led from the top of the straight, was strongly challenged by the favourite who managed to neck out the front runner at the finish. In the act of doing so, the winner went on to Don Diego and also bumped the horse a few times. The resultant objection highlighted the shortcomings of the officials. It was a clear case where the objection should have been upheld but one of the Stipendiary Stewards and three Stewards were for overruling the objection. The Chief Stipendiary Steward rightly suggested upholding the objection.
During the enquiry, Senior Stipe Mahendran kept lecturing C Alford who rode the runner up instead of asking jockey Merchant as to why he could not prevent his horse from boring and bumping the other horse. He also advised Alford as to what he could have done instead of sticking to his brief of giving his opinion whether the interference was severe or not. Strangely he found support in three other Stewards who were for overruling the objection without reasoning out their decision. One was left wondering what constitutes interference. Can a first time runner recover from several bumps and gallop when the room is also cramped? The disconcerting factor was not the decision of the Stewards because their knowledge is restricted but that of the Stipe who continues to make errors who refuses to learn from experience.
Day Trader and Missoni vied for all the attention in the 1200 metres Kumararajah M A M Muthiah Cup, a race for horses rated 40 to 65. Juno was also supported to cause an upset along with Carleone. Missoni shook off the front running Agent Archie inside the final furlong and surged ahead. However, he was nosed out by Neil Darashah trained Juno who came up with a big rush to get the nod in the closing stride of the race. Carleone too rallied well but could only finish third. Agent Archie ran on to finish fourth ahead of Day Trader who had all the chances but was out of depth. Agent Archie should oblige before long.
Jockey Sampson, who failed narrowly on Missoni, was however, successful in the opening race of the day when he guided favourite Athabasca Star to win by a short head from Hi Life. Work Force, who was in a prominent position right through the race, did not pick up speed and ended up a tame fourth. Sun Dawn ran on from behind to take the third slot.
Suraj Narredu guided Youre Kiss’s Due to victory in the Royal Tern Plate (Div I). The favourite lost a favorable position early on due to a slight check received from Spring A Surprise who rolled in. Suraj did not panic and waited with the horse and brought the filly the shortest way and packed punch in his finish to get past Grand Topaz to record a facile win. Noble Breeze provided welcome break for trainer Ganapathy as she obliged a sea of expectations by winning the lower division of the race from Supreme Arch and Ice Mint.
Inspired Move lost some ground at the start and trailed the field in the 1400 metres Noble Princess Plate but the filly gradually covered ground and had the measure of Devil Grandma in the final stages of the race. Favourite Southern Gladiator went out of contention soon after the field straightened out for the homestretch.
Ladzone was another who lost ground at the start but he managed to win with great deal of ease in the 1400 metres Kranji Plate, a race for horses rated 0 to 25. Prince Norbert received inspired support in the ring but the Puttanna trainee was never in contention. Ladzone who steadily covered ground from behind, shot ahead with a furlong to go and won comfortably from Superlativo.
The race had a competitive look about it though Angelfire was widely expected to have a bold show. The odds offered were generous and this was in keeping with the expectation of a close duel among the seasoned horses. Jockey Alford took Ticket To Ride to the front from the outside draw as the horses set out for the six furlong trip, with Another Destiny Soberano and Angelfire racing ahead of the rest. Atlantus appeared to have lost balance at the jump out but as is his wont, he didn’t show initial speed and graced the rear. Angelfire cruised past the front running Ticket To Ride inside the final300 metres and broke into a useful lead as her immediate pursuers lacked the ability to change to gears in a trice. Angelfire appeared to slacken inside the final 100 metres but Atlantus who showed out on the wide outside with a powerful run had no earthly chance of catching up with the front runner. His finishing burst, despite a carrying an imposing weight on his back, served to heighten the excitement. He was shy by a shade less than one length at the finish. There was a cluster finish behind, with Soberano nosing out long time leader Ticket To Ride for the third spot. Star Wave, Slickit and Rare And Precious finished in close order.
First timer Scionic from Mumbai was backed down spiritedly to win the Fire Haven Plate, a five and half furlong race for maiden three year olds. The daughter of Diffident threw tantrums all the way up to the starting gate and then tossed her jockey from the saddle while being loaded. She expended considerable energy as she fought with the handlers whose persistence paid off in stalling her. The race turned out to be eventful with Don Diego who led from the top of the straight, was strongly challenged by the favourite who managed to neck out the front runner at the finish. In the act of doing so, the winner went on to Don Diego and also bumped the horse a few times. The resultant objection highlighted the shortcomings of the officials. It was a clear case where the objection should have been upheld but one of the Stipendiary Stewards and three Stewards were for overruling the objection. The Chief Stipendiary Steward rightly suggested upholding the objection.
During the enquiry, Senior Stipe Mahendran kept lecturing C Alford who rode the runner up instead of asking jockey Merchant as to why he could not prevent his horse from boring and bumping the other horse. He also advised Alford as to what he could have done instead of sticking to his brief of giving his opinion whether the interference was severe or not. Strangely he found support in three other Stewards who were for overruling the objection without reasoning out their decision. One was left wondering what constitutes interference. Can a first time runner recover from several bumps and gallop when the room is also cramped? The disconcerting factor was not the decision of the Stewards because their knowledge is restricted but that of the Stipe who continues to make errors who refuses to learn from experience.
Day Trader and Missoni vied for all the attention in the 1200 metres Kumararajah M A M Muthiah Cup, a race for horses rated 40 to 65. Juno was also supported to cause an upset along with Carleone. Missoni shook off the front running Agent Archie inside the final furlong and surged ahead. However, he was nosed out by Neil Darashah trained Juno who came up with a big rush to get the nod in the closing stride of the race. Carleone too rallied well but could only finish third. Agent Archie ran on to finish fourth ahead of Day Trader who had all the chances but was out of depth. Agent Archie should oblige before long.
Jockey Sampson, who failed narrowly on Missoni, was however, successful in the opening race of the day when he guided favourite Athabasca Star to win by a short head from Hi Life. Work Force, who was in a prominent position right through the race, did not pick up speed and ended up a tame fourth. Sun Dawn ran on from behind to take the third slot.
Suraj Narredu guided Youre Kiss’s Due to victory in the Royal Tern Plate (Div I). The favourite lost a favorable position early on due to a slight check received from Spring A Surprise who rolled in. Suraj did not panic and waited with the horse and brought the filly the shortest way and packed punch in his finish to get past Grand Topaz to record a facile win. Noble Breeze provided welcome break for trainer Ganapathy as she obliged a sea of expectations by winning the lower division of the race from Supreme Arch and Ice Mint.
Inspired Move lost some ground at the start and trailed the field in the 1400 metres Noble Princess Plate but the filly gradually covered ground and had the measure of Devil Grandma in the final stages of the race. Favourite Southern Gladiator went out of contention soon after the field straightened out for the homestretch.
Ladzone was another who lost ground at the start but he managed to win with great deal of ease in the 1400 metres Kranji Plate, a race for horses rated 0 to 25. Prince Norbert received inspired support in the ring but the Puttanna trainee was never in contention. Ladzone who steadily covered ground from behind, shot ahead with a furlong to go and won comfortably from Superlativo.
Comments
Post a Comment