B R Sharan Kumar

The highlight of the Bangalore Winter Season, scheduled to start on Friday, November 5, is the fact that the season will start without the usual strife that characterized the start of any season in Bangalore. Strikes are no longer acceptable especially after the fracas of the summer season which resulted in several days of the season being cancelled. There is very little sympathy for any strike. More importantly, the contentious issues have been sorted out paving the way for smooth start to the season. There is some increase in incentives for local horses and winners of horses bred in Karnataka while the stakes have been retained at the old level. The turf club is also keen on shoring up its resources and as such, there is creation of profit which is being transferred to the reserve pool. The prospectus condition of one per cent of winning stake towards Karnataka Racehorse Owners Association will continue despite protestations by several owners who had given a letter to this effect to ...

Perhaps for the first time in the annals of Indian racing history, a Derby was declared null and void after two freak mishaps involving the first two favourites and a false start. The Gr 1 Poonawalla Mysore Derby turned out to be an eventful one in many ways and the race itself, without the first two favorites being rendered hors de combat was also chaotic, with bumping and boring and lack of control on the part of the jockeys resulting in clumsy action. There would have been spate of objections but the false start perhaps saved the Stewards from going into the running of the race itself. It was a pity that the glamour event of the season should have ended this way. A capacity crowd had come to witness an exciting day’s action but it turned out to be an anti-climax and the outcome was a big disappointment to scores of race goers. The starter’s lack of reflexes and adequate response resulted in the premier race of the season ending in a disaster. The situation could have been saved if t...

Sun Kingdom should have gone into the Gr 1 Poonawalla Mysore Derby which is scheduled to be held on Sunday, as an overwhelming favourite but for one aberration. His below par effort in the Mysore 2000 Guineas has put doubts in the minds of race goers as to his continued brilliance. If the run benefit brings about a dramatic transformation in him, he can win the biggest race of the season. Immense who won the Golconda Colts Trial Stakes and the Mysore 2000 Guineas, has been supplemented ias a final entry after he beat the seemingly invincible Sun Kingdom with ease has a fair chance of retaining his supremacy. Spark of Atan is another who has been enthusiastically put as a final entry in the hope that he would have a strong say. Trainer Irfan Ghatala feels that Sun Kingdom is back at his best. ``I possibly made a mistake in my strategy in asking the jockey to chase Immense instead of racing my horse to its strength. Sun Kingdom produces his sparkling acceleration when he is held back ins...

Mr. Khushroo Dhunjibhoy, racing administrator, leading race horse owner and owner of the high profile Nanoli Stud Farm has been expanding the scale of racing operations in recent times. The success of Jacqueline (King Charlemagne) who won a record breaking four successive Indian classics including the Gr 1 McDowell Indian Derby has obviously been the high point of his career as a race horse owner. This success perhaps has spurred him to explore newer avenues. He already owns a few horses and one of his two-year olds Jehanbux (owned by the same team as Jacqueline) won a race in England in August. The two-year old colt is by Giant’s Causeway out of Harlan Honey (Silver Hawk) who won a race in England in August. The horse is under the care of Richard Hannon and was ridden to victory by Richard Hughes. ``Indians may well be racing more horses abroad’’ Mr. Dhunjibhoy had quipped after returning from Arqana sales in August where the prices had dropped significantly, way below the price that ...

The Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan and Prem Tharani owned Ocean And Beyond (Kingsalsa/Sayuri (Saddler's Wells) won the Gr 1 Nanoli Stud Pune Derby in a close finish from owner mate Sun Light on Sunday. The victory of Equus Stud Farm bred Ocean And Beyond was on expected lines though the horses which chased him to the finish were not the ones who were expected on figure in the thrilling finish. Trainer Shriaz Sunderji had got Ocean And Beyond in the right frame of mind which also helped the hard working professional to win the third Pune Derby of his career, the previous winners being Desert Warrior and Desert Carnival. Rajendra completed a hat-trick of wins in this event.. Eloise who had beaten Ocean And Beyond in her last outing albeit in receipt of weight was a final fray. After staying in touch and striking distance till the final bend, she faded out of contention to finish off the frame. The Derby 1-2 was a repeat show for Rakesh Kumar and Prem Tharani. Moonlight Romance and Sun Kingdo...

The Shiraz Sunderji trained Ocean And Beyond (Kingsalsa/Sayuri (Saddler's Wells) three-year old gelding goes into the Nanoli Stud Pune Derby with impeccable credentials. The got abroad Ocean And Beyond was beaten close home by Eloise when he was conceding weight in his only outing during the ongoing Pune season. Ocean And Beyond had also finished second in the Gr 1 Poonawalla Breeders’ Multi-Million at Mumbai. Since his last run, Ocean And Beyond has shown tremendous improvement as evidenced by his workouts which are outstanding to say the least. Another factor which will enhance the credentials of Ocean And Beyond is the fact that he is out and out bred to stay. Though he appears one paced, over the trip of 2000 metres, he can test his challengers to the hilt with some with aggressive running in front. It is not that he is required to hit the front from the start but he needs to stay in touch with the pace setters and then outstay the rest. He does not have a great turn of foot b...

Arjun Mangalorkar trained Immense was driven out by jockey John for a facile win over Sun Kingdom in the Gr 3 Fernhill’s Palace Mysore 2000 Guineas, the second classic of the season on Tuesday. The Galloping Acres bred son of Gaswar powered his way to his second successive classic win. He had earlier won the Gr 3 Colts Trial Stakes at Hyderabad. Expectations and performance always don’t match in racing irrespective of the merit of the horse concerned. Sun Kingdom appeared infinitely better than Immense because the former had beaten the latter quite convincingly when the two clashed twice before. Sun Kingdom had beaten Immense by more than three lengths in the Gr 1 Colts Trial Stakes and by a longer distance the Kingfisher Derby. Sun Kingdom as such had greater credentials but was found wanting against Immense who went into this race fit as a fiddle and with the benefit of victory in Gr 3 Hyderabad Colts Trial Stakes. Sun Kingdom may have been shining in the workouts but the lack of a...