Arabian Prince outstays the rest in record time
Jaggy Dhariwal trained Arabian Prince became the Maharaja of long distance races in India when swamping the opposition in the Gr 1 Privilege Industries Stayers Cup, the highlight of first day’s action of the Invitation Cup weekend races on Saturday.
Arabian Prince who had proved his invincible aura over staying trips by winning the Gr 2 Maharaja’s Cup at Bangalore at the expense of Horse of the Year Becket, also has to his credit the best timing over a mile and half trip for any horse in the country. He had further enhanced his credentials by winning a host of graded races at Kolkata. He had imposing credentials, looked outstanding in the paddock and simply left the field stranded when winning in a record timing of three minutes 09.98 seconds bettering the record of Radical Force which stood at three minutes 11.63 seconds by a significant margin. Jockey Chris Hayes rode a brilliant race, getting all his moves right and thus recorded his second Group I success at Mumbai this season. Importantly Arabian Prince did his sire Burden of Proof proud by winning the longest graded race in the country and thus proved his sire’s versatility to produce horses capable of making their mark at the highest level from five furlongs and 15 furlongs!
Arabian Prince had everything going for him in the grueling race. Though his sire is more known for producing sprinter milers, his dam Arabian Prince had foaled Arabian Knight who had won this event at Hyderabad in a record timing. Cabriolet who has been in rousing form and Sunlight who had run some game races over longer trips as a pace setter to Moonlight Romance were the ones expected to fight it out. Sunlight however disappointed, well before the race came on the boil.
Spearhead did the assigned job of a pace maker quite admirably. Arabian Prince raced in close proximity while Sunlight who raced a little wide till passing the winning post for the first time, was hurried by Richard Hughes to take the spot ahead of the fancied runner from Dr Vijay Mallya’s yard. Sunlight was pushed to take over the running at around the 800 metres but this did not provoke any panic from Chris Hayes who sat still and waited with Arabian Prince till the final two furlongs. Sunlight was unable to break free as Arabian Prince dismissed off his opponent with minimum of fuss and sped away for what looked like an effortless win. Chris Hayes could ease up the horse long way from home but the fact that a record timing resulted was due to the fast pace and the ease with which Arabian Prince could accelerate once given his head.
For a moment when Cabriolet joined issue with Arabian Prince inside the final 350 metres, it looked as though the former could carry his fight to the wire but he weakened. However, he did well to stay on in second spot. Native Knight showed up briefly but ran out of reserves and Hyderabad’s Vijay’s Angel managed to take the third place to save some blushes for the Hyderabad camp who thus had a placed horse in Group I company. Though there was many who believed that Autonomy could make his presence felt on his known class, it was clear that in a true run race, he would find the trip too taxing for comfort.
Padmanabhan trained Nearness of You who was given a poor ride in her last run by jockey Imran Chisty, made amends by winning the day’s other highlight, the Western India Bookmakers’ Association Million, a rich terms race for three year olds. Jockey David Allan did not hesitate to have the daughter of Diffident dictate the pace from the word go over the mile long trip. The big made Nearness of You had no problem in staving off the challenge of Mishri who was the nearest challenger. Voyager and Javo who were expected to figure at the finish, made no show.
Arabian Prince who had proved his invincible aura over staying trips by winning the Gr 2 Maharaja’s Cup at Bangalore at the expense of Horse of the Year Becket, also has to his credit the best timing over a mile and half trip for any horse in the country. He had further enhanced his credentials by winning a host of graded races at Kolkata. He had imposing credentials, looked outstanding in the paddock and simply left the field stranded when winning in a record timing of three minutes 09.98 seconds bettering the record of Radical Force which stood at three minutes 11.63 seconds by a significant margin. Jockey Chris Hayes rode a brilliant race, getting all his moves right and thus recorded his second Group I success at Mumbai this season. Importantly Arabian Prince did his sire Burden of Proof proud by winning the longest graded race in the country and thus proved his sire’s versatility to produce horses capable of making their mark at the highest level from five furlongs and 15 furlongs!
Arabian Prince had everything going for him in the grueling race. Though his sire is more known for producing sprinter milers, his dam Arabian Prince had foaled Arabian Knight who had won this event at Hyderabad in a record timing. Cabriolet who has been in rousing form and Sunlight who had run some game races over longer trips as a pace setter to Moonlight Romance were the ones expected to fight it out. Sunlight however disappointed, well before the race came on the boil.
Spearhead did the assigned job of a pace maker quite admirably. Arabian Prince raced in close proximity while Sunlight who raced a little wide till passing the winning post for the first time, was hurried by Richard Hughes to take the spot ahead of the fancied runner from Dr Vijay Mallya’s yard. Sunlight was pushed to take over the running at around the 800 metres but this did not provoke any panic from Chris Hayes who sat still and waited with Arabian Prince till the final two furlongs. Sunlight was unable to break free as Arabian Prince dismissed off his opponent with minimum of fuss and sped away for what looked like an effortless win. Chris Hayes could ease up the horse long way from home but the fact that a record timing resulted was due to the fast pace and the ease with which Arabian Prince could accelerate once given his head.
For a moment when Cabriolet joined issue with Arabian Prince inside the final 350 metres, it looked as though the former could carry his fight to the wire but he weakened. However, he did well to stay on in second spot. Native Knight showed up briefly but ran out of reserves and Hyderabad’s Vijay’s Angel managed to take the third place to save some blushes for the Hyderabad camp who thus had a placed horse in Group I company. Though there was many who believed that Autonomy could make his presence felt on his known class, it was clear that in a true run race, he would find the trip too taxing for comfort.
Padmanabhan trained Nearness of You who was given a poor ride in her last run by jockey Imran Chisty, made amends by winning the day’s other highlight, the Western India Bookmakers’ Association Million, a rich terms race for three year olds. Jockey David Allan did not hesitate to have the daughter of Diffident dictate the pace from the word go over the mile long trip. The big made Nearness of You had no problem in staving off the challenge of Mishri who was the nearest challenger. Voyager and Javo who were expected to figure at the finish, made no show.
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