Berlusconi overhauls Balmoral Castle close home
Pesi Shroff trained Berlusconi made a winning debut in Bangalore when coming up with a spirited run and overhauling Balmoral Castle in the final strides of the race in the 1600 metres Karnataka Police Cup, a race for horses rated 80 and above, which featured Saturday’s races. Balmoral Castle led all the way except at the post.
Berlusconi was backed to the exclusion of the rest to land the spoils as the progeny of Iktiyar had won his last outing at Mumbai and was showing out in the workouts. Balmoral Castle was second in demand. Neeraj Rawal had Balmoral Castle in front from the word `go’ with stablemate Topkapi in close attendance while Berlusconi who was in striking position, lost ground at around the 800 metres as Mighty Heart was falling back on him. Jockey Prakash had to check his horse in order to prevent it from clipping the front runner. This however did not cause any harm to the favourite’s chances as Prakash was able to recover ground quickly as the pace of the race was modest and he was able to come through the shortest way home to essay his challenge on the outside of Balmoral Castle and Topkapi. Balmoral Castle battled on doggedly in front and it took a strong persevering effort on the part of Prakash to get Berlusconi to stretch out fully and get the verdict in his favour in the closing stages of the race. Topkapi held on to the third spot.
Prakash however failed to drive out Nearness of You to victory in the Lady Gibraltar Plate (Div I) as Arrow In Auto Mode held on valiantly to prevail by a neck. Silver Springs set a modest pace as Hyderabad companion chased the pace setter with Nearness of You settled in the third position. Rounding the final bend, Chouhan had Arrow In Auto Mode overhaul the front runner and under pressure, the progeny of Razeen slightly drifted out. Prakash who was making his move on Nearness of You on the outside of Arrow In Auto Mode chased course in anticipation of the front runner drifting out further. Nearness of You finished on strongly but was neck shy at the finish.
Waikato was expected to have it easy in the lower division the race but it required all the brilliance of Prakash to enable the favourite to survive the onslaught of Akalaki. Waikato was hard pressed by Akalaki who was seen on the race track for only the second time in her career as a setback had kept her out of training, defied her looks and showed that she is ready to strike before long. The rest of the runners were a distance behind.
The betting in the Heir Apparent Trophy (Div I), a five and half furlong race, was confined to Starista and Caraway. However, both these runners flopped as lesser fancied Grand Success sneaked through in the final furlong to win with a measure of comfort. Caraway managed to get the second spot ahead of Starista who reportedly bled after the race. The lower division of the race too had some modest runners in the fray and it was won by Ganapathy’s Southern Bay whose despite dramatic expansion in her odds, had no problem in disposing of the challenge of Yawar and Saphira.
Jockey Noel Callow had a well-priced double through Current Ray and Allez Vite. Free Law began at cramped odds to win the 1200 metres Adarsh Plate with Colour of Money receiving inspired support to end up as a strong second favourite. Forest Regent too was well backed. The support for Free Law dwindled considerably close to race time. Jockey Ladjad Stephane replaced C Alford in the saddle but to his bad luck, the filly reared up violently at the gates, resulting in the jockey being thrown backwards from the saddle. Stephane suffered a fracture on his toe which effectively rules him out of action for a month or more. The filly was a non-starter as a result. Current Ray was available at lucrative odds. Move To Remember set a fast pace followed by Ultimate Fantasy, Colour of Money, Forest Regent and the rest with Current Ray unable to get a favourable position early on and was loitering almost at the tail end. Colour of Money took control of the proceedings after the final turn but his supremacy was short lived as Current Ray showed up on the outside with a brilliant run to go sailing clear to win in great style. Forest Regent could not quicken though he was in striking position and had to settle for third slot. May be he will perform better if he is asked to cover more ground.
The mile long Dupont Plate saw Karisini being backed strongly though four kg claimer Kiran Rai was in the saddle. Allez Vite came in for sustained support in the ring to end up almost as a favourite. Six Gun Smith ran freely in front to set a fast pace early on before Yamas took over that job. Allez Vite was settled in about the sixth position behind Rezoom while Kiran Rai was unable to obtain a favourable position for Karisini who lost all her chances as a result. Noel Callow brought Allez Vite with a strong run in the centre of the course and managed to shoot through the gap between Yamas and Rezoom who had come into strong contention. After a brief duel, Allez Vite went away for a comfortable win over Rezoom who has time and again found the winning post an elusive one. Sky Diver ran on from behind to take the third slot.
In what looked like a minefield of a race, Puttanna trained Jeyem who had not been exploited thus far, attracted all the betting and true to market expectation, Jeyem ran prominently and went into a decisive lead inside the final 300 metres and won comfortably from Count Royal who made a futile chase.
Berlusconi was backed to the exclusion of the rest to land the spoils as the progeny of Iktiyar had won his last outing at Mumbai and was showing out in the workouts. Balmoral Castle was second in demand. Neeraj Rawal had Balmoral Castle in front from the word `go’ with stablemate Topkapi in close attendance while Berlusconi who was in striking position, lost ground at around the 800 metres as Mighty Heart was falling back on him. Jockey Prakash had to check his horse in order to prevent it from clipping the front runner. This however did not cause any harm to the favourite’s chances as Prakash was able to recover ground quickly as the pace of the race was modest and he was able to come through the shortest way home to essay his challenge on the outside of Balmoral Castle and Topkapi. Balmoral Castle battled on doggedly in front and it took a strong persevering effort on the part of Prakash to get Berlusconi to stretch out fully and get the verdict in his favour in the closing stages of the race. Topkapi held on to the third spot.
Prakash however failed to drive out Nearness of You to victory in the Lady Gibraltar Plate (Div I) as Arrow In Auto Mode held on valiantly to prevail by a neck. Silver Springs set a modest pace as Hyderabad companion chased the pace setter with Nearness of You settled in the third position. Rounding the final bend, Chouhan had Arrow In Auto Mode overhaul the front runner and under pressure, the progeny of Razeen slightly drifted out. Prakash who was making his move on Nearness of You on the outside of Arrow In Auto Mode chased course in anticipation of the front runner drifting out further. Nearness of You finished on strongly but was neck shy at the finish.
Waikato was expected to have it easy in the lower division the race but it required all the brilliance of Prakash to enable the favourite to survive the onslaught of Akalaki. Waikato was hard pressed by Akalaki who was seen on the race track for only the second time in her career as a setback had kept her out of training, defied her looks and showed that she is ready to strike before long. The rest of the runners were a distance behind.
The betting in the Heir Apparent Trophy (Div I), a five and half furlong race, was confined to Starista and Caraway. However, both these runners flopped as lesser fancied Grand Success sneaked through in the final furlong to win with a measure of comfort. Caraway managed to get the second spot ahead of Starista who reportedly bled after the race. The lower division of the race too had some modest runners in the fray and it was won by Ganapathy’s Southern Bay whose despite dramatic expansion in her odds, had no problem in disposing of the challenge of Yawar and Saphira.
Jockey Noel Callow had a well-priced double through Current Ray and Allez Vite. Free Law began at cramped odds to win the 1200 metres Adarsh Plate with Colour of Money receiving inspired support to end up as a strong second favourite. Forest Regent too was well backed. The support for Free Law dwindled considerably close to race time. Jockey Ladjad Stephane replaced C Alford in the saddle but to his bad luck, the filly reared up violently at the gates, resulting in the jockey being thrown backwards from the saddle. Stephane suffered a fracture on his toe which effectively rules him out of action for a month or more. The filly was a non-starter as a result. Current Ray was available at lucrative odds. Move To Remember set a fast pace followed by Ultimate Fantasy, Colour of Money, Forest Regent and the rest with Current Ray unable to get a favourable position early on and was loitering almost at the tail end. Colour of Money took control of the proceedings after the final turn but his supremacy was short lived as Current Ray showed up on the outside with a brilliant run to go sailing clear to win in great style. Forest Regent could not quicken though he was in striking position and had to settle for third slot. May be he will perform better if he is asked to cover more ground.
The mile long Dupont Plate saw Karisini being backed strongly though four kg claimer Kiran Rai was in the saddle. Allez Vite came in for sustained support in the ring to end up almost as a favourite. Six Gun Smith ran freely in front to set a fast pace early on before Yamas took over that job. Allez Vite was settled in about the sixth position behind Rezoom while Kiran Rai was unable to obtain a favourable position for Karisini who lost all her chances as a result. Noel Callow brought Allez Vite with a strong run in the centre of the course and managed to shoot through the gap between Yamas and Rezoom who had come into strong contention. After a brief duel, Allez Vite went away for a comfortable win over Rezoom who has time and again found the winning post an elusive one. Sky Diver ran on from behind to take the third slot.
In what looked like a minefield of a race, Puttanna trained Jeyem who had not been exploited thus far, attracted all the betting and true to market expectation, Jeyem ran prominently and went into a decisive lead inside the final 300 metres and won comfortably from Count Royal who made a futile chase.
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