Martin Dwyer is Field Marshal at Mysore

English jockey Martin Dwyer rode a splendid race on favourite Field Marshal to guide the Padmanabhan trainee to victory in the Gr 1 Poonawalla Mysore Derby in front of a capacity crowd on Sunday. The three year old son of the now diceased Placerville won the premier event in a hard way, winning it start to finish in a new record timing of two minutes 01.54 seconds in hot and humid conditions. Padmanabhan thus saddled his 12th Derby winner and three of them have been for owner Haresh N Mehta who earlier Derby winners from the Bangalore based trainer were Holding Court and Becket.

Field Marshal had won the Mysore 2000 Guineas by literally swamping the opposition and earned the tag of highest rated three year old classic winner in the country. There were many who believed that since Field Marshal is out of a Sprinters Cup winning Shamaal, there could be stamina limitations especially since he was expected to do the entire front running and then last out the trip. The strongly built Field Marshal belied such an expectation with a comfortable win over Southern Bay who was gallant in defeat.

Martin Dwyer rode a clever race, increasing the tempo of the race after crossing the mile marker which had the opposition struggling to keep pace, gave a breather to the favourite before quickening for home. Though Field Marshall came off the rails, Dwyer gathered him and drove out the horse to stave off the challenge of Southern Bay. ``A combination of the horse tiring and also the fact that he was idling at the front was the reason why the verdict may have looked closer than what it should have been. Today I rode Field Marshal to defeat the filly who was the main threat. The horse can be ridden differently and he has plenty of scope for improvement, ‘’ said Dwyer. The jockey was battling the long haul in the last one week which had seen him ride in the cold environs of Canada and UK before landing in the early hours of Sunday in Bangalore as also the scorching heat at Mysore. ``I will be coming back in the second week of November to ride for the trainer during the winter season,’’ he added.

Owner Haresh N Mehta was obviously thrilled at winning his fourth Derby. ``I leave the job of training the horse, targeting it and also fixing the jockey. All I do is to lead in the horse,’’ he said. Field Marshal has grown as a strong horse and he has matured physically. We will be targeting him for the Indian classics, said Padmanabhan. The enthusiastic Mysore crowd honoured the jockey by presenting the traditional Mysore turban.

Field Marshall was backed spiritedly to win the Derby which had stakes in excess of Rs 1 core. Southern Bay who had beaten In The Spotlight on two occasions, was another who was reckoned to have the best chance of winning the race. In The Spotlight had subsequently won the Deccan Derby at Hyderabad in impressive fashion which further flanked the form of Southern Bay.

Dwyer had Field Marshall take charge of the proceedings as the starter dispatched the field for the 2000 metres trip as none in the field had the speed to go with him. Southern Bay raced second along with At The Helm followed by Midtown Magic, Bold Police, Practically Perfect, I Specialist and Lad Lady. The pace of the raced picked up as the field covered the first two furlongs and Bold Police was the first to show distress signals as he gradually fell back to go out of contention.

Field Marshall had a breather before quickening again and this time decisively. At The Helm faded out of the scene at the final turn and it was only Southern Bay who stayed on to battle it out with the front runner. Dwyer rode Field Marshal hands and heels throughout the straight despite Southern Bay closing up the leeway. Field Marshal came off the rails inside the final furlong but the jockey corrected the drift and was in control of the situation. Southern Bay finished a shade less than a length at the finish. Midtown Magic ran on to finish third ahead of final entrant Practically Perfect.