The enduring charm of the Bangalore Derby

 No More Near Misses: Positano Strikes Gold

 

By Sharan Kumar

 

Sulaiman Attaollahi’s Positano has spent so long promising to win that his supporters probably felt they should invoice him for damages. This well-bred son of Arod kept flirting with victory in the toughest company—placing in classics and flashing those late runs that made you think this time for sure—only to stop short of delivering the goods. Last time out over seven furlongs, he managed to flop spectacularly.

 

But the Maharaja’s Cup is notorious for favouring classic-placed horses who enjoy a nice, polite pull in the weights—like handing them a “buy one, get one free” coupon at the scales. Positano was the big beneficiary of this generosity, finally making good on all those broken promises. He coolly asserted his supremacy while the prolific, multi-classic-winning Dyf discovered that giving weight away to younger rivals in his first start of the season was about as advisable as bringing a rubber knife to a swordfight.

 

Dyf did hit the front in the final furlong, to the relief of favourite-backers everywhere—but then proceeded to run out of steam so thoroughly you’d think someone had pulled the plug on his batteries. He crawled home in a meek third, while Deccan Derby winner Arkadian, whose career since October has been about as lively as a tax seminar, suddenly found his old spark to snatch second. Truth was so far behind he was practically in the next race, while Ramiel and Mandarino delivered performances that could be described as “forgettable”.

 

Positano has always loved a trip long enough for his trademark late dash, which so often ran out of runway. But Akshay Kumar—who’s been enduring a lean patch that would make a desert blush—showed genuine guts here. He kept Positano tucked at the rear of the big field, presumably checking for any last-minute instruction from the gods, and made his move rounding the final bend. On the wide outside, Positano finally let rip. The classic-placed runner produced a thrilling burst of speed to sail away for an easy win over Arkadian, who, in fairness, ran a mighty race himself.

 

Dyf, for his part, should benefit from this outing—call it a gentle reminder that race-fitness isn’t just an optional add-on—and will be a different proposition when he isn’t asked to give away weight like a benevolent charity.

 

Apart from Positano’s scenic tour of the wide outside (he probably collected Air Miles for it), the other fancied runners didn’t have much by way of excuses. Shubhankar did his designated role as pace-setter and led them into the straight, where Trevor Patel on Dyf loomed up menacingly with Arkadian in tow. Dyf briefly flattered to deceive—then remembered it was his season opener and decided he'd done enough for the day.

Positano, meanwhile, delivered the resolution and speed his long-suffering backers had been paying good money to see, sweeping past like a horse with places to be. Ramiel gave up the ghost as soon as the pace picked up, vanishing faster than your salary on payday. Mandarino, who had given Positano a proper thrashing in their last meeting, ran with all the enthusiasm of someone forced to attend a compulsory office meeting on a Sunday. His performance was perfectly in keeping with the frustrating inconsistency that’s dogged last year’s Mysore Derby winner.

Sulaiman Attaollahi had reason to smile all the way to the paddock as he completed a fine double on the day. After Positano’s long-awaited triumph, Del Aviz delivered next under Akshay Kumar, who is clearly determined to banish his lean-patch demons one winner at a time.

Del Aviz, the well-backed favourite in the 1200m Lagarde Plate for horses rated 60–85, didn’t exactly make it easy on anyone’s blood pressure. Jersey King, apparently unaware he was meant to be an also-ran, nearly spoiled the party by trying to slip away in front. But Akshay summoned his best drive to get Del Aviz up just in time, sparing backers from needing a stiff drink before the next race. Mazal Tov ran on late to pip last-start winner Pluto for place money, in a finish that suggested they were both invited to the winner’s circle but just couldn’t find the door.

Meanwhile, if you wanted to see punters’ money going down the drain faster than a monsoon flood, three races provided spectacular opportunities.

Take the R R Rashid Byramji Memorial Million (Div I), for maiden three-year-olds: it had “sure thing” written all over Romping Home, whose price was very short for a debutant. He’d had the benefit of a mock race, plenty of work, and the collective optimism of connections. For a brief, tantalising moment in the final furlong he looked set to deliver on the name—but Flights of Fancy (ridden with gusto by Vivek G) had other ideas. Angled out smartly, he produced a strong late burst to win with disconcerting ease. Romping Home had to settle for second, while Divine Secret sneaked into third, presumably delighted not to be mentioned in the post-mortem.

If that result rattled the betting public, the lower division of the same race gave them outright PTSD. Mai Tai, hammered in the market like it was happy hour in Vegas, simply failed to live up to the hype. Instead, Hidden Dreams—who had last been spotted trailing the field by 25+ lengths like he was out for a stroll—suddenly turned into Pegasus and won by a widening five lengths.

The dangers of punting in the “lowest class” were also on glorious display in a six-furlong race where Lokanath-trained Striking Eyes was backed to the exclusion of anything else with legs. Unfortunately, the favourite decided this was a good day to amble around without showing any speed or aggression, finishing a listless third. Empress Bella, who’d been beaten out of sight last time (by over 15 lengths!), found sudden inspiration and had the race wrapped up before her rivals figured out what was happening.

And in case punters hadn’t had enough heartbreak for one afternoon, the last race served up The Golden Dream—which turned into more of a Nightmare on Turf Street. Warren Singh’s trainee was punted as if defeat was a mere rumour. He promptly made trouble for himself from the start, travelled so wide he probably qualified for frequent flyer miles, and vanished from contention in the straight. Wellington, on the other hand, showed the kind of “vast improvement” leaving the field nine lengths behind in a demolition job. Last-start winner El Amein was second, and Peridot third—both probably wondering what on earth had just happened.

The one bright spot for those who stayed to the bitter end? Rajesh Narredu-trained Excellent Lass finally remembered how to win. After 289 days of listless, punter-infuriating runs, she nailed Densetsu in the dying stages of their six-furlong dash for horses rated 40–65. Even that wasn’t without drama: Connecting Dots, who had attracted some very “serious” betting, reportedly bled during the race.