Baychimo Bursts the Bubble in 2000 Guineas

 

By Sharan Kumar

 

Sunday’s Mumbai card was a gentle reminder that favourites do not, in fact, come with a secret turbo button stitched under the saddle. The popular belief that a short-priced runner can simply “change gear” at will was left sprawled on the turf, as punters who chased reputations rather than realities paid a familiar price.

 

Ten races promised a carnival. One favourite winning turned it into a wake. After the lone obliging early on, it was mayhem with a betting slip, as favourites discovered that pedigree, hype and celebrity jockeys do not automatically translate into forward motion when the bell rings.

 

The day’s centrepiece, the Indian 2000 Guineas, was supposed to be at the mercy of Pune Derby hero Zacharias. Instead, it became a lesson in humility, with Baychimo gatecrashing the party. Despite a scrappy start and settling at the tail, Baychimo was unleashed wide in the straight, mowing them down with a withering burst to collar Sovereign King virtually on the line. Classic dreams were rewritten in the last stride.

 

Zacharias, for all the glowing references and the presence of English champion Oisin Murphy, never found that mythical extra gear. When the pace lifted, the favourite looked like a horse searching for answers that never arrived, beaten well before the final furlong. Reputation, it turned out, could not run for him.

 

Sandesh’s ride on Baychimo was inspired, though he nearly turned hero into headline for the wrong reasons. Having swept past the field, he appeared to ease ever so slightly, perhaps convinced the job was done. Sovereign King refused to read the script and kept coming, forcing Baychimo to scrape home by the proverbial whisker. Momentum, not margin, saved the day.

 

Namiri ran on honestly to take third ahead of Western Star, while the crowd stared at the result board, trying to locate Zacharias. Fifth was the answer, and disbelief followed. It summed up a day where favourites promised fireworks and delivered damp squibs.

 

The irony was delicious. Zacharias’ aura had been built on a devastating Pune Derby, while Baychimo’s earlier defeat there was politely explained away by circumstances. This time, the circumstances flipped. Baychimo, fitter and better timed, overturned the verdict in emphatic fashion, stopping the clock smartly at 1 minute 34.407 seconds for the mile and handing Adhirajsingh Jodha his first Indian Classic, along with a rare 1-2 courtesy Sovereign King. Baychimo was bred at Jai Govind Stud Farm.

 

From the gates, the Guineas refused to behave. Baychimo, drawn one, was immediately crowded for room and came close to clipping his own stablemate Sovereign King, forcing Sandesh to take a pull and accept last place. Rosario rolled along in front, setting a genuine tempo, with Namiri travelling smoothly in his slipstream and Western Star tucked in close behind. Zacharias enjoyed a reasonable stalking position but never quite settled into a fluent rhythm.

 

Approaching the turn, the field compressed. Western Star shot through along the rails with a dream run, Anthony Raj following him through on Sovereign King, while Namiri continued to grind away in earnest. Zacharias, meanwhile, was already under a reminder, his response conspicuously muted.

 

Entering the final furlong, Sandesh brought Baychimo widest of all. The colt unleashed a sustained run, mowing down rivals with every stride. Western Star and Namiri were quickly accounted for, but Sovereign King fought back gamely inside the last 100 metres. Sandesh briefly seemed to ease, convinced the race was over, only for Sovereign King to surge again. Baychimo’s momentum carried him past right on the line, winning by the narrowest of margins in a stirring, last-stride finish.

 

Jockey Sandesh, celebrating with unrestrained delight, said it was never the plan to ride Baychimo from so far off the pace. “I suffered interference early and had to drop back,” he explained. “But I was confident of covering the horses in front in the final furlong, as my horse found that extra gear when it mattered.”


 

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