Expecting the unexpected. A review of the 10th day of racing
By Shiven Surendranath
The global popularity of the instrument of insurance, be it life, health, vehicle or home underlines the fact that the wiser amongst our species are ever ready to expect the unexpected. It is because of this perennial alertness towards the unexpected that our mouths don’t open, in the exacting imitation of a gold fish gulping for oxygen, when the sultry Jennifer Lopez insures her derriere or Madonna her non-existent front façade for millions of dollars
Horse racing emphasizes this truth about the un announced arrival of the unexpected at precise thirty minutes intervals and one can almost see the unexpected waiting motionless, ready to snap shut and trap its unwary prey at the slightest contact. Much like the lobes of the Venus Fly trap starved of it’s preferred supply of carnivorous savories.
The 10th day of racing of the Pune season was a day when the expected surprisingly unfolded like the expected. It did it with such boring regularity that it bought about almost a sadomasochistic yearning for the unexpected to come and hit one on that part of one’sanatomy, which Ms.Lopez has so famously chosen to insure.
Lohtse opened favourite in the 1st and, as expected, lugged in during the race then lugged out in the betting ring and lost.
Considering this is the 3rd time she has preferred to lug, rather than maintain a more dignified straight course, the stipes recommended that she must run a mock race before she is allowed to accept to race again. Cha Cha Cha was tipped once again and as expected lost once again and then Darren Willams expectedly won when least expected, this time on Archimedes.
Phelps and Cha Cha Cha ran 1-2 till the 800 with Archimedes, steadily improving his position throughout the race with Lhotse on his outside.
By the 600 while Lhotse was being pushed like an old Ambassador with engine trouble while Cha Cha Cha had switched into reverse gear making it that much easier for Archimedes to go clear and win and he did so quite comfortably.
As expected in the 2nd, the trainer could not tip Dhishkyaon as a good thing as the owners are known to be quite adamant about having their punt without word getting around. So he tipped it as only having a good chance.
Dhishkyaon shot to the front and was always a couple of lengths clear of Golden Wave, Ashwa Yodha and Copperglow.
Into the straight it was clear that Dhishkyaon was perfectly on target and he would hit…err… um… if one is allowed to use the word bullseye.
As per expectations Sanjay Kolse’s, Copperglow, now ran 2nd when not so strongly fancied and To The Moon ran nowhere as he was fancied.
In the 3rd, as expected, Reynolds won and Zervan rode an overconfident race.
While it is to the jockey’s credit that he has completely erased the memory of his ride on Apache from the last Mumbai season, someone should inform him that there is no wire mesh that separates the punters from the jockeys on the way to the paddock in Pune and the day is not far when he can expect more than losing tickets being flung at him when he heads back.
In the 4th, as expected, after running an untried 3rd over 1200, Square Moon, a son of Sedgefield, got backed to favoritism over 2000 meters and, Bethpage, after losing by a distance as a well backed favourite last time out ran a blinder when at longer odds this time.
Hallelujah hit the front with King Glorieux, Ad Astra, Elaheh and the others behind him. At the mile marker Hallelujah’s saddle shifted and King Glorieux took over the running.
Red Fort made a forward move and joined King Glorieux in front at the 1000. Bethpage and Square Moon had meanwhile gotten into position to launch their attack just behind Elaheh. Between the 800 to the 600 Red Fort disappeared and Ad Astra and Elaheh fought it out with Square Moon and Bethpage getting closer. At the 200 it seemed that Square Moon would win but Bethpage showed a great turn of foot and both the horses fought it out stride for stride till the post with Square Moon just prevailing.
In the 5th, as expected, Sandesh rode his one suspect race of the day. He seemed in such a hurry to get done that one was expecting him to leap off his horse on passing the post, pick up his packed in advance baggage and rush to the airport to catch the first available flight out of Pune.
He tore off to the front on Strawberry Crush with Presence chasing him; Thoughts of You sat a comfortable third. Into the straight Sandesh pressed yet harder on Strawberry Crush taking out every last drop of juice from the horse in the process.
At the 200 Thoughts Of You zoomed past Strawberry Crush for an overdue win keeping in mind to thank him later for playing pace maker.
Just after a Strawberry Crush came a Lucky Pineapple! With the Poonawalla-Altaf Bhai- Sandesh owner –trainer-jockey combo to his credentials he ran “on money”. As expected, he became a Juicy Pineapple that was gobbled up by punters who were looking for a 4:00 p.m. snack.
Wind And Stars won the race with a smart start to finish effort with Lucky Pineapple challenging from the 400 but his efforts were clearly going to bear no fruit.
Post the race one could well imagine trainer Antia smiling to himself with the words philosopher Heraclitus running through his head. The learned Greek had wisely remarked, “If you do not expect the unexpected, you will never find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail.”
Lucky Charm, finished on well to show that he has now come to hand.
The Tattersalls Million was the feature event of the day. As expected, Classic Moment got backed soundly. Not just because of some blazing work on the track but also because she had the best credentials, however the lack of a run in Pune possibly put paid to hes chances.
She hit the front and led Polydences and Spider Man into the straight where she came under pressure from them as they challenged her one after the other.
Spidey, showing a marked improvement over his previous effort put in a terrific run and for the rest of the day clung to the best looking trophy to be given out to the winner of a race in the entire Pune season.
In the penultimate race of the day, as expected, yet another favourite of Imtiaz, the trainer not the stallion, went down.
Al Shamsheer, Armel, Speed King and Delightful Lady ran 1-2-3-4 till the 800. At the 600 Armel had fallen out of contention and Speed King and Delightful Lady seemed to be traveling the best. Into the straight Delightful Lady, well backed by the stable’s connections, fought it out briefly with Speed King and won.
Imtiaz’s ward Speed King was unlucky to come across Delightful Lady and should win this season when he is not the favourite.
In the last Zander proved to be the exception to the rule and won as the favourite, which was really not expected.
It took some time for the large field to settle down and when it finally did one could spot Mountain Song, Earth Tamer, Tahrir, Zander, Pepito and Fast Lady in prominent positions.
As the field turned for home Earth Tamer, Zander and Pepito were moving exceptionally well and it could have been anybody’s race.
Zander then tried to take the lead at the 200 and fought it out stride for stride with Earth Tamer. Just as he managed to prevail over Earth Tamer, Pepito came up with a huge run. Zander held on somehow and Pepito was unlucky to lose on the nod even as he was the fastest finishing at the end.
As the crowd slowly left for their abodes, magnificent and humble, they looked forward to days like the one that they had just enjoyed. A race day rarely goes as expected.
(Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are the author's personal views.)
