The winner was owned by the Poonawalla brothers, Dr Cyrus and Zavaray, with their families, and was bred at the Kunigal stud farm.
A Star Is Born, trained by Rajesh Narredu and ridden by his elder brother Suraj, won the Zavaray S Poonawalla Eve Champion Trophy (Gr 3), the feature event of Saturday's eight-race card. The winner was owned by the Poonawalla brothers, Dr Cyrus and Zavaray, with their families, and was bred at the Kunigal stud farm.
The five-horse field jumped to a level start. Jockey Suraj Narredu settled A Star Is Born in fourth position, with only Faith Of Success behind him, even as Victorious Sermon dictated pace to Caprisca and Taimur. The pace setter lost steam soon on turning for home, and Caprisca (A Sandesh up) tried to grab the lead but Taimur (Bhawani Singh up) quickly overpowered him, and looked like he might steal the race on the strength of sheer momentum. However, Suraj kept urging A Star Is Born, who warmed up opposite the stands, and managed to win a narrow, short neck verdict in a photo finish.
Rookie jockey A Prakash gave further proof that his last week's treble was not merely a flash in the pan, by riding three more winners in a single day! He was engaged to ride four horses, and won with long shot Dowsabel & favourite Dali Swirl for trainer Faisal Abbas, and also steered trainer Nirad Karanjawala's Sandman to a fluent victory.
Trainer Adhirajsingh Jodha scored a lucrative double. His first winner was 11-to-2 Exemplify who produced a stunning gallop to outclass her four rivals to win the trophy named after his late father, Magansingh P Jodha, who also was a horse trainer. Adhirajsingh then went on to win the August Handicap with the 7-to-2 Golden Kingdom. Both his winners were ridden by jockey A Sandesh.
Courtesy: mid-day
