Classy Macchupicchu Rewrites Pune Course Record - By Mahendra Mallya
Posted on - 26 Sep 2011
Classy Macchupicchu Rewrites Pune Course Record
By Mahendra Mallya
The McDowell Indian St Leger (Grade 1), despite a small field, provided a gripping finish that sent the crowded Grand Stands to raptures, as favourite Macchupicchu and arch-rival Ocean And Beyond scorched the turf in a gripping tussle for a major part of the homestretch. The pulsating moments arrived as soon as they turned for home with Macchupicchu sailing into the lead working up a majestic gallop. Ocean And Beyond, who played the waiting game to the hilt, hurried through the middle and set up the stage for his strong final bid at just about the same moment.
As the gates flung open, Frost Fairy flew out to make the pace and hurtled at a steady clip. Macchupicchu boldly ran up in front keeping a pulse on the pace, while Ordained One, Berlusconi and Ocean And Beyond followed in a single file. Past the mile mark, Frost Fairy stepped on the throttle and sped further away opening a massive lead, tearing away regardless of the reaction behind. There was none! The quartet behind, chose to ignore the filly’s ploy and went about executing their own plans, choosing to call the runaway leader’s bluff!
Macchupicchu galloped on his own terms and the others followed the favourite in a calculative fashion. The race picked up momentum past the 1000m mark, with Macchupicchu cutting down the distance to Frost Fairy and surging ahead at the turn. Ocean And Beyond was alerted at this stage and Suraj Narredu got him to the tail of Macchupicchu soon on turning for home.
Jockey B Prakash then got busy in getting Macchupicchu to accelerate as he heard Ocean and Beyond breathing down his neck. Ocean And Beyond was hard-ridden too, and soon he crept alongside Macchupicchu looking dangerous, as they hit the distance post together. Macchupicchu then produced that extra bit that champions are known to produce when the going gets tough. He showed a lot of zip in the final 100m and tore away from the gallant challenger to triumph in style, bettering the course record of 2:58.7 secs clocking an impressive 2: 57.30 secs.
“I was confident he would do well particularly after his victory in The Idar Trophy. He is a genuine colt and possesses plenty of class which he amply displayed in the manner he finished-on today. He has been finishing close around eminent rivals in the Indian Classics and I secretly felt that he was bound to raise the bar for himself. Shroff has worked him to fine fettle and Prakash was in his elements ensuring that Macchupicchu gave off his best. I am ecstatic,” said Mr. Berjis Minoo Desai, joint owner of Macchupicchu, along with M/s Vijay Shirke and K N Dhunjibhoy.
It was an ‘all trophies’ day at the Pune racecourse and as is the case with any McDowell event, the pomp and show was evident. The munificent sponsors got in two talented artists in Salil Bhatt, renowned ‘Satvik Veena’ maestro and Sudarsan Pattnaik whose hands work magic with sand. Mr Bhatt has the distinction of being the first ever musician to perform inside the parliament of Germany. He rendered soul-touching scores with P Mishra on the’ tabla’ and had the patrons enthralled by his admirable talent.
Mr Pattnaik who has to his credit the world record for creating the tallest Santa Claus, created awesome images moving his hands deftly along sand covered plank. He sketched galloping horses with changing backgrounds in matter of seconds, culminating with a quick replication of the RWITC and McDowell Logos that had the viewers spellbound. The finesse with which both these global stars performed was a sublime complement to the heroics of Macchupicchu on the Pune race track!
