By Prakash Gosavi

 

The mid-week race card framed for Thursday, November 17, turned out to be much more eventful than it promised to be on paper. 

 

The photo finish camera had to be called in to decide winner in 3 out of 8 races; the stewards were called in to sit in judgement over infringements in two races--one of which necessitated disqualification of winner for dangerous riding; and six of the eight favourites bit the dust--five of them losing to long shots that were quoted at 10/1 or over in the bookmakers' ring.

 

However, all these happenings were overshadowed by one single, superlative performance. And the hero--rather, the heroine--who put in that spectacular show was a filly named St Catz. 

 

The Royal Kingdom-Irish Glitter three year old who was racing after more than three-and-a-half months (she had last raced in Bangalore summer season) had opened as an overwhelming ante post favourite, and not without reason--on debut, she had finished 3 lengths behind Pronto Pronto who went on to win the Bangalore summer Derby; in the next start she beat Hills And Stars who later bagged the Pune Derby; then she won a class III race at Bangalore thrashing Magnitude who pulverized another set of class III horses just 10 days ago; and in her last start she had lost virtually on the post to In The Spotlight who last month annexed the Deccan Derby! 

 

But many people (yours truly included!) thought that the Nosher Cama ward may not be able to brave the huge 109-day lay-off, and some of them must have put money where their mouth was, sending St Catz's odds ballooning to 6/4 and Botswana's crashing to even money to end up as favourite. 

 

When the six runners were despatched for Sir Charles Forbes Trophy, Botswana (Malcolm Kharadi up) was a little sluggish at the start, but soon moved up to stalk St Catz who raced in third spot behind Moon Flower & Living The Dream. The same order prevailed until they turned for home, with Neeraj Rawal holding St Catz on a tight leash. It was only at the 300-meter marker when leader Moon Flower (Shrikant Kamble up) tried to flatter himself, refusing to concede the lead, that Neeraj loosened his grip on St Catz who, after a brief effort, assumed command. Botswana in the hands of Malcolm Kharadi then tried to live up to her place in the betting, but her all out effort was no match for St Catz who stretched out nicely in the last 100 meters when her rider waved the whip twice to keep her focused on the task. Eventually, she won more comfortably than suggested by the official margin of one length. 

 

The day had begun with the eclipse of the shortest priced favourite on the card. Sound Of River, quoted at 40/100, had no answer when the oldest horse in the fray, Magical Mantra trained by M P Jodha, challenged him 300 meters from home. Star Of Zoltan led the four-horse field with Red Sensation & Sound Of River close behind, while Magical Mantra chose to race last for most part of the mile trip. When the favourite moved up to be alongside leader Star Of Zoltan at the 400-m marker, Magical Mantra wasted precious time trying to look for a non-existent gap between them. But rider C S Jodha soon realized his error and angled out at the 300. Thereafter, Sound Of River shortened his strides and Magical Mantra lengthened his, earning a verdict of slightly less than 3 lengths at the wire.

 

That C S Jodha was in his element on this day soon became clear when he almost won the next race astride the S S Shah-trained Rajdoot. Racing fourth initially before falling back to the 8th when forced to negotiate the turn widest of all, Jodha spurred Rajdoot to an electrifying response. Rajdoot took only few seconds to sweep past the field, but when Young Offender (S S Baria up) accelerated and threatened him, the horse was perhaps on his last ounce of fuel. Jodha gave an incredible ride to Rajdoot who managed to keep his nose in front every inch of the final 100 meters except at the winning post.

 

But the goddess of luck possibly wanted Jodha to be honoured with a double anyway, and he got a chance ride on King Julien in the Desert Lightning Plate for maiden 3-y-o horses because owner Jay Shirke's retained rider B Prakash was indisposed. King Julien gave Jodha an armchair ride. The Placerville-Star Spangled three-year-old led from the word go, and rocketed to lead by a street over his rivals at the final turn. His main rival Rancho, who graced the wrong end until then, moved up to be second after crossing the two-furlong marker but could never intimidate the winner who was eased up by Jodha in the last part to spare only two lengths to runner up Rancho.

 

King Julien was trained by M K Jadhav who had, just half an hour ago, led in Pound Foolish, winner of the upper division of the Nyayo Plate, whom apprentice Shrikant Kamble rode to an easy victory. The 10/1 shot decisively beat public fancy Dancing Money by two lengths.

 

The supporting event of the day, J V Shukla "Ashwamitra" trophy, named after the longest-serving racing correspondent of the Indian Express newspaper, Mumbai, was won effortlessly by public fancy Orito. After a quick jump, Star Of Killarney showed the way, closely followed by Orito whom Srinath urged after hitting the straight. The Faizal Abbas trainee continued to take things lightly until the 300-m marker at which stage Srinath gave some left-handed whip-cracks, after which Orito took giant strides and practically left the field standing. 

 

Jockey Zameer Sayyed, who had scored the day's biggest upset in the last race on Sunday, repeated the same feat on Thursday. He rode the 15/1 shot That's My Master, trained by D D Pillai, to a thrilling short head victory over second favourite Eye Of The Storm (Shrikant Kamble up), who in turn spared a neck to another long shot Saddlers Rule (C S Jodha up). The favourite, Pronto Star (Srinath up), for whom there was an avalanche of support in betting, never raised hopes of victory at any stage, prompting the stipendiary stewards to open an inquiry into its running.

 

For your notebook:

Rancho who shouldn't remain long in the maiden ranks; Moon Flower who should lord over 5y&over horses over the same trip; Angels Pursuit who looks fit enough to score over a five-furlong scurry; and That's My Master who can win another race if cleverly placed.

 

Jockey Zameer Sayyed, who had scored the day's biggest upset in the last race on Sunday, repeated the same feat on Thursday. He rode the 15/1 shot That's My Master, trained by D D Pillai, to a thrilling short head victory over second favourite Eye Of The Storm (Shrikant Kamble up), who in turn spared a neck to another long shot Saddlers Rule (C S Jodha up). The favourite, Pronto Star (Srinath up), for whom there was an avalanche of support in betting, never raised hopes of victory at any stage, prompting the stipendiary stewards to open an inquiry into its running.The mid-week race card framed for Thursday, November 17, turned out to be much more eventful than it promised to be on paper. 

 

The photo finish camera had to be called in to decide winner in 3 out of 8 races; the stewards were called in to sit in judgement over infringements in two races--one of which necessitated disqualification of winner for dangerous riding; and six of the eight favourites bit the dust--five of them losing to long shots that were quoted at 10/1 or over in the bookmakers' ring.

 

However, all these happenings were overshadowed by one single, superlative performance. And the hero--rather, the heroine--who put in that spectacular show was a filly named St Catz. 

 

The Royal Kingdom-Irish Glitter three year old who was racing after more than three-and-a-half months (she had last raced in Bangalore summer season) had opened as an overwhelming ante post favourite, and not without reason--on debut, she had finished 3 lengths behind Pronto Pronto who went on to win the Bangalore summer Derby; in the next start she beat Hills And Stars who later bagged the Pune Derby; then she won a class III race at Bangalore thrashing Magnitude who pulverized another set of class III horses just 10 days ago; and in her last start she had lost virtually on the post to In The Spotlight who last month annexed the Deccan Derby! 

 

But many people (yours truly included!) thought that the Nosher Cama ward may not be able to brave the huge 109-day lay-off, and some of them must have put money where their mouth was, sending St Catz's odds ballooning to 6/4 and Botswana's crashing to even money to end up as favourite. 

 

When the six runners were despatched for Sir Charles Forbes Trophy, Botswana (Malcolm Kharadi up) was a little sluggish at the start, but soon moved up to stalk St Catz who raced in third spot behind Moon Flower & Living The Dream. The same order prevailed until they turned for home, with Neeraj Rawal holding St Catz on a tight leash. It was only at the 300-meter marker when leader Moon Flower (Shrikant Kamble up) tried to flatter himself, refusing to concede the lead, that Neeraj loosened his grip on St Catz who, after a brief effort, assumed command. Botswana in the hands of Malcolm Kharadi then tried to live up to her place in the betting, but her all out effort was no match for St Catz who stretched out nicely in the last 100 meters when her rider waved the whip twice to keep her focused on the task. Eventually, she won more comfortably than suggested by the official margin of one length. 

 

The day had begun with the eclipse of the shortest priced favourite on the card. Sound Of River, quoted at 40/100, had no answer when the oldest horse in the fray, Magical Mantra trained by M P Jodha, challenged him 300 meters from home. Star Of Zoltan led the four-horse field with Red Sensation & Sound Of River close behind, while Magical Mantra chose to race last for most part of the mile trip. When the favourite moved up to be alongside leader Star Of Zoltan at the 400-m marker, Magical Mantra wasted precious time trying to look for a non-existent gap between them. But rider C S Jodha soon realized his error and angled out at the 300. Thereafter, Sound Of River shortened his strides and Magical Mantra lengthened his, earning a verdict of slightly less than 3 lengths at the wire.

 

That C S Jodha was in his element on this day soon became clear when he almost won the next race astride the S S Shah-trained Rajdoot. Racing fourth initially before falling back to the 8th when forced to negotiate the turn widest of all, Jodha spurred Rajdoot to an electrifying response. Rajdoot took only few seconds to sweep past the field, but when Young Offender (S S Baria up) accelerated and threatened him, the horse was perhaps on his last ounce of fuel. Jodha gave an incredible ride to Rajdoot who managed to keep his nose in front every inch of the final 100 meters except at the winning post.

 

But the goddess of luck possibly wanted Jodha to be honoured with a double anyway, and he got a chance ride on King Julien in the Desert Lightning Plate for maiden 3-y-o horses because owner Jay Shirke's retained rider B Prakash was indisposed. King Julien gave Jodha an armchair ride. The Placerville-Star Spangled three-year-old led from the word go, and rocketed to lead by a street over his rivals at the final turn. His main rival Rancho, who graced the wrong end until then, moved up to be second after crossing the two-furlong marker but could never intimidate the winner who was eased up by Jodha in the last part to spare only two lengths to runner up Rancho.

 

King Julien was trained by M K Jadhav who had, just half an hour ago, led in Pound Foolish, winner of the upper division of the Nyayo Plate, whom apprentice Shrikant Kamble rode to an easy victory. The 10/1 shot decisively beat public fancy Dancing Money by two lengths.

 

The supporting event of the day, J V Shukla "Ashwamitra" trophy, named after the longest-serving racing correspondent of the Indian Express newspaper, Mumbai, was won effortlessly by public fancy Orito. After a quick jump, Star Of Killarney showed the way, closely followed by Orito whom Srinath urged after hitting the straight. The Faizal Abbas trainee continued to take things lightly until the 300-m marker at which stage Srinath gave some left-handed whip-cracks, after which Orito took giant strides and practically left the field standing. 

 

Jockey Zameer Sayyed, who had scored the day's biggest upset in the last race on Sunday, repeated the same feat on Thursday. He rode the 15/1 shot That's My Master, trained by D D Pillai, to a thrilling short head victory over second favourite Eye Of The Storm (Shrikant Kamble up), who in turn spared a neck to another long shot Saddlers Rule (C S Jodha up). The favourite, Pronto Star (Srinath up), for whom there was an avalanche of support in betting, never raised hopes of victory at any stage, prompting the stipendiary stewards to open an inquiry into its running.