Zervan plays pivotal role in Shroff's trophy double
By Prakash Gosavi
Young lad S Zervan displayed both his energy and maturity on Sunday at Mahalaxmi when he rode Onassis to victory in the grade 3, A C Ardeshir Trophy and, an hour later, drove two-year-old Portia to a winning debut in the Indiarace.com Trophy. Both his winners sported Vijay Shirke's silks, and were trained by Pesi Shroff who emerged as star professional for the day with a treble, having sent out yet another winner in the last race of the card in Scarlet Pimpernel, who defeated the day's shortest priced runner with a measure of comfort.
If Zervan styles his career on his legendary master who rode as much with his head as he did with hands & heels, it will not be long before the youngster finds himself in the big league.
A peculiar thing that has been happening time and again, but still is not being respected by the students of form, needs a mention here. Last season's Classic hopefuls, who were overshadowed by the performances of Moonlight Romance, haven't amounted to much whenever they have tried to match strides with older horses from earlier crops--almost all terms races this year (2011) for horses 4-years-old & over have been won by older horses.
Still, every time they line up for a fresh contest, it is always a four-year-old that commands the public faith and money.
The case was not any different in the A C Ardeshir Trophy, a grade 3 race for horses 3 years old & over, but which, effectively, was for 4-years-old & over, there being no 3-y-o in the fray.
Four-year-old Ocean And Beyond was installed as an overwhelming favourite at 11/10, followed by another 4-y-o, Macchupicchu at 6/1.
B Prakash took Macchupicchu to the front to lead by 3 lengths over Ciel Indienne & Su Chaliyo, with Onassis tucked in on the inside rails having Native Knight for company on the outside, two lengths behind raced favourite Ocean And Beyond, followed by Beautiful Stranger & Rajasthan Royals. They entered the straight more or less in the same order, but Macchupicchu showed signs of pressure as Ciel Indienne (Anthony Crastus up) moved up to challenge him. Zervan astride Onassis made a quick decision to change lanes and move out, while Martin Dwyer on Ocean And Beyond rushed to take the lane vacated by Zervan. By the furlong post, Ciel Indienne overpowered the tiring Macchupicchu, but by then Zervan had set alight Onassis with such power that Ciel Indienne who moments ago looked too aggressive for Macchupicchu surrendered rather meekly against the challenger's assault. Martin Dwyer, realizing his error, moved Ocean & Beyond out in the final furlong, but the horse refused to put his heart into it, and in any case it was a bit too late to impact the final result.
Zervan displayed his versatility when he rode his other winner, Portia, in the Indiarace.com trophy. The popular racing website debuted as race sponsor in western India with a five-furlong sprint for two-year-olds in which 11 juveniles lined up for the rich purse of over half a million. The rider made no mistake in exploiting the innermost draw when Portia jumped out smartly to lead along with Your Lordship & Victorian Vice; they were followed by the favourite Winter Wind (Martin Dwyer up) and the rest, with second favourite Bizarro (Daniel Grant up) racing closer to the wrong end, failing to keep up with initial pace after a level jump.
Portia paced with ease, and Zervan was content sitting without moving a muscle until passing the 400-m pole where her companions actually started falling back, having shot their bolt. Any other rider would perhaps have misread the situation and tempted to continue enjoying the supremacy until someone actually challenged. But without any apparent threat in the air, Zervan suddenly decided to vigorously urge the filly, soon opening a 3-length gap by the distance post, and then maintained it up to 100m with the help of a few cracks. What was more impressive was that he did not panic when Portia considerably slowed down in the final 50 meters, confident that the clever lead he had worked up earlier, would keep them safe from the fast-approaching rivals. Portia finally spared three parts of a length to Bizarro who started galloping when the race was all over, and who edged out Winter Wind, whose chances were ruined on account of running green, not keeping a straight course when put under pressure.
The Sunday card also slated two more trophy events, both sponsored by Plastindia, who joined hands with the club in its drive to aid the Cancer Society of India. In the Plastindia Race Of Hope Gold Cup for 4y&over, class III horses Venus Rosewater, who had scored her last two victories on this track, received such inspired support that at post time she replaced Stardom Bound as favourite, the latter drifting to 7/2. However, on the racetrack both of them, lying at the wrong end of the field until turning for home, fought a stirring duel before Venus Rosewater had the last laugh in the hands of Dashrath Singh. The winner carried family silks of RWITC chairman Vivek Jain who donated 25% of the winning stakes to the charity, as did the jockeys from their earnings, besides the club staff who also chipped in with their contribution for the noble cause. Venus Rosewater was trained by Imtiaz Sait who had also led in another winner earlier in the day when Cypress Point (C Rajendra up), owned by the Sporting League Racing Syndicate, narrowly prevailed over favourite Equiano whom apprentice rider Kavaraj Singh gave a superb ride. Incidentally, trainer Imtiaz Sait also added to the coffers of the charity (Rs 25,000), as did owner Ashwin Mehta on behalf of his syndicate (Rs 10,000).
The Plastindia Race Of Hope Salver for class IV horses turned out to be the race with most runners so far this season as 20 horses faced the starter. Trainer Pesi Shroff's Double Diamond (C Ruzaan up) was backed to the exclusion of all her rivals; however, she failed to live up to her place in the betting. Ruzaan settled her alongside the second-in-demand King Julian (B Prakash up) in 4th or 5th berth as Spirit Of Mercy brought them into the homestretch. King Julian, despite a heavy impost of 60.5 kg, then shot ahead approaching the furlong post while the favourite just failed to quicken. The lead, however, changed dramatically in the final furlong when Star Builder came from way far back and swooped on him to momentarily rule, before he was overhauled by Flying Kiss (Shrikant Kamble up) who had accelerated from a very bad position at the turn. Interestingly, the first five finishers in this race were all freely available at 30 to 1 or more.
Narendra Lagad, who sent out a shocker in Flying Kiss had also won the earlier race, the upper division of the Ace Ruler Plate, with another fluke horse--Arctic Minstrel ridden by Ladjadj Stephane, who humbled Pride Of The Hills (Martin Dwyer up) close home. Viva La Diva (Mansoor Khan up) shot away to lead by 3 lengths over Pride Of The Hills, followed by Arctic Minstrel and the rest. The Antia-trained filly whom everyone expected to fold up after turning for home surprised by skipping further away, doubling up her lead over Pride Of The Hills who seemed to be struggling to step up pace. The leader however started shortening her strides approaching the final furlong marker, but Kamble astride Arctic Minstrel rode like one possessed to wrest the advantage and overtook them both.
The Enrico Plate for class V horses (5y&over) was split into two divisions. The upper division was won by Ran Banka, trained by Adhirajsingh Jodha and ridden by C S Jodha, who led at every post along the way, when beating favourite Arabian Eagle and long shot Tomorrow's Dreams.
The lower division was won by Arabian Empire who could have run away from opposition, but did not, because jockey T S Jodha chose to ease him in the last half a dozen strides for which he rightly earned the stewards' displeasure. If placed again in a 5y&over set, this winner may be able to make light of the 9-point penalty that the official handicapper has imposed on him.
For your notebook:
Arabian Empire, who can provide an encore; Radical Mackie who should win sooner than later if entrusted to a more experienced rider; Bizarro, who will not remain long in the maiden ranks; and Winter Wind, who was the most impressive runner in her race though she finished third because of running green.
