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Circle of Bliss finally breaks the jinx

By: Frankel   August 31 , 2014
   

In a race which was principally contested by horses which hadn`t won for longish period of time, Circle of Bliss found the kind of opposition which could help her to record a win that had eluded her for 371 days. Circle of Bliss won the Gr 3 Treptin Fillies & Mares` Stakes over nine furlongs hardly raising a sweat on Sunday. The only horse which had the class to stretch her, Starry Eyes, had gone winless for 287 days and ran way below par and the race thus ceased to be a contest.

Circle of Bliss had been running fair races in Graded races barring the Invitation Cup where she gave a dismal performance. In her lung opener earlier in the season, she found To The Manor Born hard to overhaul. The Fillies` & Mares Stakes had a poor lot of horses competing with just two horses having made their mark in graded races Circle of Life and Starry Eyes in the fray. The rest were all horses which hadn`t even distinguished themselves in handicap races.

Belvedere was the pace setter for the stablemate, leading by more than 10 lengths over the rest with Scarlet O`Hara, Victoria Falls, Trance, Circle of Bliss and Starry Eyes following in that order. Approaching the final bend, Sandesh on Starry Eyes tried to improve places quickly but found to his distress, the filly not responding and struggling. Circle of Bliss was cruising up all along and smoothly went sailing clear to win by a widening of margin of nine lengths over Trace who just about held off Starry Eyes. Nothing much can be made of the victory of Circle of Bliss because Trance finished second and the latter has been a listless performer. Something is amiss with Starry Eyes who is a pale shadow of the champion that she was as a juvenile.
  
  


Malesh Narredu trained Quasar who was running 168 days after winning the Gr 3 Shapoorji Pallonji Breeders` Juvenile Colts Championship was expected to have it easy in the 1800 metres General Rajendrasinhji Million, a terms race for three year olds. There were just three runners in the fray but both Tatiana and Flashing Chieftain were no pushovers. The race was run at a crawl with the three jockeys in the race content to keep their horses on a tight leash. The situation was to the advantage of Quasar because the only way he could have been beaten was if the race was true run due to being ring rusty. The slow pace set by Tatiana suited Quasar fine as Suraj had no problem in settling him in second position ahead of Flashing Chieftain. The pace certainly proved detrimental to the chances of Flashing Chieftain for when the race came on the boil, Quasar could quicken and open up a healthy lead. Flashing Chieftain was fast gaining ground but the winning post came too soon and once again the progeny of Alnasr Alwasheek went down narrowly. If Sandesh had decided to go to front and made his own pace, the result could have been different. The weak quality of Indian jockeys is their inability to read the situation and think on their feet and take bold measures.

Pesi Shroff trained Adam had been a winner of both his outings though the two runs were well spaced out. He was backed to the exclusion of the rest in the 1400 metres Dr S R Captain Trophy, a race for horses rated 40 to 66, as the only threat appeared to be Caruso, trained by Janardhan. The strong support for Adam indicated what the likely outcome of the race and it came as no surprise as Adam won the race with minimum of fuss. Set To Fly snatched the second spot from Brynhill by a whisker while Superlicious who had won twice during the season came from a long way back to finish fourth. Caruso was not in serious hunt.

Mine Forever was the firm favourite for the 1200 metres B K Lagad Memorial Gold Trophy, a race for horses rated 40 to 66 but the public fancy was seen sweating profusely and did not look the part. Mine Forever led the field into the straight before disappearing. Desert Wings produced a strong burst in the final furlong to go storming clear and win with ease from the Antia trained pair of Basic Life and Ice Gates. Zeda who was the second favourite was restless in the gates and suffered interference at a crucial stage of the race which affected the possibility of her finishing in the money.
The last three races of the day were won by jockey Sandesh. Stiletto was well supported to win the 1400 metres Sonalika Plate, a race for horses rated 40 to 66. The favourite raced in a handy second position along the rails before assuming command on entering the homestretch. Stiletto won untroubled form Durer who snatched the runner up berth from Affirmation by a whisker with a late charge. Flash Drive had all the chances but failed to produce the spark that was associated with his last win.

Pesi Shroff trained Apache who had let down as a fancied runner last time out was again supported to win the 1200 metres Aerobic Plate (Div II), a race for three year olds. Troppa Bella and Egyptiana were the others who got fair bit of support in the ring. Apache raced in front and had the lead going into the final two furlongs but jockey Zervan was unable to keep the horse on an even keel as the gelding veered outwards and ran the final furlong on the outer periphery of the grass track. Troppa Bella made good the misery of Apache by taking charge along the rails and winning with a measure of comfort. Pepito who had changed stables recently and gone to trainer Narendra Lagad produced a sparkling run on the wide outside and edge past Simply Sweet to win the upper division of the race.

Sandesh rounded off the day with a win on Polar Zone in the concluding race of the day, the 1000 metres Gruezi Plate (Div II), a race for horses rated 20 to 46. There was solid support for Mansoor Shah trained Ancient World but the amount of money that the horse attracted in the ring was surely disproportionate to the chances he had in the race. In the event, Polar Zone had things her way after displacing Ice Gates from the lead position in the homestretch and bounced away for an easy win. Ancient World picked up momentum when the cause had been lost and only succeeded in beating Starsonboard for the runner up berth. Apprentice jockey Yash Narredu drove out lesser fancied Zoe to stave off the late flourish of Passion Prince and Mr Morrison to win the upper division of the race. Passion Prince was sluggish at the start which surely hurt his chances.

Yash had double for the day as in the day`s opener; he had guided long shot Classy Dancer to prevail in the 1200 metres Glasnost Plate, a race for horses in the lowest category. The Damodar Pillai trained Classy Dancer shot ahead inside the final furlong and held off the challenge of Amaya who appeared to the medium of a quiet gamble.

 
 
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