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Sea Lord staves off Heaven Is Here in close duel

  May 21 , 2016
   

Trevor Patel drove out Sea Lord to contain the challenge of Heaven Is Here to claim the 1600 metres Karnataka State Police Cup, a race for horses rated 60 and above, the feature event of Saturday`s Bangalore races.

Trevor who was riding taking a break of one week for his marriage, unfortunately, had a fall in the sixth race of the day astride Sheryl. While taking a narrow passage, Trevor saw the gap close completely resulting in Sheryl losing her stride possibly clipping Attorney General and sending the jockey for a toss. Trevor was lucky to move away in nick of time as he was in the path of a horse moving from behind. However, the impact of the fall resulted in him fracturing his wrist which should see him out of action for more than a month. It is a pity that the jockey who was in the form of his life should have suffered a mishap especially since he was enjoying a glorious run and punters rejoiced in following his horses as they almost always ran true to merit. With there being paucity of good Indian jockeys, his absence from the saddle will surely be felt not only by his connections but also by race goers.

Coming back to the feature event, Sea Lord and Heaven Is Here who were the main contenders were coming back in distance after being campaigned unsuccessfully in classics. Heaven Is Here had lost the Bangalore Oaks by a whisker while Sea Lord had lost the Golconda 2000 Guineas to King Charles. Sea Lord enjoyed a pull in weights of three kgs vis-à-vis Haven Is Here and he was sure to benefit from the same as also the fact that Heaven Is Here has this tendency to take a lazy start and taking her own time to warm up to the task. Sea Lord is a winner of two races while Heaven Is Here has attained a higher rating with just one win because of her placed efforts in bigger events. The cramped odds offered on Sea Lord, however, did not indicate the closeness of the contest.
  
  


As is her wont, Heaven Is Here lost some lengths at the start and gradually covered the leeway to hold a prominent position behind Sea Lord midway through the race. Amazing Charm was the pace-setter followed by Garuda while Sea Lord was settled in about the fourth or fifth position. Garuda led for some distance in the straight before being overhauled by Sea Lord. The favourite shot ahead inside the final furlong and despite a strong rally by Heaven Is Here, managed to reach the safety of the winning post, sparing half a length at the finish. Garuda stayed on to take the third slot ahead of the pace setter.

The 1400 metres Southern Empire Trophy, a race for three-year-olds, had some good lot of horses in the fray. Neil Darashah trained Attorney General who was making his debut, was backed down to favouritism ahead of Adulation whose only run in winter was an eye-catching one. However, her 155-day absence from the race track after that effort was something that was difficult to answer. There was support was Sheryl to make a winning debut while Star Nijinsky had her share of supporters.

Suraj Narredu took Adulation on a start to finish mission with Star Nijinsky in close proximity followed by Attorney General, Sheryl and the rest. Adulation weakened on straightening for home, with Attorney General moving strongly on the outside. Star Nijinsky was three horses wide. Trevor who was caught on the inside and he had the option of either switching his horse the widest or try to take a narrow gap that existed between the tiring Adulation and Attorney General. Trevor chose to take the gap which kept closing as Imran Khan on Attorney General rolled his horse in. Trevor was caught in a hopeless situation as his horse ran into the front horses and lost balance and brought him down. In the meanwhile, Attorney General shot ahead and held off a stiff challenge from Star Nijinsky. Magistero ran on well from behind take the third slot ahead of I Told You Know. Both these horses should be more prominent next time out. Sheryl was reckoned by trainer Arjun Mangalorkar as a horse of classic potential but because of the unfortunate mishap, it is difficult to assess of she would have fared in the race.

The most disappointing performance of the day came from favourite Krieger in the 1200 metres Sir M Visvesvaraya Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 40 to 65. Krieger had made a winning debut in Bangalore during the winter season and then went on to win a richly endowed race at Mumbai. The three-year-old was well placed in scales to win though his poor performance at Ooty was a cause for concern. The pace of the race was brisk with jockey David Breux having to push Krieger to take over the running from Havelock Prince. The M P Mahaesh trainee Havelock Prince who was travelling well and showed good resolution, easily collared the favourite on turning for home and sped away for an effortless win in the hands of apprentice jockey Surya at nourishing odds. Hillsboro who raced up front, stayed on to take the second position ahead of Downton Abbey. Krieger disappeared from sight to eventually finish down the field.

Neil Darashah trained Glittering was lucky to win the 1200 metres Kunigal Stud Plate, a race for horses rated 30 to 45. The five-year-old who had often let down as a favourite, was taken on a start to finish mission and grimly held on to win from fast finishing Arctic Attraction to win by a whisker. The latter did not get a good start as perhaps the mare reacted fractionally slower to the starter`s button and trailed the field right into the straight. Artic Attraction covered ground splendidly in the straight only to miss the berth in the bobbing of heads. Flames Fury made a rally along the rails but could only finish third.

Vicious Circle had lost in winter by a whisker thanks to his jockey Srikanth Kamble not permitting the horse to run on merits. The jockey had escaped one-year punishment thanks to a goof up by the Stipes. The four-year-old gelding was backed to the exclusion of the rest in the 1400 metres Lady Gibraltar Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35. Vicious Circle had no problem in obliging favouritism with an easy win. Active Grey who was at the wrong end of the field, covered acres of ground in the straight and managed to pip long-time leader Industrialist to get the runner up berth.

Arjun Mangalorkar trained Millrose came in for sustained betting even as many of the runners in the race seemed to be out for an airing in the 1200 metres Astounding Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 15 to 35. John had Millrose dictate the space and the five-year-old mare responded well and skipped away from the rest to win with a great deal of ease from late finishing Luc Divine and New Era. The lower division of the race saw Ninja who was running after 511 days being backed to cramped on money favouritism. This defied logic because there were a couple of horses capable of winning in this class and had the experience of doing so. Ninja led from the rest but in the final furlong, literally ground to a halt. The quietly fancied Cool Springs closed with a flourish and held off the strong challenge of Surnaturel to land the spoils at lucrative odds. Ninja finished a poor third.

 
 
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