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Bharath Singh trained Castlebridge created a unique Indian record by becoming the first horse in the history of Indian racing to record a sub-two-minute timing for the 2000 metres trip when winning the Gr 1 Mysore Derby, the star event of the Mysore racing season. The day also several other records being broken, the first four finishers in the Derby breaking the old course record, the attendance for the first time crossing more than 11,000 and the totalizator pools grossing over Rs 5 crore.
Castlebridge towered over the rest and was offered at miserly odds. Both Apache Sunrise and Romantic Star who was expected to make things difficult for Castlebridge did not have the ideal preparation for the race. The first named missing the opportunity of a lead-up race while the latter was running in 10 days after her last preparatory run. The connections took their chances but in the way race panned, their lack of preparation or otherwise did not make any difference to the brutal brilliance of Castlebridge who made his own pace and won pulling up while at the same time leaving his rivals gasping for breath.
Jockey Suraj Narredu had no hesitation in taking Castlebridge to the front because that is the best way of exploiting the strength of the horse. Castlebridge looked more settled as he led by about five to six lengths with Romantic Star attempting to stay in touch to put pressure. Jockey Srinath on Apache Sunrise perhaps realized that if he chose to chase the front-runner, he may compromise the chance of his horse finishing second best and chose to race off the pace along with Kambaku.
Castlebridge came into the straight several lengths clear of Romantic Star who was under pressure to keep up with the pace. The progeny of Burden of Proof had no problem to keep expanding the lead and eventually checked in more than four lengths clear of Apache Sunrise in a new time of one minute 59.62seconds. Kambaku edged out Romantic Star for the third place. The first four finishers bettered the course record held by Ice Glacier which stood at 2 minutes 1.3 seconds. The pace set by Castlebridge did not look so fast as to produce a national record timing. Could there be scope for an error?
For jockey Suraj Narredu who missed the critical part of the summer season due to a freak accident in the paddock which resulted in his shoulder dislocation, things have gone on well after he made a comeback in the first day of the Mysore season. ``The doctors had asked me to delay my comeback but luckily, I had no serious issues. I could win back to back Derbies besides number of good quality races which is particularly satisfying after the injury put some question marks in my mind,`` Suraj said.
M Bobby trained Korol was strongly fancied to beat the formidable rivals from Bangalore in the 1600 metres Hyderabad Race Club, a race for horses rated 60 and above. Korol came into strong contention in the final furlong and held on resolutely to beat the strong challenge of Fair Game. Korol who has migrated from Mumbai was well exploited by the trainer to land a good touch. El Fenix was a close third ahead of Speed Hawk who had all the chances but failed to find an extra gear.
Nagarjuna who had spent much of his career without his talent being exploited has been on the upgrade after change of stables. After recording a good win at Bangalore, Nagarjuna had finished a fighting second. Backed to the exclusion of the rest in the 1400 metres Bangalore Turf Club Trophy, a race for horses rated 20 to 45, Nagarjuna was always in a handy position to strike and had a useful lead going into the final furlong. Though Prize Finder came up with a flourish in the final stages of the race, he was bound to run out of ground. Nagarjuna won quite comfortably in the end.
Bipin Salvi trained Beyond Thankful recorded a thrilling win over Enthralling in the 1200 metres Royal Western India Turf Club Ltd Trophy, a race for horses rated 40 to 65. Enthralling shot ahead inside the final 200 metres and was shaping to pull it off when Beyond Thankful came home with a tremendous burst of speed. The bobbing of heads saw Beyond Thankful prevail by a whisker. Excelonce was third.
Monnappa trained Flash Time benefitted by the good forward run and won the 1400 metres Royal Calcutta Turf Club Trophy, a race for horses rated 20 to 45 from a fast finishing Trust Me Boy. Flash Time established a good cushion going into the final furlong after battling hard with Sans Frontiers and this held the seven-year-old in good stead to stave off the late bid of Trust Me Boy.
Azar Ali trained Opening Act did well to win the 1400 metres Madras Race Club Trophy, a race for horses rated 20 to 45. Opening Act led from the start and was luckily to prevail. Yellow Zone passed the front-runner, but he was galloping with his head tilted to the left which affected her chances. Jockey Prashanth Dhebe continuously corrected the horse from tilting its head but the seven-year-old was adamant in her habits and this cost her the race. Goodwill Warrior showed up late to be a noteworthy third. The one-sided support for Matteo was well justified as the favourite had no problem in storming clear in the homestretch to win easily from Amazing and Clouds.
Lunar Storm covered a lot of ground in the final furlong and managed to prevail by a whisker in the 1200 metres Delhi Race Club Trophy, a race for horses in the lowest class. Rare And Famous who had a good lead inside the final 100 metres shaped to win and it looked as though he had held on by a whisker but the camera showed that the late-rallying Lunar Storm had prevailed by a nose. Three-year-old Ocean Breeze who was competing in the lowest class got the better of Star Binder close home to win the lower division of the race. Surprisingly the odds-on Ocean Breeze drifted from the original on money quote to 2/1 close to race time which perhaps may have prevented many from backing the filly to win. The winner of both the divisions were trained by Lokanath.
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Castlebridge (Suraj Narredu up) winner of the Mysore Derby 2017 (Gr.1)
Oasis Breeze (Suraj Narredu up) winner of the Delhi Race Club Trophy (Div-II)
Flash Time (Rayan Ahmed R up) winner of the Royal Calcutta Turf Club Trophy (Div-I)
Lunar Storm (Rayan Ahmed R up) winner of the Delhi Race Club Trophy (Div-I)
Opening Act (Anjar Alam up) winner of the Madras Race Club Trophy
Beyond Thankful (Anil Baandal up) winner of the Royal Western India Turf Club Ltd.,Trophy
Korol (K Sai Kiran up) winner of the Hyderabad Race Club Trophy
Nagarjuna (A R Pradeep up) winner of the Bangalore Turf Club Trophy
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