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Psychic Force pulls off a thriller in South India Derby

By: Our Correspondent   January 15 , 2019
   

Darius Byramji trained Psychic Force pulled off a thrilling win in the Gr 1 South India Derby, the star event of the racing season which is also called the Pongal Derby by the traditionalists. The Pongal Derby was always an event eagerly looked forward to event in the past but over several years, the non-participation of outstation challenge had robbed the race of its competitive interest. Thanks to the committed efforts of the new management of the Madras Race Club in the last few years, there is a revival of interest in racing as evidenced by the participation of horses from all over India and the bonafide nature of the race is getting increased attention of racegoers all over India. The club is slowly regaining its lost glory thanks to the efforts of the management under the leadership of R Ramakrishnan.

The South India Derby attracted horses from the leading lights of Indian racing. Bangalore 1000 Guineas winner Oomph from Mumbai, My Opinion and Tudor Treasure from Chennai, Indian Pharaoh from Bangalore were the notable ones while Psychic Force who had shown an indifferent form after a promising beginning was another horse of immense potential in the fray. There were many hopefuls in the race as well. My Opinion who had been running consistent races, was more fancied than the rest to have a bold show because this got-abroad had been running game races in good company. The rest of the runners were at long odds. The other point of interest was whether trainer S Padmanabhan who began his professional career in Chennai would be able to get his 100th classic through Indian Pharaoh. Indian Pharaoh came tantalizingly close but Psychic Force, after initial hiccups in the race, showed intent in the stretch and grimly held off the threat in the hands of jockey Pradeep Chouhan.
  
  


The designated pacemaker Star Ranking led the field followed by Apollo Bay, Indian Pharaoh, Peluche, Tudor Treasure while Oomph and My Opinion brought the rear of the field. Pradeep Chouhan began to move up on Psychic Force to take a forward position from about the sixth or seventh position he was in and the progeny of Multidimensional travelled wide, but the jockey didn`t let the horse drift too wide and brought him steadily into settle behind the pace-setter. Approaching the final bend, there was frenetic action from behind with Peluche who had the services of Colm Donoghue also moving up. The front horses shifted out slightly in the straight which allowed Leigh Roche to bring Oomph into contention with a ground-saving run along the rails. Inside the final furlong, Oomph, Psychic Force, Indian Pharaoh, My Opinion were all with a chance. Psychic Force looked the best though the only danger was him drifting out of contention. Pradeep did well to keep Psychic Force going and the progeny of Multidimensional managed to assert his supremacy winning by a shade less than a length. Indian Pharaoh nosed out My Opinion to get the third place while Oomph was a close fourth.

Darius Byramji said that the victory of Psychic Force was something that he was not confident of. ``This credit for this success entirely goes to jockey Pradeep Chouhan who rode a splendid race with all the problems that the gelding posed by his tendency to run out,`` he said.

Usha Stud Farm Managing Director Ameeta Mehra in whose colours Psychic Force ran said that the stud farm`s leading sire Multidimensional has been a great influence especially when it comes to classics. `Multidimensional has proved to be a versatile sire with his progeny proving their class over distances from seven furlongs to longer classics.`` Incidentally, Psychic Force is the sixth individual classic winner of Multidimensional this season. The progeny of Multidimensional have been literally sweeping the classics all over India.

The 1400 metres M A M Ramaswamy Memorial Cup, a terms race for four-year-olds and over, attracted a quality field of runners from all over India. Pesi Shroff-trained Cambridge who was bidding for the seventh straight win was the firm favourite, but he was sorted this time out by those who had done well in graded races. Local challenger Cavallo Veloce, trained by Suresh, held off the strong challenge of Bangalore challenger Accolade to land the spoils. Your Royal Majesty was third.

Chairman of Madras Race Club R Ramakrishnan expressed happiness at the response Chennai racing was getting from all over India. ``The participation of horses from all over India was the highlight of this year`s racing. There was a crowd of over 6,000 which is encouraging. I am sure in the coming years, Chennai will regain the glory of old,`` he said.

 
 
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