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Pesi Shroff trained Anacapri gave weight and a drubbing to her opponents in the 1200 metres Gr 3 Juvenile Sprinters` Million, a terms race for three-year-olds, the feature event of Saturday`s Bangalore races. Barring the first race, all the six races of the day saw fancied runners running true to expectations.
The first day of post GST era of racing saw collections on the tote grossing little more than Rs 9 cores. The government stood to gain phenomenally by the 28 percent tax on betting while the club tried to minimize the damage by continuing to keep four per cent as its commission. In the long run, the 28 per cent GST is bound to have a disastrous effect on racing. Right now, with racing confined to two days in Bangalore and one day in Mysore, it is difficult to assess the impact properly. When racing becomes a seven-day routine, we will know whether punters have the money to ensure a consistent collection. With 32 per cent of the money going out of the system, the money at the disposal of punters will become that much less. The turf club may be able to survive at a subsistence level with cost cutting measures but there will be no hike in stakes and the club cannot undertake any improvement in the facilities it is providing thus far. Racing faces a bleak future indeed.
Coming back to racing, Anacapri who had recorded an impressive win in her last outing, was taking on horses who looked pedestrian. Jockey Suraj Narredu had Anacapri lead all the way and the got-abroad filly had the field stranded in the straight and checked in more than two lengths clear of Torsoro in a good timing of one minute 11.99 seconds. Occitan was third. Soon after the start, Majestical received a severe interference as the inward drift of the favourite saw the horses on the inside being tightened for room with Kvasir rolling on to the former who lost precious ground as a result.
Irfan Ghatala trained Salazaar was taking on an ordinary set of horses in the 1600 metres Chaitanya Chakram Trophy, a race for horses rated 60 and above. The South India Derby winner was favoured by the scales as he was carrying less weight that he would have in a terms race if the opposition were to be the same and this helped his cause immensely. Trevor Patel was unhurried in his approach as he let the race evolve. He got busy approaching the final furlong and the progeny of Burden of Proof bounced clear to win with ease from Let The Lion Roar who despite losing ground at the start, finished second best. Royal Sceptre was third.
Jockey Ashad Asbar was lucky to get away for his lack of efforts on High Admiral on the last occasion because the horse had reportedly bled. Now backed with strong conviction to win the 1400 metres Bhishma Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35, High Admiral fought out with Regency Girl for a brief while in the straight before storming clear in the final 100 yards to win with great ease. Find closed in with a rush but failed to get the second spot by a neck.
Anupam Sharma trained Ashwa Bahula was the medium of a good touch in the 1200 metres Red Divine Plate, a race for three-year-olds. The three-year-old filly had the benefit of a run on the track and she was backed with great confidence to beat the local opposition among whom Classical Dancer was the favourite but looked far from ready. Jockey Dhanu Singh on Ashwa Bahula cut across the field from the wide outside draw and managed to stay clear of the rest. Jockey Jagadeesh on Sedulous failed to get a good position early on and the filly had to be dragged to the extreme outside to make her in the straight. Though she was full of running, the winner had been sighted by the time she got into her rhythm. Dunamis held off Classical Dancer to save place money.
Justice Angel hadn`t won for 512 days as the filly had a few physical niggles. Now running against weak opposition in the charge of trainer Imtiaz Khan, Justice Angel justified the spirited betting by simply leaving the field for dead in the straight to win by a margin of six lengths. A Hearttoremember nosed out Interesting to get the runner-up berth.
Ganapathy trained Flirting Eyes who had been knocking on the doors of success finally obliged in the 1800 metres Ich Dien Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35. Flirting Eyes swept past the field on turning for home and brooked no opposition to win with ease from Intrepid Warrior. Fiorenzo was third.
Md Khan trained Magnificent Mary brought off the biggest upset of the day in the 1600 metres Iflookscouldkill Plate, a race for horses in the lowest category. Extemelydangerous led from the start and was under pressure to retain the lead in the closing stages of the race as Magnificent Mary began to launch a serious assault. Jockey Prashanth Dhebe could induce that bit extra from Magnificent Mary to neck out the front-runner. After Hours stayed put in third position without seriously threatening the equation in front.
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Anacapri (Suraj Narredu up) winner of the Juvenile Sprinters` Million (Gr.3)
Magnificent Mary (Prashant P Dhebe up) winner of the Iflookscouldkill Plate
Flirting Eyes (Akshay Kumar up) winner of the Ich Dien Plate
Justice Angel (A Imran Khan up) winner of the R. S. Nagendra Kumar Memorial Trophy
Salazaar (Trevor Patel up) winner of the Chaitanya Chakram Trophy
High Admiral (A Ashhad Asbar up) winner of the Bhishma Plate
Ashwa Bahula (Dhanu Singh Deora up) winner of the Red Divine Plate
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