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Constantine`s victory, in the afternoon`s feature, the 1,200m Harry The Horse Cup, was brilliant but the four-win haul of jockey Dashrath Singh, made the day`s seven-event card an exciting one. There were one too many other reasons, too, to make the RCTC raceground a happening place, for the sport, on Wednesday. Apart from
Dashrath`s untiring efforts and trainers Michael Eshwer`s saddling of Constantine, Bharath Singh`s treble, is definitely worth mentioning. In the same breath, one has to appreciate schooler, Vikash Jaiswal courage on conferring his faith in the work-jockey Jugnu Gurung`s ability to pull off an advertised coup on One Man Army.
The Mysore-based Constantine is a sparing raced horse, who was a chance-ride for Dashrath, as jockey Christopher Alford was indisposed. The Holy Roman Emperor son allowed the speedy Zander (A.Imran Khan) to call the shots till turn for home before shooting into the lead and drawing away from the field. In the same race, another migrant, Rule Down Under lost some ground at the start and never recovered. Rule Down Under is not a dud and his run is best ignored.
Dashrath`s day started with the victory of another chance ride, Bharath`s Glorious Leaps, who made light of his top weight of 61kg to fluent victory, in the lower division of the Gumaan Handicap. The horse took the charge of running from Xipen (apprentice Nikhil Naidu) in the home stretch and never looked back. In the same race, the last outing runaway winner, Jump And Run (Shailesh Shinde) was no match for the winner, in spite of 5.5kg pull at the weights. The Vijay Singh-trained horse may do better over a slightly extended trip.
Dashrath atop, Bharath`s another runner, Storm Front – a 2/1 favourite -- was at his best while taking the measure of Top Cat (app. Vikram) and Vijay`s Classic hope, Avarua (Neeraj Rawal) in the 1,600m Alice Springs Handicap. In fact, Avarua may have found the mile circuit a wee too long as she weaken after raising hopes upfront inside the last furlong of the race. Top Cat, on the other hand, finished full of running and Dashrath gained the verdict on his sheer power against the whip-less apprentice.
Bharath`s another well-performed youngster, Rufus, also delivered the goods in the hands of Dashrath, in the 1,200m Two In One Handicap. Ridden well off the pace, the even-money favourite made a rapid progress in the final 250m to not only put the early speedsters – Born To Win, Sempre Nueva and Praise Her Gaze – in shade but also had a comfortable measure of the two late finishers -- Vijay`s fancied runner Half Volley and Vikash Jaiswal`s Scarlet Emperor.
Another horse who may do better over an slightly extended trip is Bharath`s failed favourite, Chittagong (Dashrath) who was totally out-classed in the 1,100m Tangiers Plate, by the front-running Aileen (Rajinder Singh), from trainer Jasbir Singh`s stable.
The withdrawals of Desert Cat and Zandra left the stage clear for trainer Harvinder Bath`s top-weighted runner Dixie Diamond (Shezad Khan) in the 1,400m Pentagon Handicap. The 6/1 chance made a late bid on the wide out to score easily after front runner – Style (Hindu Singh) Dark Angel (app. Naidu), Hibiki (Mahesh), the 5/2 favourite, and Fly Fly ran short of gas.
The story will not be complete without a mention of Jugnu Gurung`s efforts on a solidly fancied One Man Army in the upper division of the 1,100m Gumaan Handicap. The work rider pushed the speedy horse to lead from the start and lasted out to score. Gurung had, perhaps, booted home a winner, after about a decade.
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Dixie Diamond (Shezad Khan up) winner of the Pentagon Handicap
One Man Army (J Gurung up) winner of the Gumaan Handicap (Div-I)
Glorious Leaps (Dashrath Singh up) winner of the Gumaan Handicap (Div-II)
Aileen (Rajinder Singh up) winner of the Tangiers Plate
Storm Front (Dashrath Singh up) winner of the Alice Springs Handicap
Constantine (Dashrath Singh up) winner of the Harry The Horse Cup
Rufus (Dashrath Singh up) winner of the Two In One Handicap
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