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Bharath Singh trained Castlebridge who had lost his way after losing to Rochester in the Ruia Trophy over 2000 metres, bounced back to win the 1200 meters Shapoorji Pallonji Million, a terms race for four-year-olds and over, the feature event of Saturday`s races in great style. The progeny of Burden of Proof whose forte is speed easily overhauled the long-time leader and Sprinters Cup runner-up Lincoln in the final 100 metres and skipped clear to win with a measure of comfort.
Castlebridge is endowed with speed and class which is what had helped him even to excel over longer trips. However, he appeared to be over the top at the fag end of the winter season and this could be attributed to his defeat in the Super Mile when he down timidly close home. Now back over a trip which gave an imposing edge over the rest because of both class and speed, Castlebridge won in a good time one minute 11.6 seconds.
The speedy Lincoln who enjoyed a pull in weights went on a start to finish mission with Denny Crane, Amorous White and Cavallo Veloce near proximity while Trevor was relaxed on Castlebridge in about the sixth position. Lincoln brought the field into view and opened a few lengths lead over the rest. Castlebridge who was brought into contention along the rails picked up speed with a furlong left in the race and in the next 100 yards, was able to measure the front-runner and draw clear. Captain Courage ran on to finish third ahead of Denny Crane. All the four places on the frame went to outstation horses.
Former State cricket captain A V Jayaprakash and his partners owned Ambitious Approach who is based in Hyderabad, has a winning debut on the Bangalore track when the progeny of Mathematician had a decisive say in the 1200 metres Civil Services Cup, a race for horses rated 60 and above. Turf Magic set a fast pace with Srinath having no problem in settling Ambitious Approach a comfortable second while the rest were spaced out. Horses found it hard to catch up those in front and in keeping with his trend, Ambitious Approach who was in a handy striking position, overhauled Turf Magic inside the final 300 metres and sailed to clear to win the race for trainer Sequeira. Justice Angel came late on the scene to snatch the runner-up berth from the long-time front-runner by a whisker. Zafran showed late flourish but had to be satisfied with the fourth slot as she also reportedly bled during the race. Fancied Hot N Fire failed to take a favourable position and raced without hope to eventually finish dismally.
Darius Byramji trained Psychic Force who had been well prepared, was backed to the exclusion of the rest in the 1100 metres Moonlight Dancer Plate, a race for maiden three-year-olds. The market trend indicated the connections of the others were unsure of the chances of their wards and it indicated that barring Spiritous, the others may be out for an airing. The timidity on the part of the rest was the reason why Psychic Force, despite running over a sharp trip, was quoted at very short odds. Jockey Srinath had the favourite take over the running from the start and Psychic Warrior had no problem in staying clear of the rest without having to be ridden out. Spiritous, as expected, took the second place. Decisive held off Zhu Zhu Zest to take the third position. Mercury reportedly pulled up lame.
Lesser fancied Ocean Park, from the stables of trainer Imtiaz, had things under control from the start and had no problem in winning the 1600 metres Flirting Vision Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 15 to 35. Jockey Amit had no hesitation in taking Ocean Park to the front and this tactic helped immensely as, by the time John could wake up the favourite Purity from a poor position, the front-runner had established an unassailable lead. Purity could do no better than finish second ahead of a late rallying second ahead of Ultimate Power.
Dominic trained Black Whizz just about justified the favouritism in the 1400 metres Star Supreme Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35. Jodha had Black Whizz lead from the start and despite a strong challenge from Shamsadas Girl, held off resolutely to land the spoils. Amazonite who was also in betting ran a pathetic race in conformation with the stable`s reputation of public fancy`s biting the dust. Shamsadas Girl had finished more than six lengths behind Amazonite in the head to head clash between the two horses. From draw 6, Amazonite went wide and by the time the horses straightened for the homestretch, apprentice jockey Nazerul Alam had contrived to go to the last position effectively sealing the fate of the fancied runner. Andhra King was third.
Sharat Kumar trained Perfect Legacy brought off a big upset in the 1200 metres Chettinad Stud Plate, a race for horses rated 30 to 50. Perfect Legacy was not in the betting as the five-year-old hadn`t won for 229 days and his effort 19 days had seen him finish more than 20 lengths behind the winner. Though he was running in a lower category, the winning cannot be justified and must come under the category of in and out running as in his last outing he had not shown zest or interest. This time out, Perfect Legacy took from the gates like a scalded cat and stayed out there. Tamara who had some ground to cover on the front-runner was driven out strongly by jockey Suraj Narredu, but the front-runner just about lasted out to win at long odds. Siyouni finished with a flourish from way off the pace to take the third position. Perfect Legacy was the fourth successive horse to win start to finish in the first four races of the day as the others coming from behind found it hard to catch up with those making their bid from the start.
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Psychic Force (Y S Srinath up) winner of the Moonlight Romance Plate
Ocean Park (S A Amit up) winner of the Endorsement Plate
Black Whizz (T S Jodha up) winner of the Star Supreme Plate
Perfect Legacy (G Amit up) winner of the Chettinad Stud Plate (Div-I)
Ambitious Approach (Y S Srinath up) winner of the Civil Service Cup
Castlebridge (Trevor Patel up) winner of the Shapoorji Pallonji Million
Cold Frontier (S John up) winner of the Y.S.Surender Memorial Cup
Reczai (Naveen M up) winner of the Chettinad Stud Plate (Div-II)
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