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Padmanabhan trained Isn`t She Lovely asserted her supremacy in brilliant fashion when winning the 1600 metres M H Amarnath Memorial Trophy, a race for horses rated 60 and above, the feature event of Saturday`s Bangalore races. The progeny of Excellent Art led all the way in the hands of jockey Sandesh and had the rivals off their bridle at the final turn as she stormed ahead and won with a measure of comfort.
The Indian 1000 Guineas winner La Rondine had more supporters than the rest in what was perceived to be a fight amongst the favourite, Isn`t She Special and Punjabi Girl. Midway through the race, jockey Anthony Raj on Sea King had a fall and the horse interfered with Punjabi Girl bumping her badly and ruining whatever chances she had of even figuring on the frame. Sandesh had Isn`t She Lovely dictating the pace from the start and the fancied runner enjoyed the uncontested lead and skipped clear in the straight for a comfortable win. Magistero and La Rondine who were in proximity with the eventual winner found it hard to catch up with the front-runner. La Rondine managed to pull ahead of Magistero to get the runner-up position. New Moon ran on to take the fourth position. Isn`t She Lovely should be a force to reckon with in the terms races during the season after this eye-catching effort.
Sulaiman trained Cosmic Ray made an impressive debut while winning the 1400 metes Sir Bruce Plate, a race for maiden three-year-olds. Sir Supremo who had run Impavid close in winter was widely supported to improve on that effort and go one better. Debutant Cosmic Ray attracted noticeable support to stir things up. Jockey J Chinoy quickly improved Victorious Sermon from the start and took charge of the proceedings within the first two furlongs with Cosmic Ray eased in the second position along with favourite Sir Supremo. Victorious Sermon was not inclined to give up easily and battled on resolutely though closer home, Trevor Patel was able to drive out Cosmic Ray ahead. Sir Supremo failed to make any impression and finished a tame third. The first two placed horses surely have the promise of moving up swiftly in the scales.
Rajesh Narredu trained Star Appearance and Foi At Amour were the market fancies to win the 1200 metres Dharmaprakash L S Venkaji Rao Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 30 to 50. The three-year-old Star Appearance appeared to be better prepared as he showed speed from the gates and dictated the proceedings. On the other hand, Foi At Amour lacked sharpness and conceded too much of leeway to the front-runner well before the final bend. Jockey Suraj Narredu had no problem in steering Star Appearance to an easy win. Foi At Amour covered a lot of ground in the stretch to be a noteworthy second. Gandharva was third. The runner-up should make amends next time out with the benefit of this forward run.
The 1200 metes Santorini Star Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35 saw two rank outsiders from the stables of Sharat Kumar rule the roost much to the chagrin of punters. First, one of the fancied runners Prodigal was out of contention at the start itself as jockey John who is struggling to find his ways after a long suspension going for a toss. Tonys Pet who received unprecedented support in the betting ring had the difficult task of moving up into contention from the wide outside hole which proved to be a difficult task. Though the favourite moved up to be in about the fifth position, Tonys Pet flopped miserably. Pink Smile who hadn`t won for 370 days and whose last effort had seen the five-year-old mare finish 23.5 lengths behind the winner dragged herself to the front inside the final furlong in the hands of apprentice jockey Ramesh Kumar and held off the challenge of another rank outsider from the stable Perfect King who hadn`t won for as many as 1003 days! Both these horses which had been given endless runs perhaps decided to ruin the plan for a massive touch by their efforts. Moraine Gabriella who had some form to go by ran on late to take the third position. While the tenner on the winner paid a dividend of nearly 100 to 1, the trinella and exacta pools were carried forward.
Darius Byramji trained Cosmos was backed to the exclusion of the rest in the 1400 metres Astounding Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35. The superiorly bred Cosmos had it easy, with jockey Zervan bringing the short-priced favourite into contention approaching the final furlong. The favourite sped clear to win the race with from Another Rainbow who managed to nose out Perfectgoldenera to snatch the runner-up berth.
There were a pair of races for the lowest category of horses with the upper division of the 1100 metres Malakpet Plate going the way of favourite She`s Superb while the lower division saw a big upset in the form of Cashmere winning. She`s Superb who was backed strongly, was taken on a start to finish mission by jockey Akshay Kumar and the favourite was driven out for an easy win over Aerospeed who was the only challenger that the M R Singh trainee had to tackle. Duty Call managed to pip Astron for the third place. Rank outsider Cashmere who hit the front from the word `go` hung on resolutely in the hands of jockey J Chinoy to stave off the late bid of favourite Regal Touch who was the betting rage in the lower division of the race. The latter reportedly burst his blood vessels which surely hurt his winning chances. Songkran was a close third.
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She`s Superb (Akshay Kumar up) winner of the Malakpet Plate (Div-II)
Cosmic Ray (Trevor Patel up) winner of the Sir Bruce Plate
Cashmere (J Chinoy up) winner of the Malakpet Plate (Div-I)
Isn`t She Lovely (A Sandesh up) winner of the M. H. Amarnath Memorial Trophy
Star Appearance (Suraj Narredu up) winner of the Dharmaprakash L. S. Venkaji Rao Memorial Cup
Pink Smile (Ramesh Kumar N up) winner of the Santorini Star Plate
Cosmos (S Zervan up) winner of the Astounding Plate
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