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Suresh trained Cavallo Veloce found the Bangalore race track a happy hunting ground as he unleashed his powerful run to subdue the opponents in the Gr 3 Chief Minister`s Cup, a sprint race for four-year-olds and over, the feature event of Sunday`s races. The progeny of Lucifer Sam who had won the highly competitive BTC Anniversary Cup last year was surprisingly ignored in the betting ring despite his impressive credentials which the punters were soon to regret.
Accolade who hadn`t won a race for 700 days was surprisingly the firm favourite. Though he had been consistently hitting the board the fact that he could not win on any of the occasions he had raced for the last two years should itself should have been a dissuading factor. But in racing horses get backed disproportionately not because of credentials but often because a particular horse is being backed exclusively in the absence of a clear-cut understanding of the depth of the field. Jockey Imran Khan who has struck a fine partnership with Cavallo Veloce managed to place the lesser fancied runner in a prominent position as Eastern Star and Star Baron set the pace. Imran Khan made his move soon on turning for home and in the next furlong, Cavallo Veloce had gone away from the rest. Accolade went in the chase, but his task was always going to be an arduous one. Hyderabad challenger Dream Catcher showed some semblance of returning to winning ways when he gets back to Hyderabad with a late rally which enabled him to edge out Southpaw for the third position.
Padmanabhan trained Roman Senator was driven out aggressively by jockey Sandesh to get the better of Defender in the 1600 metres Snow Dew Plate, a race for maiden three-year-olds. Defender started off as the favourite ahead of Roman Senator though going by the last run where these two figured, the latter had finished ahead comfortably. Roman Senator received inspired support close to race time to end up as a firm favourite. Streaming Gold who had run a forward race last time out was also in betting consideration. Jockey Zervan took Defender on a start to finish mission and it almost took the length of the straight for Sandesh to get Roman Senator to overhaul the front-runner. Streaming Gold was a well-beaten third and appears a late-blooming sort.
Neil Darashah trained Sahara had twice let down huge expectations and had even earned her jockey Ryan Marshall three-month suspension. Sahara found her bearings over a more suitable trip of seven-furlong after having twice failed over a furlong less. Sahara was at nourishing odds. Mystic Flame who was back in action after running at Hyderabad in the month of March was the favourite though the odds expanded dramatically with Gerontocrat who was running after even a longish absence of 205 days receiving solid support. In the event, Sahara who took off from the gates briskly led all the way and provided jockey Pradeep Chouhan with an easy victory as the filly`s foray in front went unchallenged in the 1400 metres Basque Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 30 to 50. Gerontocrat held off Mystic Flame to get the runner-up berth. The lower division of the race saw Winning Heart start as a strong favourite but close to race time, Prithviraj trained Depth Charge was backed down spiritedly to record an encore over the extended trip. Irfan Ghatala trained lesser fancied Bold Move led all the way and shook off the challenge of Depth Charge in the final furlong and had enough leeway to keep the late challenge of Panama at bay to land the spoils. Winning Heart did not figure on the board.
The withdrawal of New Moon meant that Aeolus had no worthwhile opposition to beat in the 1400 metres D M Shivaswamy Memorial Trophy, a race for horses rated 45 to 65. The one-sided support was thus justified. Aeolus gave an arm-chair ride to victory for Zervan who had to bide his time till approaching the final furlong before unleashing the favourite. Aeolus won unextended by five lengths over Dr Logan and Silver Dew who were well spaced out behind. Aeolus may have won by a whisker last time out but the horse he beat was a top-class horse and the narrow defeat also ensured that the penalty for the win was minimal. In Bangalore the handicapper rarely lets a horse repeat acting like a spoiler and often gives disproportionate penalties.
Pradeep Annaiah trained Marco Polo had found one better last time out and had let down a huge punt but this time the opposition he took on was a modest one. Besides he was also going over a more suitable trip of a mile in the 1600 metres Pendragon Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35. Marco Polo was originally a winner but was disqualified because of breach of medication rules which meant the penalty for the win was taken out. Marco Polo was backed to the exclusion of the rest and the favourite was not tested by any of the runners when checking in by a widening margin of three lengths. Ekalavya made a late dash to edge out Radiant Treasure to get the runner-up berth.
Sharat Kumar was finding winners hard to come by and Scarlet Princess who had run noteworthy races in her last two outings finally found the opposition and the intent correct as she recorded an easy win in the 1100 metres Ramkirpal Plate, a race for horses in the lowest class. Jockey John had the favourite take charge in the stretch and Scarlet Princess had it easy winning by over four lengths. Smile of Peace was second ahead of Odyssey who necked out Singhsaab to save place money.
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Roman Senator (A Sandesh up) winner of the Snow Dew Plate
Scarlet Princess (S John up) winner of the Ramkirpal Plate
Aeolus (S Zervan up) winner of the D. M. Shivaswamy Memorial Trophy
Cavallo Veloce (A Imran Khan up) winner of the Chief Minister`S Cup (Gr.3)
Sahara (P S Chouhan up) winner of the Basque Plate (Div-I)
Marco Polo (P S Chouhan up) winner of the Pendragon Plate
Bold Move (Shamaz Shareef up) winner of the Basque Plate (Div-II)
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