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Black Pearl wins a hollow Derby

By: Goldie Boy   January 17 , 2021
   

Trainer Vijay Singh`s colt, Black Pearl, maintained an unbeaten streak of wins while keeping his date with the 2,400m Calcutta Derby Stakes on Sunday. But the champion trainer may not have liked to win the prestigious event in the manner it fell into his lap. The four-horse Derby field was reduced to two runners as the fillies` pair of Zoya (Trevor Patel) and Apsara Star (Y.S. Srinath), unseated their riders nearing the 1,000m marker, leaving the 2/10 piping hot favourite, Black Pearl, pocket the winner`s purse of about Rs 30 lakh from his stable-mate, Cliffhanger (Akshay Kumar).

Vijay also claimed the 1,200m CROS Calcutta Champion Sprint when Suraj guided the trainer`s six-year-old Prince Satsuma to a narrow victory over Aashay Doctor`s charge, Awesome One (Trevor Patel). Rainbow Trout (Hindu Singh), early in the afternoon, had opened Vijay day`s account for a day`s treble.
  
  


Coming back to the Derby mishap; Zoya was taken to the front, her preferred style of running that had helped the filly easily win the 2,400m Calcutta Oaks from Apsara Star, on the New Year`s Day. Cliffhanger, Apsara Star and the champion colt were in her tow. Approaching the 1,000m marker Zoya tripped and suffered a fall, leaving Akshay to react fast to veer out. Jockey Srinath on Apsara Star had to change course to avoid running over Trevor who had fallen on the inside. In this act, Apsara Star, unfortunately, hit Zoya causing jockey Srinath to be thrown off from the saddle. Luckily for the connections of Black Pearl, Cliffhanger did not veer in and the favourite got a clean run along the rail and the favourite was totally untroubled by the untoward incident. Zoya had to be destroyed. The Oaks` winner had broken her right-fore cannon bone during the running of the race but Apsara Star and the two champion jockeys escaped without injuries and were declared fit to ride.

Trevor was also at a gross disadvantage in the Sprint Trophy. The jockey`s fancied runner, Awesome One, was drawn on the far side of the eight-horse field. The fact that Trevor was unable to position the 7/2 chance and had to contend to ride Awesome One four or five wide. It cost him the winning verdict narrowly against Vijay`s Prince Satsuma, who always galloped close to rails and was also able to manoeuvre through a narrow galloping room between the long time leader, Amorous White (Neeraj Rawal), and the 6/4 favourite, Knotty Ash (S. John).

Vijay`s pair of newly gained from western India; Dandi March (Suraj) and Rainbow Trout ((Hindu) looked cut above the rest in the nine-horse field lined for the 1,400m Kings Academy Handicap. However, Rainbow Trout treated the field with absolute disregard, leaving one to believe that Dandi March may have needed the run, or Chevalier son found the 1,400m trip a bit long to his liking. The five-year-old placed third, hard-pressed to even overcome Aashay Doctor`s Izzy`s challenge all through the journey.

Aashay`s filly, Delphini (P.S. Chauhan), however, was a piece of good news for the stable. The Bailed Breath daughter demonstrated her superior class on her way to winning the 1,200m Alokananda Stakes, better known for throwing Classic fillies. Delphini was held in check behind, debutantes -- Honeycrisp (Suraj), Euphrates (Nikhil Naidu), and an experienced Joanna (Trevor) – before the even-money favourite was sent into the lead and was soon gone for a six-length-plus victory. Euphrates placed best of the rest.

Trainers Doctors, in fact, added one more to their kitty when jockey Chauhan guided Arti`s the top-weighted Shimmering Star to a start-to-finish victory in the day`s concluding event, the 1,100m In The Spotlight Handicap. In the same race, Vijay`s even-money favourite, Court Jester (Akhhay) had every chance to score but the four-year-old colt went all over in the home straight – wide past the distance post and dived-in the final 100m – to lose precious ground and yet placed a decent third behind the winner and trainer Javed Khan`s hope, Tarsch (Dashrath Singh), who chased leader all through the journey.

Javed Khan and Dashrath, however, recorded an easy victory in the 1,600m Maltese Prince Handicap, won by Devine Chakra. The 9/4 favourite was taken to a pillar-to-post mission and the top-weighted runner was spotted as a winner long way from home, leaving Aashay`s filly, Intellection (Chauhan) in a wild goose chase.

Trainer James McKeown`s five-year-old, Avellino (Neeraj Rawal) displayed further improvement when he took an easy measure of Manvender Singh`s Kimaya (S. John) and Vijay`s trio of Ghost (Suraj), Resolute (Hindu) and Namiki (Dashrath) in the 2,400m Aggregated Handicap. The extended trip, after his narrow victory in a 2,000m race, worked to Avellino`s advantage.

The day`s opener, the 1,200m Bruckner Handicap, was also an easy pick for Shyam Habbu`s 5/1 shot, Yahalla (R.S. Bhati), who raced in the mid-bunch but covered a lot of ground inside the last furlong to beat the long-time front runners – Nandini`s Pet and the favourite, Adorinda (Srinath) who may have needed the run.


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Yahalla (R S Bhati up) winner of the Bruckner Handicap




Devine Chakra (Dashrath Singh up) winner of the Maltese Prince Handicap




Avellino (Neeraj Rawal up) winner of the Aggregated Handicap




Rainbow Trout (Hindu Singh up) winner of the King`s Academy Handicap




Delphini (P S Chouhan up) winner of the Alokananda Stakes




Prince Satsuma (Suraj Narredu up) winner of the Cros Calcutta Champions` Sprint Trophy (Gr.3)




Black Pearl (Suraj Narredu up) winner of the Calcutta Derby Stakes (2020-2021) (Gr.1)




Shimmering Star (P S Chouhan up) winner of the In The Spotlight Handicap




 
 
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