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Shiraz Sunderji trained Turning Point brought off a big upset beating the heavily supported Brainstorm close home in the 1400 metres Ebco Livsmart Million, a race for horses rated 60 to 86, the feature event of Saturday’s evening races held at Mumbai. The odds on the ante-post favourite La Rondine went up indicating that something was amiss with the winner of the Indian 1000 Guineas and true to market predictions, the filly ran a disappointing race.
Brainstorm attracted unprecedented betting to go one better on his previous effort and the favourite seemed to be on course but was shocked by the robust finish of Turning Point in the closing strides of the race. Turning Point had run a listless race on the previous occasion over a mile-long race after showing out in a seven-furlong race. One has seen the trend of horses whose pet distances are shuffled often and this leads to a confusing scenario which was the reason why Turning Point was not in the punters’ reckoning. Pure Zinc and Angels Touch showed out in front well into the straight before Brainstorm gained the lead. Excellent rallied along the rails but failed to find an extra gear as he was also running a furlong short to his more accustomed trip. Turning Point who was many lengths behind Brainstorm approaching the final furlong, flew home on the wide outside in the hands of jockey Trevor Patel to win the race at big odds. Excellent was a close third. Excellent Gold was another who after an eye-catching run over six furlongs failed to perform to expectations over the extended trip of seven furlongs.
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Imtiaz Sait trained Flying Visit had disappointed over the extended trip of a mile after a smashing win over six furlongs. Ignored in the betting ring, with Bangalore challenger Snowdon cornering the bulk of the betting, Flying Visit seemed to be more at home in the 1600 metres this time out in the Essenza Di Wills Cup, a race for horses rated 40 to 66. Jockey Zervan had Flying Visit lead all the way in a slow run race with Snowdon in a handy second position. Kingsman who was bidding for a hat-trick was a few lengths adrift while Truly Epic lacked the early speed and was in the rear bunch. Inside the final 350 metres, Snowdon looked to have covered the front-runner as he came up with a flourishing run but faltered in the final 100 metres. Flying Visit fought back and won with a measure of comfort. Snowdon barely managed to keep the second position from late rallying Truly Epic. Snowdon too perhaps is a horse who could be handy over a slightly reduced trip. Kingsman was a close fourth.
Sandesh drove out lesser fancied Oui Sauvage aggressively to snatch the verdict from Storm Breaker in the 1000 metres Dr M A M Ramaswamy Juvenile Sprint, a race for maiden three-year-olds. Favourite Enid Blyton failed to get a brisk start as the filly could not get a clear run soon after the start and graced the wrong end of the field. Storm Tracker and Oui Sauvage fought out the length of the final furlong, with the latter pulling it off by a whisker in the final stride of the race. Enid Blyton flew home, covered acres of ground and was a close third. With better luck, the filly could have run out an easy winner.
The draw and a superior horse had put paid to the hopes of Altaf Hussain trained El Comandante from recording an encore on the last occasion. Excellent Sorrento was the designated favourite to win the 1200 metres Amazing Mauritius Cup, a race for horses rated 20 to 46. Sandesh brought El Comandante with a flourishing run down the final furlong and the progeny of Excellent Art stormed ahead to win with a great deal of ease from Run Forest Run who put up an improved effort this time out. Red Carnation managed to save place money not only on the race track but also in the Stewards room.
The market trend is more often than not a good indicator of the action that is going to unfold on the race track. Unimaginable who was quoted at cramped odds in the ante-post betting was deserted during race time in the 1000 metres Kingfisher Ultra Sundowner Million, a race for horses rated 4 to 30. Akshay rode Unimaginable in the manner only he could justify as he went at a breakneck speed. The fancied runner faltered in the final 100 metres. Tasch who came in for spirited betting rallied well on the inside in the hands of jockey Zervan to snatch the verdict close home. Stablemate of Tasch, Furiosa staved off the challenge of She Is A Spy to get the runner-up berth. Unimaginable weakened to finish fourth.
Pesi Shroff-trained Momentum obliged as a favourite in the 2400 metres Thumbelina Million, a race for horses rated 20 to 46. Jockey Akshay kept Momentum a handy second behind pace-setter Rospomare well into the straight before driving out the favourite to take charge. Momentum stormed clear with a furlong left in the race and had no problem in seeing off the challenge of Brazos who managed to neck out the long-time leader to grab the second position.
Shiraz Sunderji trained Gold Medalist showed good improvement over Rogue One while winning the 1600 metres Kingfisher Max Mile, a race for horses in the lowest category. Gold Medalist came into the reckoning with a furlong left in the race and had no problem in finishing ahead of the more fancied runner. Master of Studies was third while favourite Gandalf was not spotted at the busy end.
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Gold Medalist (Trevor Patel up) winner of the Kingfisher Max Mile
Momentum (Akshay up) winner of the Thumbelina Million
Flying Visit (S Zervan up) winner of the Essenza Di Wills Cup
Oui Sauvage (A Sandesh up) winner of the Dr. M A M Ramaswamy Juvenile Sprint
Turning Point (Trevor Patel up) winner of the Ebco Livsmart Million
El Comandante (A Sandesh up) winner of the Amazing Mauritius Cup
Tasch (S Zervan up) winner of the Kingfisher Ultra Sundowner Million
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