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Captain Courage wins S C Jain Sprinters Cup
Review: By: Frankel
February 10 , 2019
   
   

The withdrawal of ante-post favourite Ruffina on veterinary grounds resulted in throwing a confusing look to the Gr 2 Dr S C Jain Sprinters Championship, a terms race for four-year-olds and over, the feature event of Sunday’s races. Since Ruffina’s victory was considered a foregone conclusion, the withdrawal threw things out of gear. It was perhaps in the fitness of things, at 20 to 1 shot in Pesi Shroff-trained Captain Courage should triumph.

Though some of the runners in the fray had decent credentials, they had of late been performing below their advertised potential. Captain Courage had reeled off several wins in the past but his performance of late had been run-of-the-mill. Bateleur who had recently recorded an impressive win was made the favourite though he did not have any credible performance in graded races. St Andrews, Clymene, Holy Smoke and the rest hadn’t won for a long time.

 
   



Iron Age whose best performance had been restricted to five furlongs led the field from the start with Lincoln in close proximity followed by Bateleur, Captain Courage, Holy Smoke, St Andrews and Clymene. The expected challenge from Bateleur did not materialize and it was St Andrews who moved up from behind with raking strides to take charge inside the final furlong. Captain Courage was alerted to the task by jockey Pradeep Chouhan and the progeny of Admiralofthefleet flew home to measure the front-runner and win the race in an excellent time of one minute 09.9 seconds. St Andrews was second ahead of Clymene who ran on to take the third position while Bateleur performed miserably.

Another 20 to 1 shot, Juliette from the stables of trainer Karthik Ganapathy swept past the opposition to win the 1400 metres N M Irani Trophy, a race for maiden three-year-olds. It was difficult to pick the winner as the form of the horses which had the benefit of a race run wasn’t impressive enough to support them with conviction. The Cheetah held the fort in front and led deep into the straight before being challenged by Victorious Sermon. Even as these two were fighting it out, Juliette pounced on the battling duo close home and sped clear to record an impressive win. In the act of doing so, Juliette rolled in which intimidated Victorious Sermon into tightening The Cheetah whose jockey had to stop riding momentarily. However, the objection by Yash Narredu did not find favour as the interference did not make a material difference to the outcome of the race.

Noshir Cama trained Bronx had it easy in the 2000 metres Sonny Brar Trophy, a race for horses rated 40 to 66. Backed with conviction to win the race, Bronx who was kept in the rear by Pradeep Chouhan as Sagittarius led the field from the start. The favourite produced a smooth acceleration on turning for home and overhauled the front-runner with ease in the final furlong to record a handsome win. Sagittarius stayed put in the second position. Gloriosus who was in danger of conceding the third position to Texas Gold fought back to finish third.

After failing twice over long trips, Pesi Shroff-trained Star Aligned who was brought back to the winning trip of a mile asserted her supremacy in the 1600 metres Tapped Cup, a race for horses rated 20 to 46. Strong Storm who was also strongly fancied, had the lead and fought on resolutely in the final furlong with Star Aligned before conceding defeat. It’s A Deal was third.

Deepesh Narredu trained King Khalil had the best chance to win the 1200 metres Dr Jagjit Singh Trophy, a race for horses rated 20 to 46 if the horse did not throw too many tantrums and entered the gates without causing harm to himself. The handlers managed to put King Khalil in and jockey Yash Narredu had the favourite take charge within the first furlong. The favourite stayed put there though closer home had to survive some anxious moments as the well-backed Frieze charged home with a rush. Tenerife was third a few lengths adrift.

Rajendra trained Bakhtawar recorded an encore in the 1400 metes Sprungli Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 4 to 30. Jockey Neeraj Rawal had Bakhtawar take charge with a furlong left in the race and drove out the horse vigorously to contain the strong challenge of Super Mario. Grand Eyes was third. The lower division of the race saw the long shot from the stables of trainer Adhiraj Jodha come up with a flourishing run in the closing stages of the race to get the better of the front-running favourite Dream Tail. Hi Ho Silver too finished with a rush to relegate Dream Tail to the third position.


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Bronx (P S Chouhan up) winner of the Sonny Brar Trophy




Star Aligned (Leigh Roche up) winner of the Tapped Cup




Juliette (Bhawani Singh up) winner of the N M Irani Trophy




King Khalil (Yash Narredu up) winner of the Dr Jagjit Singh Trophy




Captain Courage (P S Chouhan up) winner of the Dr. S. C. Jain Sprinters' Championship (Gr.2)




Bakhtawar (Neeraj Rawal up) winner of the Sprungli Plate (Div-I)




Saffron Flower (D R Shubham up) winner of the Sprungli Plate (Div-II)




 
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