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Trainer Harvinder Bath’s four-year-old filly, Marbella (Shezad Khan-up) sent the opposition packing on her way to winning the Mariinsky Cup, the main event in Tuesday’s card. A heavy downpour, half-an-hour before the start of the day’s opener, further delayed the proceedings by about 25 minutes but it failed to stop jockey Dhanu Singh Deora, recording a treble, his first in RCTC, while saddlers Javed Khan, Vijay Singh and jockey Nikhil Naidu also notched up a brace of wins apiece.
Shezad khan waited in the mid-division with the 11/4 chance as the 5/2 favourite, Fire Opal (C. Alford) tried to steal a march. However, 250m from home, Marbella was brought into the contention, the shortest way home, to bury hopes of the opposition.
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Javed meant business, though the expanding odds of his both winners, Malana (app. P. Vikran) and Perpetual Winning (Deora) – in their respective events, the 1,100m Bello Rock Handicap and the 1,200m Gloriosa Handicap, kept the paying public guessing about the intentions of the stable as the track conditions worsened.
Never the less, each of the two runners ate up the opposition after their respective jockeys adopted holding back tactics. In Malana’s case, it was left to Sereno (Dashrath Singh) and the last outing easy winner, Nextstar (Akash Rajput) to try their best until the final furlong before the Western Aristocrat mare literally had a cakewalk. Incidentally, Sereno needed the run while Rajput could not have done better than placing second on a badly penalised horse, seeking a back-to-back win. The Delhi-champion deserves a better deal and it is just matter of time that winning rides would follow.
Perpetual Winning neither needed luck nor to prove his mettle, after thrashing the opposition twice during the big season. The 9/10 favourite went on to pay compliment to his mentor for sorting out all his problems to help with two races without much of an effort. It would not come as a surprise if the western-India migrant, a four-year-old, pulls off another win during the on-going season.
Arti Doctor’s Shimmering Star in the hands of Deora, dealt a hard blow in the 1,100m Predator Handicap. Leading from the front, the four-year-old kept going in the home stretch to frustrate the fancied pair of Vijay’s Marigold (Nikhil) and Sarfraz Khan’s (Afzal Khan) from advancing for a meaningful challenge.
Deora meant business right from the flag fall. Riding Shafiq Khan’s quietly fancied runner, Constance, in the curtain raiser, the 1,600m Hearts Handicap, Deora, tried to keep 5/1 shot in close attendance of the 5/2 favourite, Princess Rumela (Hindu Singh) and the joint-favourite, Sicario (app. Rupal Singh). Constance, known to be a strong-finisher when ridden off the pace, did not detest the changed tactics and obliged his hockey with a hard-fought victory over Princess Rumela, who, perhaps, found her top-weight of 60-kg as a big burden on the wet track
Vijay opened his day’s account with the smart victory of his baby, Asmita (Nikhil) in the 1,100m Kaizen Plate. The Speaking Of Which daughter allowed Bharath’s grey Swanlite (Dashrath Singh) a marginal advantage, with Bharath’s another fancied runner, Tia Queen (Neeraj Rawal) also in the tow. The 16/10 favourite, however, sealed the issue 300m from home as the weakening Swanlite shortened her stride, leaving Tia Queen and Neeraj raise a false hope.
Vijay’s double followed in the concluding event, the 1,200m Apollotina Handicap, in which; the champion trainer’s youngster, After Shock (Nikhil) was considered to be home and dry. The 9/20 favourite, however, made a heavy weather of his victory. Sent into a length lead from the start, the Arazan colt never looked like picking up the momentum and going away from the field. As a result of this, the last outing winner, Bacaardi (Shezad Khan) nearly caught up with the hot-favourite, inside the final 50m. After Shock managed to score by the skin of the teeth, and gave an indication that he would be more comfortable over longer trips than sharp sprints.
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Constance (Dhanu Singh Deora up) winner of the Hearts Handicap
Asmita (Nikhil Naidu up) winner of the Kaizen Plate
Shimmering Star (Dhanu Singh Deora up) winner of the Predator Handicap
Malana (P Vikram up) winner of the Bello Rock Handicap
Marbella (Shezad Khan up) winner of the Mariinsky Cup
Perpetual Winning (Dhanu Singh Deora up) winner of the Gloriosa Handicap
After Shock (Nikhil Naidu up) winner of the Apollotina Handicap
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