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Sulaiman Attaollahi trained Anjeze was driven out by jockey David Egan to measure Speedster in the closing strides of the race to win the Gr 2 Bangalore Oaks, the third classic of the season on Saturday at Bangalore. Padmanabhan trained Snowdon won the other highlight of the day, the New Year’s Cup in tremendous fashion.
Anjeze had the best credentials to win having won the Bangalore 1000 Guineas beating Gift of Grace who subsequently beat a quality field in the Indian 1000 Guineas. The light made filly was quoted at liberal odds considering her accomplishments and the lack of the same on the part of the others.
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Srinath pushed Speedster to take over the running after the field had travelled the first two furlongs followed by Queen Regnant, Rhapsody, Star And Garter, Anjeze and the rest. Speedster enjoyed a good lead when taking the final turn with Rhapsody and Anjeze making a swift move. Speedster led the field into the final furlong with only Anjeze looking capable of overhauling the front-runner who was battling on. Closer home, David Egan was able to get Anjeze to gain the upper hand and the favourite manged to spare a length at the finish. Rhapsody was third seven lengths adrift. While Anjeze who was the highest-rated horse in the fray won as expected, Speedster put up a commendable performance while finishing second best. Anjeze’s full sister Angel Dust is a dual Derby winner.
Padmanabhan trained Snowdon showed remarkable improvement to swamp the opposition in the Gr 3 New Year Cup, a terms race for four-year-olds and over. Snowdon’s last win was suggestive of the fact that he was ready to make his mark in the graded race company. Though Knotty Ash was the best-performed horse in the fray, his last run was disappointing. Snowdon was made the favourite in what was an open type of betting with all the horses in the fray being quoted at liberal odds. Jockey Anthony Raj who has had good success with Knotty Ash took the fancied runner on a start to finish mission and went at a good clip and it was obvious that somebody from behind could get him as the fractions he cut were too fast for him to sustain the effort. Snowdon who was in the rear group till turning for home came up with a huge effort and got the measure of faltering Knotty Ash inside the final 100 metres to eventually win by a margin of two lengths in a good timing of one minute 23.81 seconds. David Allan timed his challenge to a nicety. Shesmyscript got the better of Aeolus to get the third position.
The volume of money that Azhar Ali trained Princess Pride attracted to win the 1100 metres Murdeshwar Plate, a race for horses in the lowest category itself was indicative of the fact that the five-year-old mare would be seen in a positive light and end the winless sequence of 413 days. Promising apprentice jockey Arul pushed Princess Pride to take over the running from the start and the favourite skipped clear of the closest pursuer Air Force One at the top of the straight to win by a widening margin of three lengths. Amalfi Coast ran on to edge out Blackhawk to save place money.
Sulaiman Attaollahi trained Daring Prince who was running after a longish break of 148 days managed to pull off a narrow win over Skyfire in the 1200 metres Gumbaz Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 15 to 35. Daring Prince had shown out in a mock race but the flood of money that Skyfire attracted resulted in the price of the former going up in the betting ring. Daring Prince showed good speed from the gates and led from the start while Skyfire was a few lengths adrift which made a critical difference to the outcome of the race. Though Daring Prince was faltering in the end and Sky Fire was gaining ground rapidly, the stronger finishing effort of Trevor Patel as against that of Vaibhav made the difference to the outcome of the race. Daring Prince held on to win by a neck. Debonair ran on to finish third. The lower division of the Gumbaz Plate saw Prithviraj trained Mr Humble being backed down spiritedly resulting in the price on Stroke of Genius shooting up. It is not that both these horses had any great form to go by as both had finished more than 12 lengths behind the winner, but the quality of the field was such that any horse whose form had been disguised could win. Mr Humble raced a handy second behind Snow Queen well into the straight before storming ahead but could not sustain the lead as in the final furlong as he was strongly challenged by Stroke of Genius. In the strong hands of jockey John, Stroke of Genius overwhelmed the front-runner for a comfortable win. Nostradamus ran on to finish third.
After two well-backed horses from the stable failed, trainer Prithviraj could afford to breathe easy as Torsoro who was running after 186 days won the 1400 metres Kolar Plate, a race for horses rated 30 to 50. Torsoro had seen several stables before landing up with Prithviraj and the five-year-old hadn’t won for 870 days. Running with the benefit of just a mock race, Torsoro was brought into contention from way off the pace by jockey Imran Khan. The progeny of Rebuttal swooped on the front-runners inside the final furlong and stormed past those who were battling out to record an impressive win. Tokyo Rose was second half a length ahead of Sharp Response while Mohican was a noteworthy fourth dragging himself into the limelight.
Lesser fancied Roma Victor from the stables of trainer Prasanna Kumar had it easy in the 1600 metres Esquire Stud Plate, a race for horses rated 45 to 65. Roma Victor was a failed favourite having been badly bumped at the start on the last occasion. Landy of Liberty came in for big support, but the favourite packed up like a pricked balloon highlighting the futility of backing such horses which neither command consistency or reliability. Even as Brothers in Arms was trying to assert his supremacy, Roma Victor breezed past the front-runners to win easily by two lengths in the hands of jockey Imran Chisty. Lycurgus too made good rally from way off the pace to take the second position ahead of Treasure Striker.
David Allan’s aggressive riding on Ekalavya enabled the Padmanabhan trainee to snatch a miraculous victory in the 1600 metres Cordon Bleu Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35. Ekalavya was sluggish at the start and was tailed off last while approaching the final bend. Ekalavya was in the last position even inside the final 300 metres when David Allan angled out Ekalavya to get a clear run. At this point of time favourite Mariachi had stolen a march and shaped like a winner with only Track Striker being the real threat. Ekalavya responded well to the strong urgings of the jockey and flashed home with a powerful effort which took the lesser fancied runner past Track Striker and Mariachi for a thrilling win, with a head and a neck being the margin between the first three placed horses.
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Stroke Of Genius (S John up) winner of the Gumbaz Plate (Div-II)
Princess Pride (Arul J H up) winner of the Murdeshwar Plate
Daring Prince (Trevor Patel up) winner of the Gumbaz Plate (Div-I)
Torsoro (A Imran Khan up) winner of the Kolar Plate
Snowdon (David Allan up) winner of the New Year Cup (Gr.3)
Anjeze (David Egan up) winner of the Bangalore Oaks (Gr.2)
Roma Victor (Akshay Kumar up) winner of the Esquire Stud Stakes
Ekalavya (David Allan up) winner of the Cordon Bleu Plate
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