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On an afternoon of very competitive contests, Christopher Alford -- the jockey-turned-trainer – was in the limelight. Displaying his passion for schooling his wards, with the same dedication and energy that took him to the top during his riding days, Christopher notched up a popular treble on Tuesday, thanks to jockey Trevor Patel’s contribution by way of two winners, in addition to a shocker named Abenaki, ridden by Shezad Khan, early in the day. The afternoon also witnessed jockey Suraj Narredu’s drawing a blank, despite his usual best efforts in the seven-event card.
Christopher’s three also included New Moon (Trevor) who claimed the afternoon’s feature, the Hyderabad Race Club Cup, over 1,400m – a trip hardly considered a favourite one for the Dean Kitten’s son, particularly on the RCTC’s track that provides only about two furlongs of home straight. However, Trevor fully relied on the 2/1 favourite’s strong finishing power and the tactic rightly paid off, even after trainer Javed Khan’s 7/1 shot Riquewihr (Dashrath Singh) had build-up sizeable lead inside the final furlong. New Moon beat the leader virtually at the post, after taking a circuitous route.
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Trevor was lucky to be riding a superior class horse, Summer Air, a 13/10 favourite, in the 1,200m Saddle Up Handicap. Therefore, the visiting jockey had the right to make mistakes, or one may say the lesser experienced horse was still quite in a ‘green mode.’ Summer Hill went all round the course and still registered a convincing victory over San Remo (Chisty), trained by Arti Doctor, who until recently was in charge of the Manjri farm’s stock.
It is difficult to analyse the bolt from the blue win of Christopher’s Abenaki’s victory in the 1,600m Star Contender Handicap but suffice is to say that the trainer had worked hard on the horse and changed riding tactics may have paid the dividends, therefore give the devil named Christopher his dues.
The change of jockey, from K. Mukesh Kumar to R.N. Darshan, hardly made a difference to trainer Shafiq Khan’s ambitious plans. The crafty trainer pulled off another gamble on his in-form runner, Artiste Royal, in the 1,600m Tokaido Express Handicap. Always up with the early leader, Elusive Wave (R.S. Bhati), Darshan’s had the measure of Bharath Singh’s Supernormal (app Sujit Paswan) and Popcorn (Suraj Narredu). It was a close call but Popcorn’s galloping-room problems did contribute to Shafiq’s success.
Shafiq was not so lucky in the day’s opener’s the 2,000m Bold Chieftan Handicap that was an easy pick for the heavily fancied Raqs Sharqi (Dashrath) and trainer Javed Khan who was very delighted after the start-to-finish victory of the 9/4 favourite. “The changed tactics are paying off after a long struggle with the horse” was Javed’s impromptu comment soon after the horse passed the winning post.
The victory of Vikash Jaiswal’s speedy baby, Fenicia Mist, in the 1,100m Ambretta Plate was always on the cards, despite the presence of an equally fancied in the betting, Court Jester, a Vijay Singh-trained runner, ridden by Suraj. Court Jester and Suraj tried in earnest but Fenicia Mist’s led from the start and also stopped the co-favourite at the post by a long neck. Mind it; it was after their duel that lasted an entire furlong.
Arti’s top-weighted Pelicon (Chisty) also had to fight a close tussle to win the 1,400m Kabuki Handicap. In the same race. Shafiq’s favourite Eastern Crown cut a sorry figure as Daniel David’s Philadelphia and Bharath’s Rufus (app Rupal Singh) and Vijay’s Moskova (Dashrath) were potent contenders. However, the fast first half, combined with the waiting tactics of Pelicon and Manzoni (Hindu Singh) turned the table on all.
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Raqs Sharqi (Dashrath Singh up) winner of the Bold Chieftan Handicap
Artiste Royal (Darshan R N up) winner of the Tokaido Express Handicap
Abenaki (Shezad Khan up) winner of the Star Contender Handicap
Fenicia Mist (Imran Chisty up) winner of the Amberetta Plate
Pelion (Imran Chisty up) winner of the Kabuki Handicap
New Moon (Trevor Patel up) winner of the Hyderabad Race Club Cup
Summer Air (Trevor Patel up) winner of the Saddle Up Handicap
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