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African Gold Gallops to Glory in Colts Championship

By: Tippu Sultan   September 8 , 2024
   

It was more a parade than a race at the Malakpet track on Sunday as Parvathi Byramji`s African Gold, looking every inch a giant among pygmies, coasted to a commanding victory in the Dr. 3 Shankar Rao Memorial Deccan Fillies Championship Stakes. Jockey Akshay Kumar had little more to do than sit back and enjoy the view, with African Gold so dominant that it felt like he was giving the others a head start just to keep things interesting. In reality, they might as well have been running in a different postcode.

From the moment African Gold stepped onto the track, it was clear this was a one-horse show. The field seemed like a cast of understudies in a race that was essentially over before it began. To understand the superiority and anyone needing confirmation, had to look no further than Santissimmo—a previous victim of African Gold—who romped home in the Bangalore Derby. As for the rest of the challengers in this race, well, they wouldn`t have looked out of place in a friendly afternoon handicap. The only real contest on offer was for the runner-up spot.

The monsoon classics often suffer from a thinning of talent, with the cream of the crop scattered across the country following the Bangalore Summer Season. And with African Gold having dominated the best Bangalore had to offer, this was always going to be a foregone conclusion. From the moment the gates opened, Akshay Kumar didn`t so much ride as accompany the colt on what looked like an exuberant morning stroll. Try as he might, Kumar couldn`t hold back African Gold`s natural cruising speed for long, and the favourite took off with effortless ease, gliding to victory in majestic solitude.

Secret Saint eventually trotted home to claim second, just ahead of King Immortal, though their race was an entirely separate affair. The leisurely pace of the contest only underscored what we all suspected: African Gold`s romp was nothing more than a stylish workout for the talented son of Multidimensional.

Laxman Singh`s Australia put an end to Donald Netto-trained Espionage`s winning streak in heart-stopping fashion, claiming the 1200-metre A Krishnaswamy Memorial Cup (Div I) by a whisker. In what turned out to be a race of surprises, hot favourites Nucleus and Final Judgment were nowhere to be seen when it mattered most, leaving the door open for a gripping showdown between Australia and Espionage.

Under jockey Kuldeep Singh, Espionage took charge from the get-go, dictating the pace with ease and holding the lead up until—well, almost—the final stride. With jockey Yash Narredu urging every ounce of effort from Australia, the race`s outcome flipped dramatically in the last breath, much to the delight of those who backed the Singh-trained challenger. The gap between the two horses was so narrow that it could be measured in eyelashes.
  
  


As Espionage led the field, Australia was in hot pursuit, the rest of the runners strung out behind like they were running their own separate contest. For most of the race, it seemed Espionage had the hat-trick in the bag, only to have it snatched away in the dying moments. Meanwhile, Final Judgment managed to sneak into third place by a neck, leaving Worcester to rue what might have been.

In the lower division of the A Krishnaswamy Memorial Cup, the scene was set for the underdogs. Favourite Dictator sent out distress flares early in the straight and tumbled to the back, leaving the door wide open for an upset. It was Santa Barbara who grabbed the lead but found herself under relentless attack from Glorious Power, with Saqlain riding like a man possessed. In the final furlong, Glorious Power surged ahead, but not before holding off a late challenge from Kings Best, who has been searching for a win for over 600 days. Santa Barbara, meanwhile, faded to third, her stablemate stealing the spotlight.

The Bangalore challenger Queen of Kings and local contestant Aos Si may have entered the 1200-metre Chaitanya Chakram Plate with high expectations, but only one managed to scrape a spot on the podium. While Queen of Kings salvaged a third-place finish, Aos Si faded into the distance, leaving punters clutching their betting slips in disbelief. From the very start, it was a two-horse affair as Torchbearer and One N Only shot ahead, leaving the rest of the field gasping in their wake.

Torchbearer led the charge but soon found himself under siege from One N Only, who—under a power-packed ride from Kuldeep Singh—made his move just in time, snatching the lead near the post. It was a well-executed win for trainer Donald Netto, while Queen of Kings could only manage a distant third, looking more like a spectator than a contender in the final furlong.

In the 1400-metre Artillery Cup, Uchchaihshravas proved to be a beacon of stability in a day dominated by long shots. Neelesh Rawal`s ward delivered an encore with ease, living up to his billing as the day`s second shortest-priced favourite. After sitting comfortably in fourth place until the home stretch, jockey Neeraj Rawal gave Uchchaihshravas the go-ahead, and the three-year-old responded with a burst of speed that left the only real challenger, Nonpareil, floundering in his wake. It was a commanding performance that suggests a hat-trick is on the horizon. As for Jet Falcon, he crossed the finish line in third, but by then the race was long over, with the runner-up miles ahead.

Leo D`Silva`s Shadow of the Moon made the most of a favourable weight advantage to breeze past pace setter Candy Girl in the homestretch and clinch an effortless win in the 1600-metre Nice Fella Plate. The race, open to horses rated 80 and above, saw jockey Vivek G execute a textbook performance, positioning Shadow of the Moon just behind the pace-setter Candy Girl before letting the fancied runner stretch his legs in the straight.

Once asked to quicken, Shadow of the Moon didn`t just respond—he wrapped up the race with a flourish, leaving his rivals trailing as he cruised to victory with ease, pulling away well before the final furlong. Meanwhile, joint favourite Siddharth dug deep in the closing stages, edging out Huntingdon to secure second place in a tight finish. But by then, Shadow of the Moon had already made the race a mere formality.

 
 
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