A six-year-old, Stroke Of Genius won from the front in a manner that has put to shame four youngsters in the bunch __ Raise The Prize, Plano, Royal Sapper and Bruno Magli. But that's the way it's going to be, at least until the end of December when six-year-olds automatically cease to compete at this centre. With that deadline fast approaching, most trainers meticulously target races for six-year-olds in their yards and strike at nagging regularity. They are
subjected to such planned preparation for several months that they oblige just as their trainers want them to.
A prudent punter is one who, instead of getting hoodwinked by such unsuspecting performers, would identify horses with the potential to reel out a win or two before turning seven and follow them carefully.
For instance, Stroke Of Genius has been forward throughout the monsoon season. And the fact that he was always assisted by a good jockey was suggestion enough that he has a win up his sleeve. The surprising factor, if any, was that the horse stole a march after switching stables and that too not under regular partner Ganesh but Shoban Babu.
While one six-year-old won the race another bit the dust. Favourite Okati Okati Okati ran a very poor race for her own standards. Although she took a good jump and had his head in front initially, jockey Ganesh pulled him back to fourth position, letting Stroke Of Genius to take up the lead role. On entering the straight, Ganesh looked for the non-existent space on the rails to launch Okati Okati Okati's run. Later, his attempt to come from outside in the last 50 metres proved abortive as Stroke Of genius kicked on well.
Bruno Magli had a very good outing. He was seen flying alongside Okati Okati Okati at the wire. He was also prominent all along despite going up and down the field several times. This run should put him strongly among the fancied bunch and he should oblige soon.
The funny side of the race was the timing clocked by Stroke Of Genius. One minute, 15.13 seconds for a Category I horse, that too on the winter track, is nothing less than a joke. Explanations such as `opening day blues', or `track not settling down' are just untenable, for Awesome Win had clocked better timing in Category III carrying 60 kilos. It is possible that the initial pace in the main race was slow and therefore the slow timing, but such kind of discrepancies leave room for doubt that maybe the winner was contrived.
Leave that as it may, it should be mentioned that trainer Faisal Hassan is doing consistently well with his small but well spread out string. This would surely encourage small owners to put their faith in him.
Besides Awesome Win, the other three-year-old to impress on the day was Nickel Back who picked up her third straight win. No doubt, the field was totally out of depth for this Rafaat Hussain ward, but she scored with such impunity that she allowed Autocracy a 15-length advantage before mowing him down. The only way for Nickelback from here is up and she cannot be stopped until she reaches the top category.
It appears that Autocracy is a bit overrated for her calibre while Virennele is being forced to be quiet for some reason by trainer Leo D'Silva. Change Over is coming on board no matter where he is running, but his win is due only in Category I.
Winter season brings with it a new crop to racing. Although the bunch one got to see on the opening day had nothing much to crow about, the encouraging aspect was that the winner and the runner-up displayed immense fighting qualities. Of the nine runners, Power Wave and Cool Deal were the two whose preparation looked a bit systematic, but it was Deshmukh's Kaiser who was backed to the hilt. Kavan Kariappa took Cool Deal on a start-to-finish mission while Kaiser
challenged her in the final furlong. In fact, Kaiser took the lead only to see Cool Deal get the better of him with a re-run.
Another of Deshmukh's wards who continues to disappoint after showing early promise is Ne Tlus
Ultra. As one who shed his maiden status in Bangalore, a lot was expected from him, but he went down again without a fight. That he capitulated to six-year-old Salvik means he should be left alone until he shows winning form.
