Winding
up her campaign this summer on a winning note, the Zadmal Singh trained
chestnut mare Magic Touch (Razeen – Magic Fountain) took toll of the
hot-favourite Flareon to claim the Byculla Club Trophy. P. Kamlesh
aboard the C. D.Katrak saddled Flareon tried to pull a fast one over his
two rivals by setting the pace for the mile-and-three-quarter journey.
He was not disturbed till the last lap where Magic Touch was encouraged
by young C. S. Jodha to turn the heat on the favourite. Malesh Narredu
riding the other contender Silver Tern too started to close the gap. The
three horses went flat out in the home stretch but it was Magic Touch
who succeeded in overpowering Flareon and had enough vigour to keep
Silver Tern at bay in a close finish.
Jodha went on to register a back-to-back double when Royal Flash (Royal
Kingdom – Festival Flame), a recent migrant to trainer Mansoor Shah’s
stable, justified the faith imposed in him by the market forces and
thrashed the ante post favourite Major Wager, ridden by Amyn Merchant.
Royal Flash was unleashed by Jodha when the field was brought into the
straight by no-hoper Wow Factor and relinquished the command to Major
Wager. The favourite kept the hopes alive of his supporters for a while
but caved in meekly when Royal Flash got aggressive nearer home. World
War Three ended third and was followed by Firey Future.
The two divisions of the Karibuni Plate went the way of trainer Narendra
Lagad’s wards. Starynessey (Concordial – Hot Baroness) produced a
sparkling run in the hands of lesser-known Harish Rathod to measure
Malesh Narredu piloted favourite Zarzaitine, whose start-to-finish
tactics failed after she ran out of fuel in the last furlong. Secret
Pilgrim, the other fancied horse in the field, came out sluggishly from
the gates and was unable to make the desired impact. He ended in the
money though with Xiamen coming in rather late to fill the frame.
Wild Temper (Warrshan – Tempering) received exceptional support in
the saddle from S. N. Chavan which enabled Lagad’s candidate to fulfil
his obligations. Wild Temper had shown a clean pair of heels to his
rivals but came under severe pressure from Green Valley opposite the
stands and for a fleeting second she had succumbed. But Green Valley
wavered when C. Rajendra asked her to steal a march which rekindled the
hopes of Chavan. He rode Wild Temper with renewed energy and the bay
gelding responded magnificently to his call. The two horses waged a
bitter battle but Green Valley was frustrated by the elongated neck of
Wild Temper. Walking Tall looked threatening when brought him into the
picture but his progress was halted because of his lack of acceleration.
Pesi Shroff schooled filly Deeleecious (Afternoon Deelites – Andestine)
made her second successful bid of the season after Neeraj Rawal steered
her confidently in the curtain-raiser. Deeleecious came with a powerful
run down the straight to pull the rug from under the feet of Queen of
the Turf, who appeared coasting home. Favourite Fantastic Fury ran
thereabouts and ended a tame third.
Malesh Narredu’ lone success of the day came aboard the Nina Lalvani
groomed filly Amberley (Duja – Flattery), who proved far too superior
for her rivals. The support received by Lunar Queen from J. Pradeep in
the saddle was inadequate but for which the mare sent out by Dallas
Todywalla would’ve definitely turned the tables on the winner. Stunning
Star ran on to be in the money ahead of Excellento, who showed some zest
for racing for the first time this season.
Amjad Khan trained six-year-old mare Rage of Angels (Storm Trooper –
Title Bought) earned her corn bill when Dashrath Singh fought a bitter
duel with the C. Rajendra ridden favourite Hisham. The Imtiaz Sait
trainee took charge from Magic Words but was denied victory by the
winning burst of Rage of Angels. Star Legend was the best among the
beaten brigade. Bezan Chenoy’s ward started galloping late but ended a
good third ahead of Magic Spell, who had decided to save her best for
the Pune season. Opera Royale was never in the hunt and made no show as
did Private Eye.
