Gulmohor smells the fragrance of victory

MUMBAI

ONE RACE day a week seems plenty to a punter, particularly if the run of fortune goes against one. The concluding week of the 1999/2000 Mumbai racing season had as many as four live days of racing at Mahalakshmi! The only saving grace is that there is now a quiet period of almost 12 weeks before the thunder of hooves is heard again in Western India, when action resumes across the Ghats.

The final all-weather meeting was fixed on Wednesday, and the response from the training fraternity was tentative, with none of the seven races having more than 7 runners apiece. There has been talk of a front- running bias, but an experienced racegoer suggested to this correspondent that it was more of a ``rails'' bias. In other words, the one metre width of track next to the rails was faster than parallel paths. There seems to be some truth in this, judging by the manner in which horses on the outside seem - in general - to be unable to accelerate.

With trainer Mansoor Shah's wards having discovered a new level of form this April, Honest Lady looked a good thing in the opener, specially after her quiet fifth behind stablemate Golden Dynasty just three days earlier. Sure enough, the aged mare for once lived up to her name and gained her first win in a year despite Tony Bernard carrying 1.5 kg. over.

Consistency gained its due reward when Navroze Supreme, from the same stable, went one better under G. Janardhan. Actually, the leading apprentice, F. Aaron, was booked for the ride but reportedly had to leave station due to a bereavement. The Gold Discovery filly made all. Lumiere tried to pass her but seemed to feel her legs.

Asprilla is always tardy at the gates and probably needs a longer trip to be able to make up lost ground. The favourite was at a false price over 1400 metres and only just made the board. Meanwhile, Rebounding Ray had gained the lead from the start and kept going to record her second win of the season, thus boosting Shiraz Sunderji's tally. Falconaire lay second and held on, while Sacred Fire finished on to be third.

The bandaged Infuriate cut pace with the leader and assumed command with about 700 metres left to run in the fourth race. She then drew away to give R. Shelar the twentieth winner of his career. Faisal Abbas's ward has run well on the grass and can repeat at Pune.

When Majestic Hills lobbed along behind Gulmohor in the maidens' race, it seemed he only had to be given the office to run away. However, the brother to Scenic Star found nothing once he came to challenge on the outside, allowing the leader to score a bloodless win by 5 lengths! S.N. Joshi sent out the Thaumaturge gelding. On this showing, the runner-up should score early at Pune.

Sometimes it's hard to fathom what makes a formless runner a favourite. Certainly Tim Tom had done nothing to warrant public support, even if only on the Tote. Syed Shah's Waleshan pushed his way to the lead after about a quarter of the metric mile trip had been traversed and remained in charge till the wire. Tim Tom came up late but was too far behind to pose a threat.

Third behind Smart Chieftan at level weights was surely adequate form for a win in Class III, which is precisely what Viking achieved in the 1800 m. S. Mody Stakes, the concluding event. The odds-on choice was able to afford the luxury of lying fourth before essaying his challenge. From the ease with which he changed gears, it may be readily divined that more laurels await the Vinayak-trained son of Carson City at Pune.

Saturday's sport reverted to the traditional grass, albeit with false rails up. Off the lowly rating of 1, almost as low as one can get, Chocolate Chip rejoiced at the removal of blinkers by shocking at long odds. A punt on Airkraft crash-landed when that habitual leader ironically could not show out at any stage, and had to remain content with third, behind Winning Times, who was wide at the turn.

The three best-backed runners in the 1800 m. Racing Journalists Trophy annexed the paying positions, although the lead changed hands more than once. First to show out a long way from home was Tall Boy, who seemed to give up when passed by Forest Fire. That gelding shaped as a winner until Power Surge made his challenge. The striking grey colt from Robert De Mellow's yard went away under Malcolm Kharadi from Forest Fire even as Tall Boy rallied.

Barring an uncharacteristic lapse in the HSBC Salver, Strengthtostrength has been a model racehorse, always giving his best, and never finishing worse than second. The speedy son of Farajullah sports trade-mark yellow bandages, but that does not hamper his enthusiasm. One of the few success stories on the Indian Turf these days from a small stable - that of Rehanullah Khan - the gelding blitzed his Class 1 rivals, recording a sub- minute time (00:59.39) for the second time this season. He has proved a wonderful advertisement for the wares of the Guru Hari stud.

Capri Charm dropped his rider and ``led'' the field in the next race, causing Courraggio to show keenness to follow. The Malvado gelding shot his bolt in the straight even as Colonel Saab was presented with a fortuitous opening on the inside after taking the bend on the rails. The latter went on to score for Magansingh Jodha, as Courraggio weakened to fourth, the pair split by Enharmonic and Eisenhower.

The battle for the trainers' championship had embellished the last few days of sporting action. Sunderji had gone ahead on Wednesday and here Todywalla pulled one back through a nice youngster in Amber Music. The Cristofori filly cheekily accounted for favoured Ever So Loyal, who ran green, by a neck. Actually, the support for the latter, considering Ruzzan Choksey's highly forgettable record at Mahalakshmi this season, was surprising. Way behind was Way Beyond.Some of Imtiaz Sait's wards had not raced during his period of suspension. One of these, Top Mover, who had the twin benefits of a recent lung-opener and Aslam Kader in the saddle, was a well-backed runner in the Racing Officials' Trophy. The Topanoora gelding lobbed along in fifth and rallied under strong driving when asked. Soon it was clear that the race was in the bag for him, the challenges of Right Arrow and Dressed For Dinner being of no avail.

Armed with the knowledge that any Todywalla-trainee was sure to try its best, punters could well have chosen Hearts In Motion in the concluding event, what with K.P.G. Appu in the saddle. Instead, the No Louder filly was allowed to run loose at 10 to 1, and took her schooler to a clear lead when powering home. Shubhangini made up ground - she had nowhere to go in a crowded pack - and will be hard to toss over a longer distance at Pune. Evidently, the rumours that Arvana had worked ``in the dark'' were correct as the absent-for-one-year filly was a close third.

Overlays may not be too common, but when available deserve to be seized. Coming off a pair of consecutive wins, Temple Quest started at a juicy 20 to 1, even though the booking of Aadesh Kumar had effectively reduced the penalty for her last win to a mere 2 points. After saving ground with a lovely rails run, she came outside leader Dream Image and nailed her in the last three strides. Should the bandaged daughter of Batzushka stay sound, she can surely shine for M.K. Jadhav at Pune, particularly if campaigned over further.

Tongues wagged at Appu's effort astride Fiery Angel. That gelding fell back midway for no obvious reason, then came around very wide and finished on too late to topple Golden Gossip, who led from the start. One suspects that what perhaps aroused interest in some who are always looking for a nefarious purpose, was the fact that Appu had been seen in the winning colours astride the likes of Daring Don and Elusive Charm earlier in the season.

No such complaint was heard after Appu's effort in the maidens' event, as he was simply out-pointed on Stone Ridge by Yukon's finishing effort. The latter, a Vinayak-trained son of Cristofori, was described correctly in the official race card as a gelding, he having surgically been deprived of his reproductive ability since his previous effort on February 20. However, the usual pointer ``XYZ runs for the first time since being gelded'' was missing, and what's more, the leading private race book had failed to notice the change altogether.

In this age of transparency, this important nugget of information ought to have been highlighted more prominently. Anyway, Yukon took dead aim on Stone Ridge in the straight and accelerated smartly. The brother to Placid should add to this success at Pune. Knoxville raced green and could annex a maiden during his next campaign.

Mariella resembles her dam in lacking a shiny coat. This did not deter her being sent out at 7 to 4, but Rajendra soon had his hands full, as the filly was rank in the early stages and failed to settle. Possibly as a result she petered out, as Favorite Trick - who lay second - grabbed the initiative. Sonalika made a determined late bid, which came too late to alter the destination of the Revelation Trophy. Sorab Jilla's triumphant ward is on the upgrade and must surely reach the highest class by next Winter.

A pair of four-year-olds by Reasonable fought out the next race, a scurry for Class IV horses, which featured a trophy and a generous contribution from Mr. Ravi Prakash. Although Tio Pepe scored, it was runner-up Celestial Light that ultimately gained the day in the stewards room. The former had clearly bumped the latter, who was in tight quarters on the rail. The three-quarter length verdict suggested it might be touch- and-go, but it is learnt the decision was unanimous.

Another objection followed in the Trainers' Trophy, but this one did not meet with any approval anywhere. Having changed hands recently, Flying Home contributed the handsome quick return of Rs. 76,350 by annexing the prize, but was a trifle wayward in doing so.

This emboldened the rider of Money Magic, Zameer Sayyed, to try and get the result overturned, but it was plain that he was not impeded at any stage.

The second offspring of Regal Sabre to be bred at the Pratap Stud, Royal Standard is attempting to follow in the footsteps of the first, the well-performed Satin Lover. The once-raced filly extended her strides to beat her erstwhile paddock companion, Tasha Beat, making a belated debut.

If they maintain their form, this pair will be heard of at Pune. Sorab Jilla completed a double, but more remarkable was that B. Prakash was cementing a four-timer in the saddle, he having earlier steered Yukon, Favorite Trick and Flying Home.

That set the stage for the concluding day of the Mumbai racing season. Although not its longest ever in terms of number of races run, it certainly stretched out chronologically! Three of the six runners in Monday's opening event were making their second appearance of the week.

Whereas Forest Fire gained swift recompense for his defeat at the hands of Power Surge, and Rebounding Ray at least gained second money, Nuclear Power ran dismally.

When Mujahedin - another repeat runner - demonstrated yet again the value of following Todywalla's wards, the trainers' supporters must have felt he had the championship in the bag.

Sunderji had no runner in this race, but must have watched Fine Arrow keenly, as that Bold Russian gelding just failed to touch off Mujahedin. All being well, the runner-up can shine over a trip at Pune.

Free Gold became one more Mansoor Shah-trained end-of-the-season winner. The daughter of Gold Discovery lay second before making a meal of her rivals. The hard-ridden Mister Money attempted to recover losses sustained when third the previous day but could not make a dent. An objection preferred on his behalf was overruled swiftly.

Admittedly Bachelor had put in a good run recently and had the in-form Prakash in the saddle. Still, it was always on the cards that he would find the 1200 m. trip too sharp. Sure enough, Zuhaak had too much speed and amidst loud cheering by Sunderji's supporters brought his schooler back into contention in the see- saw battle for supremacy. Rajendra did the honours in the saddle.

The aforementioned cheering strengthened into a crescendo when Sunderji's Leit Motif recovered from an impossible position for a meritorious victory over Todywalla's My Solitaire. The chocolate brown daughter of Sir Bruce was thrice baulked of an opening along the rails before getting out of jail.

Once in the clear, she changed her legs and bounded forward with a spine-chilling burst. This effort of Rajendra brought Sunderji back on level terms with Todywalla and that is how they finished, as joint champions with 31 winners apiece.

A quiet gamble on Princess Xena saw her price plummeting to 11 to 10 at the off in the maidens' race. Earlier, the declaration of S.M. Johnson had hinted that the half-sister to Forest Fantasy might have been not yet ready to strike.

The very fact that she is not owned by one of the big three names in Indian racing suggests she has her physical faults! Anyway, there was a lot to like about the manner in which she stretched out to bridge the gap for a debut victory, but this came about only after a liberal application of the whalebone.

More eye-catching was the unaided progression of Piccolina into the runner-up slot. The grey homebred, with the well-known ``Birdcatcher spots'' in her coat, devoured ground with every stride under encouragement limited to hands and heels. She could be a good 'un.

The weary bones of punters got an extended lease of life when the plunge on Kargil fructified. The bandaged gelding from Ivor Fernandes' yard just got up to down Duke Of Albany who had taken what appeared to be a winning lead. Stolichnaya raised a glimmer of hope from the Sunderji camp but it was not to be and she checked in third.

DARK LEGEND

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