Races held under most trying circumstances

MUMBAI

A STONY silence in the local press on the labour situation at the R.W.I.T.C. meant that the general public remained unaware that racing during the period under review took place under the most trying circumstances. An illegal strike by the casual labour was made worse by the decision of the club's staff to join the striking workers.

Despite a court order restraining the strikers from approaching within 100 metres of the race course, a group of them entered the car park and shouted slogans. Fortunately, police protection was made available and the show was able to go on.

For once, trainers took the lead and organised their stable staff to perform chores such as cleaning the stands and watering the track. A convoy of cars and floats, led by the Chairman himself, Cyrus Poonawalla, transported oats from the warehouse on the other side of the track to the stable area.

The situation is by no means satisfactory but in the face of the combined display of strength by the committee, owners, trainers, jockeys and syces, the strikers must have no doubt felt demoralised.

In fact, since then a section has resumed work. The only fly in the ointment is the nagging feeling that the disgruntled workers had been put up to their mischief by ``inside elements''. One wonders if the proximity of the occurrence of this problem to the club's annual elections is a mere coincidence?

Track action on Thursday commenced with a surprise win for the nine-year-old Checkmate, from Asad Siddiqui's yard. The trainer put up newcomer John Stack and was rewarded with a perfectly- timed run on the outside. The Irishman was all smiles when returning victorious after fending off Thundering Grey.

Those who had noted the fact that Soviet Ace was an entry for a graded race would have rightly concluded that he was highly thought of. Despite his rating of 45 - unusually high for a maiden - the Mallya hope prevailed with a degree of comfort. Pesi Shroff kept him an easy-moving second before driving out the Dhariwal-trained son of Bold Russian. Although Sanaga was fancied and did manage to place second, she looked a shade heavy and will be a better proposition next time.

Magansingh Jodha was a much relieved man after he had saddled Moment Of Truth to a splendid triumph in the next. It may be recalled that the son of Tocave Botta had fallen at the gate before the Nanoli Stud Pune Derby last month, necessitating his withdrawal on that occasion. After such an injury, it is always a question mark as to whether a runner will come back just as good.

Here he demonstrated his well-being by essaying a fine turn of foot to account for his five rivals. There was a lot of anguish amongst the connections of second-placed Sedona at C. Rajendra's holding her up early in a slow-run race. That rider protested that he was merely following instructions! She does not look quite up to classic standard - especially against the likes of Six Speed and Allaire - but will be a useful handicapper.

Bone chips in a hind hock delayed the introduction to racing of the striking chestnut Special Happening. Imtiaz Sait's ward had gained valuable experience when third at his only career start some three months earlier. The big-made son of Tecorno had since worked so well that he was a half-money choice, and came home like one.

No less than three classic aspirants found the Sir Rahimtoola Chinoy Trophy over the metric mile to be a suitable ``prep'' race for their future targets. These were Pune Derby runner-up Yukon, his immediate pursuer on that occasion, Storm Again, and Star Shine, unplaced then though fancied. With a weight advantage of 6 kg., Star Shine looked a certainty and so it proved. Rajendra kept her relaxed, moved up on the outside and tackled Storm Again. The pair drew well clear of Yukon, even as Star Shine asserted her authority over Storm Again in the closing stages.

Trainer Narendra Lagad, who sent out Star Shine, would have completed a quick double if only Harish Rathod had not messed up his effort on Rising Fire. Slightly slowly away, the daughter of the smart Agni was wide and finished on like a train, albeit too late.

She checked in three-parts of a length in arrears of Gold Berg, whose wire-to-wire effort paid dividends. The bandaged Mein Kampf struggled hard to bridge the gap and ended up a close third.

Rather like the charge of the light brigade, six runners were almost level 50 metres from home in the last race, and it was Pure Pearl that extracted that little extra to prevail by a neck over Skippy, who in turn was a short head to the good of Charging Bullet. That gave Lagad a brace, but he would surely have preferred the treble that was his for the asking but for Rising Fire's near miss.

Sunday had ten races on the card, far too many to make for an enjoyable afternoon. Those who came early saw the oddly-named Sea Minstrael carry on the good work as an odds-on choice. Although bred to stay much further than 1200 m., he sprinted home under the energetic B. Prakash.

Some sparkling track work saw Sunstreak installed as favourite in the first maiden race for two-year-olds this term. Curiously, the Don't Forget Me filly was slowly away and never a factor. There won't be too many opportunities to have a well-connected offspring of Razeen available at 4 to 1 - Over The Ocean completed a quick double in the Ramaswamy colours under the tutelage of Todywalla.

The very first comment that the jubilant owner of Yewall, Sonny Brar, made after watching that runner coasting to victory was ``full credit to the trainer''. The schooler in question, Shiraz Sunderji, had wisely refrained from pitching his ward into the fray at Pune in view of his suspect knees. Should he stand up to racing, Yewall will reach the highest class. Old-stager Redondo was a fair second in this Class III affair.

One can understand punters deserting a runner when Shroff is replaced by a low percentage rider like F. Aaron, but not to the extent they did with Perception. A good second ten days earlier, the seven-year- old went one better and paid almost 60 to 1 for the win! The odds-on Afilado got first run in the straight but fizzled into third as Desert Fighter came up from the remote reaches of the field to almost catch the winner.

Half-sister to a graded stakes winner in the U.S.A., Donatella has taken her time to reach racing fitness. A distant seventh at her only appearance so far, the three-year-old daughter of Broto was the public choice in the lower division of the Class III race. Whirling Dervish led before Land Lady shaped as a winner. Under relentless driving from Mark Gallagher, Donatella just about passed the leader and scrambled home by three-quarters of a length.

Gallagher added another point to his tally through Communicator. Altaf Hussain's ward had shown enough to suggest Class V would hold no terrors for him. Still, it required a fortuitous opening on the rails to appear before the Portroe gelding could get through. Universal Star was no threat in second and raced as if she needs much further.

With only three victories in Western India since 1997, S.M. Johnson appears to have forgotten what winning is all about. The mere prospect of scoring an upset through the medium of Valparaiso appeared to have got him so excited that he overdid his finishing effort. In fact Valparaiso passed leader Midnight Charm in the shadow of the post, but with Johnson's arms in a flurry, narrowly lost momentum. As a result, Rajendra stole the verdict in a bob of heads much to the delight of trainer Sarosh Mody. Here Ocean Breeze was the favourite, but the bandaged filly seemed to feel her legs. She deserves to be retired.

The first graded race of the season, the S.D. Parkash Memorial Super Mile Gold Trophy, had seven three-year-olds in opposition, but for all practical purposes, it was a one horse race. The vastly improved Simply Noble hit the front, as is customary, then simply dominated his rivals and ground them to dust. The winning margin of five lengths could have been doubled, had Prakash elected to ride out his mount instead of sneaking a couple of peeks over his shoulder.

Dr. M. A. M. Ramaswamy and Todywalla have a putative champion in the Placerville gelding, who was followed home by Anagram and Tout De Suite. It was a hat trick for these colours in this race, they having been sported by last year's winner, Smart Chieftan, and the 1998 heroine, Priceless Asset, both offspring of Placerville.

Prakash completed a quadruple astride Little Princess. His association with this low-rated mount hinted at her revival and sure enough, the pair came with a wet sail on the outside to land the odds. Mansoor Shah's ward had hinted at success when runner- up at her last appearance at Pune.

Successful through Yewall and Midnight Charm, Rajendra stayed in the race for leading rider through a well-timed effort on Master Honey. Former rider-turned-trainer Hanut Singh sent out this Cruachan gelding in good shape and he held off Awesome Foursome, who got going late. The last- named won't tarry too long in the maiden ranks, more so if allowed to tackle a longer trip.

DARK LEGEND

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