Criollo wins a gift race

MUMBAI

THE LONG season that commenced in November 2000 has entered its final phase now. A number of race-days have been programmed for this period, most of which will serve to provide consolation prizes to those who were unable to score earlier.

Thursday began with Criollo getting a gift by way of the Exhilaration Trophy. The Altaf Hussain-trained colt faced only three rivals, of which two were exposed maidens. As such, he had no difficulty in making all over the 1,400m trip under Niall McCullagh. Smoking Joe made a minor bid 500m out but soon accepted the inevitability of defeat.

McCullagh continued his fine run this term with a back-to-back victory astride Foolish Pursuit in the very next race. Pink Floyd led for the early part, with the ultimate winner lobbing along hugging the rail. Once the leader had retired, he made his move and staved off a challenge of sorts from Color Me Good. Ivor Fernandes sent out the winner for the latter's third win this term.The zero-rated Courraggio led a race for the first time ever in his anonymous career and hung on for third, his first career placing. Meanwhile, another disappointment so far in the shape of Exhilarating sat an easy third, then made an effort and obliged under B. Prakash, pegging back White Lie. The home-bred daughter of Portroe hails from Zadmal Singh's yard.

Nickleodeon was restless at the gates but got off well. However, favoured Foreign Connection in the fourth race started so slowly that he compromised all his chances. After Dendrobium and Rosehill Gardens had briefly raised hopes, Millenium Star came up and under P. Belose's whipping gained the day from Golden Tiger. Magansingh Jodha shelters the son of White Crown.Zehera looked a certainty in the fifth race, but did not appeal in the paddock. At one stage it looked as if Robert D'Mellow's ward might have left it too late, but she gamely responded under Amyn Merchant, who replaced the declared rider, S. N. Chavan, in the saddle. Moira's gallant bid came to nought in the shadow of the post.

A potentially useful youngster was revealed in the shape of River God, an own-brother to those two Graded Stakes winning fillies, Lunar Mist and Al Dente. The handsome son of Razeen had a painless introduction to the racing wars under Mark Gallagher, and by the time they reached the wire, the race had become a procession, with the winner far ahead of Crown Affair, who was in turn well clear of Blues Clues.

There was a lot of betting on Snow Star, who was fancied to repeat, but the striking grey came across one too good in the shape of Fantasy. On the board in all her four starts this season, the daughter of Lure, kept Dallas Todywalla's lead in the trainers' table in tact with her victory. The margin was just half a length but once Prakash on Fantasy had taken it up, Snow Star was always fighting a losing battle.

Sunday began with Momentous Mover toppling favoured Mille Fiori. In fact, the public choice was nosed out of second place by Courtesan and Northern Frontier in a desperate battle for the runner-up slot. It was to turn out to be a day to remember for the victor's rider, P.S. Chouhan, as it marked his first treble in two years. His other winners were Sangtrash and Diplomat Rose. Incidentally, Courtesan's rider dropped his stick.

Each season, Jodha does well with his four-year-olds, and with a couple of runs under her belt, Code Red was overdue for her maiden success. The daughter of Mizaaya came up smartly under the stable's retained rider, P.S. Deora, and was going away at the finish. Smart Hunter made some small contribution towards his corn bill by running into second.

The Jeanne d'Arc Trophy resulted in a victory for the aged Sangtrash, which surprised all but pedigree buffs. Considering his sire had scored over 2,400m when annexing the Japan Cup back in 1987, it was something of an anomaly that Sangtrash had been tried at a trip as far as 2,000m only once in his 47 previous starts. With the Rs. 64,000 he picked up here, the eight-year-old became Indian racing's newest millionaire. Chouhan sat and suffered for some 200m on the rails, then pulled his mount out and was rewarded with a sparkling turn of foot from M.K. Jadhav's charge.

When Dazzling Gold sped to lead the field by several lengths in the Satinello Trophy, most put down their binoculars, as the result seemed certain. His rivals, particularly Hi Fidelity, were already off the bridle and struggling. Suddenly the leader lost his footing and fly-jumped, losing momentum and the race as Hi Fidelity though wide gained ground, as did Crepusculaire. It transpired that Dazzling Gold had brushed the false rail, which accounted for his falling back to third. The lucky winner is from Vinayak's yard and was steered by Prakash, making a strong bid to catch leader C. Rajendra in the jockeys' title race.

Another victim of racing over distances too sharp has been Maltese Falcon. The daughter of Tecorno/Majestic Eagle had been kept to sprinting and ended as runner-up on all her three starts in 2000/2001. Allowed to essay 1400m, she stretched out beautifully to dispose of a pretty useful field, with P. Kamlesh guiding her home. C.D. Katrak is in charge of this lightly-raced racemare, who can be placed to win again over a metric mile or thereabouts.

The last big race of the season for juveniles is the Gool S. Poonawalla Million (Grade 3). Eight runners faced the starter, coincidentally all fillies. Prior to the start, the race was felt to be a match between Iceberg (McCullagh) and Scarlet Lake (Gallagher), but in the race itself Scarlet Lake started back- pedalling after looking threatening 400m out. That appeared to leave the field open for Iceberg to carry on to victory. However, veteran Aslam Kader galvanized Raziya, and she joined issue with the leader only to knuckle under by a short-head. Iceberg has been well-placed by Bezan Chenoy and now goes for a summer holiday.

Little needs to be said about the success of Majestic Hills in the seventh event. A half-money choice, he was sent right down to business by Prakash and made all to come home with ease. Todywalla thus increased his tally, and barring a major burst from Narendra Lagad's yard seems headed for an easy repeat of last year's title.

A dozen of the best sprinters in training in these parts clashed for the Western India Race Horse Owners' Trophy, a terms event over 1,200m. Recent track works suggested that Strengthtostrength was back to his best, after an abortive mission to Chennai where he plainly did not act on the rock-hard going. Held up in mid division by McCullagh, he came around a shade wide but had plenty in the tank to overtake front-runner Green Paradise, with Yewall third and Calcutta challenger Starry Flag fourth. Rehanullah Khan has done an excellent job with the six-year-old Guru Hari home- bred, while McCullagh raised his total to forty, a new record.

DARK LEGEND

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