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Intelligence makes a quantum leap in Guineas

By: Tippu Sultan   November 23 , 2015
   

Vishal Gaekwad trained Intelligence swamped the opposition in the Gr 2 Golconda 1000 Guineas, the second classic of the season, with surprising ease on Monday at Malakpet. The victory provided the trainer with the first classic success of his career. Favourite Woman O War looked a pale shadow of the aggressive horse that she was and put up a poor performance in the hands of jockey Pradeep Chouhan who perhaps does not understand the horse as well as her original partner Imran Chisty.

There was no denying the fact that Intelligence is beautifully bred. However, Intelligence had just one win to show in her three efforts at Pune and in the Derby she was used as a pace maker. The fact that the Guineas was contested by poor lot of horses was ignored by many because of the presence of Woman O War whose all wins had come against local opposition. Whatever outstation that was present on the last occasion in the Fillies Championship during monsoon could not be considered as genuine for the simple reason that they performed way below par. Woman O War`s reputation had been built on her winning several races on the local circuit. As such, any emerging horse had a good chance of winning against the run of expectations.
  
  


Jockey Suraj Narredu had no hesitation in taking Intelligence to the front even as Shivalik Bird, Amazing Charm, Women O War and That`s My Darling were settled behind making an Indian line. The pace of the race was slow with jockeys behind vying with each other to restrain their horses. Intelligence thus enjoyed an uncontested lead and this decisively tilted the race in her favour as she came into the straight several lengths clear of the rest and had enough reserves to skip away. Having given a big lee way, the ones behind struggled. The race was over bar the shouting well before the final furlong as Intelligence won pulling up, with jockey Suraj enjoying the luxury of easing up the horse. Woman O War who went wide under pressure however managed to edge out Amazing Charm to get the runner up berth while That`s My Darling was not far behind. There was lot of expectations on Amazing Charm but after the disastrous performance of Avant Garde in an ordinary handicap race at Mumbai on Sunday, her chances diminished significantly as the Mumbai challenger had thrashed the former on the Bangalore track. Though stake money for all races has been significantly enhanced, the Guineas offered a paltry sum of Rs 12 lakhs plus to the winner which is the lowest offered anywhere in the country. Possibly the authorities felt that since the classics are mostly won by outstation challengers, why make these races richer could be the logic. The Calcutta Guineas offered stake money in excess of Rs 45 lakhs

Donald Netto trained Net Champ extended his amazing run of wins to four when he easily accounted for the opposition in the 1400 metres Mica Empress Cup (Div I), a Category II race. After tracking Exclusive Lady well into the straight, Net Champ steadily asserted his supremacy and went sailing clear. Only Vista put a semblance of a fight with a late flurry which however went in vain. Gayle Force ran on to edge out Baashagar who was making an appearance on the race track after a long absence as he had just one run to his credit in the early part of the winter season last year. Prasad Raju trained Rebellion was backed to the exclusion of the rest in the lower division of the race. The progeny of Dancing Forever who had nine unproductive runs during the monsoon season, had recorded a runaway win this season. Rebellion who was kept in about the fifth position by jockey Suraj, pounced on the front runners in the run in for home and by the final furlong, had stormed away to record a very impressive win. Since the handicapper does not penalize even the runaway winners much on the local circuit, a repeat win for Rebellion is very much on cards. Symbol of Glory ran on from behind to take the third lot ahead of Flower Roll Up while Al Truist who did the pace setting, weakened to finish fourth.

K R K Raju trained Commanding Boy who enjoyed favouritism in the 1200 metres Windscale Plate (Div I), a Category II race, had no problem in landing the spoils with a start to finish effort. Though King of Pop and Whispering Pines put immense pressure in the straight, Commanding Boy had enough fire power to skip away. While Whispering Pines held on to the second spot in a cluster finish, King of Pop was relegated to the fourth position by Little Smart Heart who finished strongly in the end. Faisal Hassan trained Vallee Secrete had no problem in winning as a strong favourite, the lower division of the race. After being held back in about the fourth or fifth position, Sandesh on the favourite steadily moved up and by the final 300 metres, had Vallee Secrete take over the running from Advocate General. The favourite then stretched away for a facile win over late finishing Sketch of Beauty.

In a desperately close finish, favourite Euro Zone prevailed over Charlie Brown and Without Makeup to win the 1100 metres Blue Bird Plate, a race for two year olds. Euro Zone had a useful lead going into the final furlong but he could not breathe easy as Charlie Brown was relentless in his pursuit. In the meanwhile, Without Makeup who was several lengths behind these runners, also began to cover ground with menacing strides. The three runners went past the post locked together and it was difficult to call out who the winner was. The commentator called Charlie Brown as the possible winner but Euro Zone had in fact held on by a whisker as was revealed by the photo, with Without Makeup another short head behind. When Chouhan was at his best, he had never lost in these type of finishes but of late, he is losing too many races in tight finishes.

R H Sequeira trained Undu Undu Undu who had some leeway to cover on the front runners, saw the field spread out right in front of him which allowed him to make headway along the inside and get the measure of front running Symbol of Honour to land the spoils as a favourite in the 1400 metres Corden Rouge Plate (Div I), a race for Category III horses. Ananth Vatsalya trained Buckshee overcame a sluggish start and managed to win the lower division of the race at the expense of another lethargic beginner Eva. Yet Another was close third.

 
 
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Total Comments : 1
Posted by T S Pannu on ( November 25 , 2015 )
This was not the first classic for trainer Vishal Gaikwad as mentioned. His first classic win came in the very first horse he saddled, Zachary in the Gr. I Super mile run at Mumbai, on the Invitation day in March this year.

Admin: Super Mile is not a classic race. It is a Group I race.
 
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