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Neil Darashah trained Star Cracker won the 1400 metres Air Force Trophy, a race for horses rated 45 to 65, the feature event of Saturday’s Bangalore races with surprising ease. Star Cracker who had won twice in his 17 career starts had also not won for 616 days but he seemed to have benefitted by the good effort of the summer season and swamped the opposition. Favourite Sakura who was quoted at cramped odds put up a shockingly disappointing performance. In fact, the day’s card itself had many shocks for the punters who were drained of their precious resources as the results did not match expectations or perceptions of the majority.
Punters have no hope when horses which have credentials flop beyond expectation. Sakura had stretched Isn’t She Lovely to the hilt in the Mysore 1000 Guineas and based on that run, her win was considered a formality. This race was expected to boost her prospects in the classics and she was quoted at half money to succeed. The Sulaiman Attaollahi ward flopped so miserably. Star Cracker produced a good stretch run to storm clear inside the final furlong to win by a margin of three lengths. Gypsy went in a chase and finished second ahead of Shades of Desire. Sakura was a miserable fourth. In the light of this performance, one cannot put her Mysore run into any perspective. Jockey Zervan did not help the cause of Sakura by his poor positioning without apparent discomfort and this put paid to her hopes. Sakura reportedly also bled though there was no official announcement to this effect.
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Full brother to duel Derby winner Angel Dust, Angelino made a winning debut, beating the opposition pointless in the 1400 metres Master Key Plate, a race for maiden three-year-olds. The progeny of Win Legend are firing on all cylinders and it came as no surprise that Angelino who was the only strong favourite to win during the course of the day’s action should create a fine impression in his debut effort. Sandesh held him in the fourth position till turning for home and Angelino smoothly progressed in the stretch to win by a widening margin of six lengths over Mercury and long-time leader Happy Dancing in a brisk timing.
The Arjun Mangalorkar trained Air Command who had let down huge expectations in the past, produced an outstanding effort in the 1200 metres in the1200 metres Kentucky Plate, a race for maiden three-year-olds. The only reason that could be attributed to the sea change in his performance was the fact that he was running for the time after being gelded. Air Command shot off from the gates like a scalded cat and had a stranglehold on the race. He won by a margin of over four lengths. Akita Pro was second ahead of Summer Palace. Favourite Winning Heart who was backed with confidence by the punters because of his efforts at Mysore were in for a big disappointment as he let down huge expectations. Possibly the slapping of two additional equipment might not have helped matters. But it must be said that his best would not have been enough to beat Air Command on this day. Winning Heart is reported to have bled though there as no official announcement after the race.
Srinath who was astride Winning Heart was also on another heavily supported loser in Kvasir in the 1200 metres Vidhana Soudha Cup, a race for horses rated 30 to 50. Lesser fancied Miniver Rose from trainer Prithviraj’s yards shot into the lead from the word go and was not under pressure to retain it. Kvasir plodded home to take the second position ahead of Panama who held off Piper Regina to save place money.
Neil Darashah trained Full Bloom was another favourite to gulp a lot of public money in the 1200 metres Aihole Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35. Backed to the exclusion of the rest, Full Bloom had no answer when debutant Varcasva swooped on her. The latter was not backed with conviction by the public as the track work did not indicate strong preparation.
Azhar Ali trained She’s Stylish had fair credentials to win the 1200 metres BARI Plate, a race for horses in the lowest category. She’s Stylish had a good forward run at Mysore and she built on that effort to win with a measure of comfort by leading aggressively in front. Music Divine was second ahead of Classic Speed.
Arshad Alam drove out Pradeep Annaiah trained Proud Prince to win the 1600 metres November Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35. Able Master held the lead for a long while in the straight before Proud Prince measured him in the final furlong and then staved off the threat from late rallying Fiorenzo. Able Master stayed on to finish third while favourite Bazinga disappointed.
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Proudprince (Arshad Alam up) winner of the November Plate
She's Stylish (Arshad Alam up) winner of the B.A.R.I Plate
Angelino (A Sandesh up) winner of the Master Key Plate
Air Command (S Zervan up) winner of the Kentucky Plate
Star Cracker (Nazerul Alam up) winner of the Air Force Trophy
Miniver Rose (Dhanu Singh Deora up) winner of the Vidhana Soudha Cup
Varcasva (A Sandesh up) winner of the Aihole Plate
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