Pesi Shroff trained Kings Ransom has been extracting her pound of flesh each time she appears on the track and every time, the daughter of Multidimensional has only enhanced her reputation. Kings Ransom won the Gr 1 Villoo Poonawalla Indian Oaks with tremendous ease on Sunday, beating the challenge of her traditional opponent Dangerous.

The fact that she is versatile, blessed with the ideal temperament, talent and all the requisites of a champion could well see her come out in flying colours in the Gr 1 Indian Derby, the biggest race of the Indian Calendar scheduled for the first Sunday of February. The three-week gap between the Oaks and the Derby should help the cause of Kings Ransom to be fit for extracting another ransom!

The horses which perform in the first season of their career are the ones which continue to shine all through the classic scene has been further amplified by the performance of Kings Ransom and her stablemate Supernatural who shape as the best horses of their generation. They may well be the ones fighting it out for the spoils in the Indian Derby judging by the fact that there is no worthy challenger has emerged on the horizon as the winners of classics at other centres haven`t measured up to the class of these two stars from the Pesi Shroff`s yard.

Kings Ransom was quoted at cramped odds to maintain her winning streak as there was no reason to expect anything other than her victory in the Oaks. The only point of interest was whether there was any elevation in the quality of her win especially since she was tackling the mile and half trip for the first time. She answered in the affirmative, notwithstanding the close pace of the race, to eventually storm clear of the rest in the hands of veteran jockey Pradeep Chouhan who has made winning classics a habit in his profitable association with Pesi Shroff. The repeated success at the highest level has also fine-tuned his riding. Chouhan is blessed with a good temperament besides confidence which helps him give an error-free ride.

There were three horses from Pesi Shroff`s yard in the fray and it was clear that one of them would set the pace. Thunberg did the job of setting the pace followed by stablemate Sierra Del Plata, Dangerous, Kings Ransom, Kimiko, Kiefer with Bangalore challenger and Golconda Oaks winner Queen Envied as being a tailed-off last. Chouhan waited with Kings Ransom well into the straight before slipping the favourite along the rails on the inside of pacesetter Thunberg. Kings Ransom picked up speed with remarkable felicity and surged ahead. Under a hand drive, Kings Ransom won with three lengths to spare to Dangerous who gave a chase in vain all the way in the final furlong. Thunberg stayed on to edge out Sierra Dela Plata to get the third spot.

Kings Ransom`s doesn`t seem to have any threat to her in the Indian Derby. Though her stablemate Supernatural won a race earlier, it was a hard-fought win over a horse which was not expected to get the mile-and-a-quarter trip as effectively as over a shorter trip as his forte is speed. King`s Ransom has been improving with each run since running third in the Bangalore Derby.

Bangalore Derby winner Supernatural who had been under a cloud, hadn`t won a race for 182 days but finally broke the jinx when staving off a spirited challenge from Indian 2000 Guineas winner Ahead of My Time in the closing stride of the race. Ahead of My Time who raced well within himself till Srinath put him in full flow in the final furlong. Ahead of My Time spurted ahead but was strongly challenged by Supernatural. The two fought out the length of the final furlong before Supernatural got the nod on the post in the hands of jockey Trevor Patel. Mojito held off Once You Go Black by a whisker to get the third position. Mysore Derby winner Once You Go Black who was running after a longish break, having missed the Guineas because of a fever, needed this run. However, it is difficult to believe that he will improve so much as to beat the highly experienced Kings Ransom who has not put a foot wrong since running third in the Bangalore Derby.

Contrary to expectations of a dominant performance from Dallas Todywalla trained Portofino Bay against stablemate Irish Gold, the Gr 3 1200 metres Gool S Poonawalla Million, a terms race for three-year-olds, produced a thrilling finish. Portofino Bay escaped to victory before the ground-devouring Fighton could overhaul the favourite. Sandesh had Portofino Bay in the front chased by stablemate Irish Gold and these two were involved in the battle for supremacy all the way in the straight. Fighton who was several lengths behind these two at the final furlong came from the clouds with a devastating turn of foot and missed getting the nod by inches as the winning post came to the rescue of the front-runner. Irish Gold was a close third.

Imtiaz Sait trained Rasputin who had finished an eye-catching third in his last outing built on that performance and competently won the 1600 metres Yawar Rashid Trophy, a race for horses rated 40 to 66. Srinath settled Rasputin in about the third position as Tyrone Power and Aira expended their energy in front by setting a fast pace. Rasputin gained the upper hand midway in the stretch and stormed to a winning lead. Fancied Empower came up with a late rally but he ran out of ground in the end. Murwara Princess ran on strongly from way behind to occupy the third slot.


Altaf Hussain trained Snowfall found the winning form after a long gap of 308 days when easily claiming the 1200 metres Tricumdas Dwarkadas Trophy (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 45. Snowfall was backed to the exclusion of the rest as the odds drifted out on Hagibis indicating that the last start winner may not be seen at the busy end. Sandesh kept Snowfall a handy third till turning for home as Dazzling Princess led from the start. Snowfall easily collared the front-runner in the straight and went away for an easy win. Commandment stayed put in the second position and managed to retain the spot from the late rallying Monarchy. Faisal Abbas trained debutant Singer Sargent was well prepared to strike straightaway and this was reflected in the big volume of betting attracted by the four-year-old gelding. The odds expanded on Daulat Mai close to race time. Daulat Mai led from the start with Singer Sargent in the chase. Down the final furlong, Trevor pushed Singer Sargent to take charge. The fancied runner overhauled the front-runner with ease and won pulling up by a widening margin of six lengths over Rhythm of Nature and Attained. Daulat Mai put in a disappointing performance.
Trainer Altaf Hussain was also successful through Mozelle who recorded an encore in the 1000 metres P D Avasia Trophy, a race for horses rated 60 to 86. Jockey Neeraj Rawal had the speedy Mozelle lead from the front and reached the post without facing any threat from her vials. Sky Fall ran to take the second position ahead of Baby Bazooka. Favourite Arcana was never in the hunt.

Rehanullah Khan trained Nelson River who was running after a longish gap of 112 days produced a winning effort in the 1000 Marchetta Trophy (Div I), a race for horses in the lowest category. Fancied Ataash appeared to be on course for a win when surging ahead in the final furlong but the apprentice jockey Praveen Shinde could not add punch to his finish without the aid of the whip. Nelson River who produced a big effort from way off the pace managed to prevail in the dying moment of the race. Untitled who raced up with the pace stayed on to take the third position. Narendra Lagad trained Mirae landed the spoils at long odds winning the lower division of the race. Bezan Chenoy trained Ristretto came home with a huge effort from way off the pace and narrowly failed to overwhelm the eventual winner. Superimpose was third. The well-backed favourite Champagne Smile faded out of contention well before the final furlong.