Trainer Vijay Singh’s Dandified unfolded himself on his way to victory, on Monday, in the 2,000m Champion Cup, a Grade I race. The Rebuttal son not only came under pressure from his owner-mate, Unleashed, but the 11-20 hot favourite also had his tongue hanging like a red banana as jockey Christopher Alford pulled up and u-turned for the customary lead-in parade. One thing was clear that the horse had found the slated course much more taxing than the rest, though his superior class came to his rescue while taking the measure of the horse he had beaten hands down in the Gold Cup, on December 17. Further Dandified, on this day, was enjoying an additional advantage of 5kg, compared to the level terms against Unleashed in the Gold Cup.

Whatever the real cause, though rumours making the rounds about his ailment, in the later half of December, have been denied by the trainer, Dandified’s post Gold Cup journey has been on a slide. The horse’s drubbing at the hands of a filly named In The Spotlight, followed it by a below-par performance in the Champion Cup, has, however, not deterred Dandified’s connections from being ambitious. The horse is now heading for Bangalore, the venue for the Invitational races. Mr Deepak Khaitan, the owner of Dandified went public after the Cup presentation, announcing that jockey Chistopher Alford rode the horse incorrectly in the Derby -- over 2,400 metres. It was unclear if he meant that Dandified would have beaten, or have finished close behind In The Spotlight in the Derby, had Alford ridden the horse correctly. The Derby verdict between the two horses was 9-3/4 lengths and we will not discuss who between the two was flat out and who’s jockey was punching the air. However, one needs to add that the filly’s sole aim is to win the Indian Derby, before leaving for abroad, while the colt’s future programme is uncertain. Dandified will be leaving for Bangalore for the Invitational races. We haven’t decided whether he will be running in the Invitation Cup or the Super Mile; Mr Khaitan had also announced.

The pressure of winning the Champion Cup, on Monday, was solely on Dandified and his connections, and not on the opposition. In the Derby, Dandified had gone to the start as a half-money favourite, the champion colt’s 11-20 odds on this day do speak about the level of confidence and amount of faith in the ability of the horse as far as his followers were concerned. And the fight was mot against the all-conquering filly, In The Spotlight, but against the like of Unleashed who is no champion horse but just an average runner from Bangalore.

Dandified trailed the field, in the first half of the journey and made a quick forward move to be third nearing the 800m marker. Nearing the home turn, Dandified did show a glimpse of his brilliant past as he cruised into the lead with Alford having little to do but once Unleashed changed gear, Alford had to sparingly belt the horse to keep going for a two-length victory.

Vijay, however, had his day cut out for a fine treble. Dandified apart he saddled Adelic (Alford-up) and Adiynara (apprentice Ajoy Roy-up) to victory in their respective events – the 1,200m Allied Forces Cup, a baby race, and the 2,000m Star Contender Handicap. Both horses led from the start and scored easily.

Racing otherwise was quite entertaining in the eight event card. The 1,200m Republic Trophy, for instance, was a close affair between the 8-10 favourite, Crown Rule and the bottom weighted Sokudo. However, the visiting jockey Anthony Crastus’ forceful riding of the favourite proved as a decisive factor. Crastus, however, made things difficult for himself having opted to take a circuitous route on the Pesi Shroff-trainee while Sokudo was brought the shortest way home. In the same race trainer Daniel David’s fancied runner, Ashwa Paarth, behaved mulishly at the gates and was withdrawn.

The M.B. Medora Trophy witnessed trainer Vinayak’s 2-1 favourite, Whispering Hills, score a back-to-back win. The four-year-old filly made every post of the 1,100m scurry a winning one. Apprentice Akshay rode a judicious race on the speedster in a field of 12 which was packed with hot-footed runners like Thrice Blessed, Gentle Jewel, Secret Gloss and Apache Gold. The last named horse was, however, held back in the mid-division and finished full of running to reduce Whispering Hill’s margin of victory to a mere length and a half.

The 1,100m P.P. Ginwala (Jr.) Memorial Trophy, on the other hand, turned out to be a blanket-finish with 8-10 favourite, Ashwa Prajot, also just about managing to score in his successive starts. Others who could have upset the apple cart of the Daniel David-trained winner were Arti Doctor’s strongly fancied runner, Mistral (Shailesh Shinde-up), who fought a close dual almost through the entire stretch to go down by a short-head. Bluegrass (C. Rajendra-up), who jumped on the scene a trifle late, was a further long-neck behind while Bayberry and Axiology were the other runners who made desperate bids in the last furlong of the race.

Arti’s rank outsider, Apple Candy, a known rouge at the gates, took a flying jump, for a change, to play come and catch-me-if-you-can game to return as a facile winner of the 1,400m Echoed Of Light Handicap.

Trainer Shyam Habbu, too, led in his charge, King Arthur, who was given a judicious ride by jockey N.S. Parmar, in the 2,000m Calorescence Handicap. Ridden off the pace while Beethoven made most of the running, King Arthur was brought into contention at the top of the home turn to draw away from the leader.