Irfan Ghatala trained Toroloco won the Gr 1 Bangalore Derby easier than expected in the long drawn card of nine events which featured the Blue Riband event of the season on Thursday. The Derby day which is traditionally held on the Republic Day had to be postponed by a day in order to provide time for resolving the industrial dispute arising out of strike by stable staff. The Vikram Greenfields bred Toroloco is the son of first season sire sensation Rebuttal (standing at Hazara Stud Farm) and is the joint property of Vikram Singh and Nirmal Singh.

The big made son of Rebuttal (USA) made a smashing debut during the summer season and earned a rating of 56 which incidentally was the same as received by Speed Six for his debut win. Both these horses enjoyed the highest rating for a debutant winner for the maiden three year olds last year. Toroloco had his share of problems as the temperamental horse hurt himself when he was taken to Mysore for a mock race and missed the entire monsoon campaign. He made a triumphant return to the track this season and then was given a mock race over 2000 metres as a lead up race for the Derby. Apart from the fact that he was by Rebuttal whose progeny had shown their prowess mostly over sprint trips, the lack of racing experience was expected to work against him. However, the last minute decision to shift Southern Bay to take part in the Golconda Derby threw open the Derby field , thereby giving a chance for Toroloco to come into his own.

The Derby contenders were a modest lot as most of the contestants hadn’t won a race during the season. Barring Lad Lady who had won twice against the weaker lot at Mysore, Toroloco and Zultanite had one win to their credit while Forever Glory had won the Golconda Oaks. The rest of the runners in the fray had no win during the season to enhance their credentials. Maddox who finished behind Field Marshal in the Bangalore 1000 Guineas was the favourite ahead of Forever Glory. The rest of the runners were available at fancy odds.

Gold Venture set a slow pace as the field set out for the mile and half trip with Maddox fighting for his head along with I Specialist, Absolute Grey, Nearness of You, Golden Rule, Forever Glory, Toroloco, Lad Lady, Practically Perfect and Zultanite following behind. Toroloco slightly fell behind after crossing the half way mark but jockey Pradeep Chouhan quickly moved away from trouble as the pace did not pick up perceptibly and he wisely chose to bring the big made horse on the wide outside. He was able to push his horse on the inside of Golden Rule who took the turn slightly wide at the final bend to come into strong contention in the run in for home. Maddox who was in front till the final 300 metres weakened and Forever Glory came into reckoning with Nearness of You improving along the rails. Just as these runners were struggling to gain the initiative, Toroloco quickened tremendously with a furlong out and went storming ahead to win by a margin of three lengths. Nearness of You, Golden Rule and Forever Glory carried the battle to the winning post, with the three of them finishing in a line. Nearness of You had headed Golden Rule to the second spot while the latter was a short head better of Forever Glory. The winner clocked a slow time of two minutes 35.65 seconds for the mile and half trip. The success of Toroloco gave trainer Irfan Ghatala back to back double in this race as last year he had saddled Sun Kingdom to victory. Nearness of You showed some improvement while finishing second.

After a series of listless performances, Ganapathy trained String Along bounced back to winning form in the 1600 metres Mysore Race Club Trophy, a terms race for four year olds and over. A competitive field of 10 runners were in the fray and Immense, who had twice won during the summer season, went into the race as a firm favourite. String Along, who had the services of Chris Hayes, was available at nourishing odds. Spearhead was the pacesetter with String Along a handy second along with Red Renegade. Immense was in the fifth position along the rails followed by Midtown Magic and the rest. Hayes pushed String Along to take over the running inside the final 300 metres and the five year old mare quickened well to go into the lead. Immense was alighted to the task on her outside but the favourite took his own time to warm up. By the time he could get into full flow, String Along had reached the safety of the winning post, sparing a length at the finish. Spearhead held off the challenge of Midtown Magic for the third spot.

Thanks to trainer Amit Cady accepting to run Ibelieveinmiracles in two races, Capt. Jamshed Appoo owned horses could win two races. Rapadan Glory was balloted out from the 1200 metres Bharachukki Cup and since the trainer had put a conditional scratching, the latter ran in the Nethravathi Trophy (Div I). The trainer chose to run Ibelieveinmiracles in the Nethravathi Cup where he ran into Rapadan Glory again. The latter held off a late rally by Ibelieveinmiracles to win the race. Ibelieveinmiracles had two hard luck stories which prevented her victory. If the trainer had accepted only in the race that he finally raced the horse, his nemesis Rapadan Glory would have clashed with owner mate Flying Snow. In the race itself, Ibelieveinmiracles ran into severe interference at a crucial stage of the race. Such strange twists often undermine the best thought out plans. Apart from losing on a heavily supported horse, the trainer also ended up paying a hefty fine for his indiscretion. Young Achiever won the lower division of the race quite capably from Unique Show.

Arjun Mangalorkar trained Flying Snow had not lived up to the high expectations of the trainer as she had let down as a strong favourite. Somerset Rose, who had lost by a whisker in her debut run, was backed strongly ahead of Flying Snow but the favourite went off the bridle approaching the final bend to eventually finish down the field. She reportedly came back lame. Flying Snow came through the gap between the front running Sutton Prince and Bryant Park to go storming clear in the final furlong and won by a widening margin of over seven lengths. Now that she has struck winning form and looks well furnished, Flying Snow should repeat.

Padmanabhan trained Borsalino recorded an impressive win in the 1400 metres NRCE Cup. By Choisir out of horse of the year in India in 1999, Borsalino had finished behind Southern Opinion in his debut run. Sandstorm led the way as Martin Dwyer settled the favourite in the third position. Midway through the race, Borsalino dropped the bit and relaxed so much so that the jockey had to work hard to get him going. Once he was switched on the outside the bend, the race was as good as over. Borsalino picked up speed in amazing fashion and went away for a win by over five lengths. Sandstorm ran on to finish second ahead of Starstruck. Running Flame was a champion Indian horse and winner of the Invitation Cup at Mumbai. She raced at USA and then retired to stud and has a few of her foals racing abroad, more recent one being Maratha Warrior at France. She is now at the Kunigal Stud farm and apart from the foal by Choisir; she has two other progeny by Burden of Proof. Borsalino appears immensely talented though he is still raw.

Irfan Ghatala’s Hill Dioro has this habit of getting left in the gates but despite which he had finished a noteworthy third to Field Marshal in the Guineas. Now taking on a modest opposition in the 1400 metres Indian Republic Trophy, a race for horses rated 60 to 85, the unbackable Hill Dioro was off to a sluggish start and had some leeway to cover on the front running Moves Goodenough with a furlong out. His superior class carried him through but this habit of his is bound to prove costly when he takes on more accomplished rivals.

Smart Exotic brought off a good touch in the Vidhana Soudha Cup (Div I) where he held off a strong challenge from Fist of Rage and Kripa. The lower division of the race was won by Thrillseeker who was knocking on the doors of success. Assigned to four kg claimer Prabhakaran and the shoe that the horse sported changed from steel to aluminium, Thrillseeker appeared ready to deliver the goods. The five year old gelding surged ahead with a furlong left in the race and won with something to spare from late rallying Sunset Grill the lower division of the Vidhana Soudha Cup. Puttanna trained Amazer was the favourite but he made no show like all other horses trained by this trainer whose horses only god knows when they race with serious intent.