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Racing : Horse
Ansbach justifies favouritism
By H.S. Manjunath
BANGALORE, DEC. 11. Anyone hoping for surprises in the Harvins Bangalore 2,000 Guineas was sorely disappointed because the piping hot Ansbach's dash home brooked no answer.
It was more out of hope than any conviction that the rider of Ciel Fleuri raised an objection against Aslam Kader. The rather fashionably worded objection by Ryan Marshall though had no real substance. It merely added a touch of drama to a foregone conclusion once Aslam alerted Ansbach to the task rounding the bend. Ciel Fleuri surpassed expectations but that bold bid of hers could hardly deter Ansbach, whose short but decisive, final bursts are now becoming a regular feature.
All Aslam had to do was sort the frothing pretenders out and let Ansbach have his head. The son of Alnasar Alwasheek- Pass The Secret is likely to head for a tilt at the Mumbai Classics. The relocation is a clear indication that optimism grows one notch in the Deepak Khaitan camp every time Ansbach delivers the goods and he has acquired the habit of doing it as a final entry! A niggle or two here and there in Ansbach's formative days were rather difficult, but, somehow, Vijay Singh has succeeded in keeping his ward going.
Iflookscouldkill rallied well from the middle of the pack to finish a notable third ahead of Taipan who is bound to relish a step up in distance.
The Guineas day turned out to be a profitable one for followers of money, but for Seat Of The Master and Think Of Us snooting in at longer prices, the card generally sided with favoured runners.
There is a vital difference between a juvenile with the feel of the track and one without it. Orient View having had a run just about managed to counter Rose Garden's all out effort. The runner-up is bound to profit from this tough initiation.
There is no trick that has not been tried on Seat Of The Master, who had often been campaigned over longer distances. The connections, obviously peeved by Seat Of The Master's constant failures, hit upon this idea of cutting down on his work load and trying him out over a sprint. The hunch worked to near perfection as veteran M. Shafiq rode a vigorous finish to keep the marauding Diamond Harbour safe by the shortest of margins. The well backed Niveditha packed up after being prominent.
The money pile on Brunswick precluded the chances of the rest. Puttanna's ward bolted in to suggest that in the present form another race should be within reach.
A change of tactics brought a cheerful end to Red Sand's campaign but it also hauled the trainer before the Stewards, who rightly took up issue on the two contrasting styles. Unlike the previous outing when Mrs Silva had held back Red Sand, she allowed Irfan Ghatala's ward a free run upfront. In a way this front running ploy stood the rider in good stead as Sunspangled closed in fast in the last few strides only to fall a speck short of the winner.
Elusive Hero was the medium of a raging controversy last time. Having gone untraced as an odds on, the performance of Elusive Hero had drawn a lot of flak. To an extent, both Elusive Hero and Aslam Kader chose to erase the bitter memories of that incident by running a game second behind Spirited Effort, who took his own time to wear down the leader close home. It was obvious that Spirited Effort had found seven furlongs too sharp when eyebrows had gone up after his defeat early this season. It is reasonable to expect Spirited Effort to make progress at more or less the same pace as Tobbler, who short headed him out of the Pune Derby in October. The connections feel that Spirited Effort needed a lead up as tough as this.
Whether the intention of Altosax's rider, Faisal, was to toy with Inxss or to do just about enough to win is hard to tell, but Faisal left it so late in going after Inxss that he had considerably upped the levels of anguish in the stands.
After Think Of Us rounded the day off with a near start-to-finish victory ahead of the late finishing Special Request, there was loud thinking as to what had gone wrong in the previous outing. Apparently, Think of Us ``blew'' up last time. It now transpires that Think Of Us had gone completely wrong and some physical problems had been sorted out after Dr Karthikeyan, whose expertise the connections sought, had suggested remedies. While St Lucinda lost all chances at the gate, Flying Tribute ran well below surface form.
Flying Scotsman's resolute win in the Friday Feature was marked by a certain degree of anxiety. Somewhere in the backstretch came that stumble, the full extent of which could not be picked up because of the crowded field. Another jerk later, Flying Scotsman still had his feet firmly on the ground! It was hard evidence that the ``Scotsman'' is a tough nut. Despite all these hassles, A. Imran Khan found a willing Flying Scotsman producing a flourish at the finish to win much more comfortably than the verdict indicated. This sparingly raced son of Conquering Hero should assert himself again. Augill Castle had the misfortune of being clipped by none other than Flying Scotsman. Besides Augill Castle found himself at the dead end when looking for room for a rails run. Despite all that, the small-made Augil Castle was an eye catching second.
Prevalance easy initiation was a clue to her chances in the juveniles' event. Time will tell whether Prevalance will live up to the bloodline promise as Regal Equity's sister. What came as a surprise was the initial speed shown by Milan, who held on for much longer than anyone expected him to.
In a poorly bunch, Xorra ruled the roost. There was so much of a plump on Nesara notwithstanding the booking of a jockey whose winning progression is perhaps the lowest in recent memory. Nesara was never quite in the hunt. Tassha's handling by Abhay Singh attracted official reprimand and a suspension.
Telegram looked and performed the best in completing an encore. Obviously Telegram is just now coming to full bloom after several seasons of shattered hope. In this nick, Telegram could well be expected to go even further.
Apprentice Rajesh Singh rode a tidy finish on Risk Me Now to steer Mahesh's ward to a merited victory. Fitted with blinkers Southern Host showed remarkable improvement.
Tal was a huge let down. Someone who had done consistently well in his own age group was found wanting in open company. As has been his wont Black Ocean hit the front and was never headed. Guernica's all out effort thus came to nought. Close home Splendid Ally picked up good speed to banish Tal to a poor fourth.
If there is one horse in training that is doing wonderfully well for the connections it is Oscar. Sirajuddin's ward picked up his fifth race, a spectacular rise from bottom of the lowest class. Forest Pegasus looked good to land the prize before Md. Shafiq goaded Oscar to a run that saw him nail Forest Pegasus barely a few strides from home. Breaking News lost considerable ground at the gate, rallied brilliantly to run a good third, the kind of run that straightaway put the rider in the ``dock.''
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