Snow Dew has an easy outing

By H.S. Manjunath

BANGALORE, NOV. 6. This winter is the richest and the longest with the glamour of Invitation Cup thrown in. It may also be the toughest for professionals who are found less than professional if you go by the whip that the Stewards cracked with good reason on quite a few jockeys during the first two meetings which tend to suggest that this Winter may also be the fiercest in terms of competition.

Snow Dew is as perky as she was in summer. She is in shipshape to make her mark on winter classics and she could not have bargained for a more satisfying warm up. Without being testy the pace was nice enough for her to come off it to win the Krishnaraja Trophy with ease. A fraction more than the money back that was offered on her would have been a hefty reward! It is safe to presume that the Razeen-Snow filly, who dominated the summer classics, will turn her sights to specific targets. It is for those who intend taking her on to worry about her irresistible form and the ``pink'' that surrounds her.

The Sunday card brought back a semblance of sanity to the form charts after the opening day's torment of favoured runners. That despite a severe jolt in the opener. Picking a winner in a race for unraced two-year-olds is like taking your chances with Russian roulette. The chip is as good as lost until it is won. You never quite know whom the fortune wheel would favour. Something similar were to happen when the first batch of juveniles lined up for their career starters. Until the race is run and won the fear of the unknown spares none when it comes to these raw youngsters. As if to drive that point home, Society Dream came up with lovely loping strides to beat pointless her hugely fancied stable companion Orient View. The moment Society Dream ranged alongside Orient View, she changed her legs to motor away, a sure sign that she will go far. Both interestingly are the first crop of Diffident, who is son of the illustrious Nureyev.

Bizarre as it may sound, Society Dream was the only one who looked as sleek as Orient View while most others were suggesting that they badly needed this run. But how many would dare take a swipe when the odds hover in the region of 70 to one! Diffident, owned by Mr. Sheikh Mohammed, was a group three winner in England whose victory in the Daidem Stakes was considered as a worthy reference. Diffident moved over to UAE later but his professed strength lies in speed and was thought to be good upto a mile. Diffident is standing in the Poonawalla stud farm.

Out of a well performed mare Divine Dreams, Si Senora has filled out well. Shroff chose to set his own pace and he completed the job with some relish as Si Senora held safe a flat to the board Starjo. Of the squarely beaten lot, Adelante deserves to be shortlisted for an early strike. Somewhat leisurely in the early part, the filly's finishing effort was quite encouraging.

Star Chieftan got the clear a wee bit late. B. Prakash had to work a while to build up the momentum on the three-year- old who entered the racing scene with a bang and later saw that promise taper off. Star Chieftan is obviously getting back into the groove. Gallagher's tactic of making the running on Star of the Crop was duly justified. The Brar torch-bearer was rather loose in the betting as much attention was garnered by Sacristia. The filly whose back problem was put down to her nowhere in the Hyderabad Derby presented another disappointing sight here and it is hard to follow her with conviction until she shows up form of the Guineas kind she displayed in Mysore behind the runaway Nairn.

The well touted Ride With Pride was always handy and the filly's victory was never in doubt. Now that Brave Russian has run into some meaningful form the gelding may be taken to go one better on next time.

When Royal Russian was a betting fancy to beat Fighting Brave in one of his outings in Bangalore summer, it served to project the inherent ability of the Green Forest gelding. But when he flopped in that race obviously the connections were disappointed. But what boosted the Royal Russian stock on Sunday was the fact that Fighting Brave went on to strike rich form in Mysore. On a logical extension of that line, Royal Russian's claim was decidedly as strong if not stronger than that of Circus Maid who had a rather modest initiation into racing at Mysore. Royal Russian proved a notch too good for Circus Maid who should profit a great deal from this assignment.

For all the wrong reasons the first race of this winter would be remembered for a long time. Thrill of Success is the name of the horse in the eye of the storm. But for the rider it turned out to be a nightmare of sorts and all of it his own making.! That the Stewards went in for a one-year suspension on the rider should give an indication as to the gravity of the offence. Circumstantial evidence is overwhelmingly against the rider. The price drift from odds on to well over evens is telltale of the impecunious benefits forces behind the scenes were set to get if the horse flopped.

But more clinching evidence against Rakesh was the replay of the race which gave in graphic detail that absence of ``heart to win''. At no stage in the race Rakesh showed the kind of zest that a rider keen on winning a race normally displays. The rider's defence would harp on the genuineness or otherwise of Thrill of Success who was prone to wild drifts in some of his runs forcing the use of several gadgets on him. But as a top official said the focus was not on the quality of the horse that was ridden but the quality of the ride itself!

Nicely positioned Alylady landed the Rajyothsava Trophy on Saturday. Those who had written off Symphony of Fire had to quickly do a rethink. The Sprinters Cup winner at Guindy not only recovered her poise but had she been blessed with a clear run she would have run the winner much closer, if not turned the tables altogether. For some obscure reason, Appu, so well positioned into the turn, dived in only to run in to snarling traffic. Of the late rushers, Pride Estate was the best.

Winelight continues to baffle form watchers and the one who is making hay is trainer Mohan Valavi who has kept this speedy son of Tecorno going from strength to strength. Surjeet Singh who has struck good partnership with Winelight ran into the same set of problems he encountered when pulling off an upset win during summer. Winelight has this tendency to drift in the final stages and this was again his familiar failing though the rider's luck held good in the Stewards room where a double objection was given a quick shove. While Screen Play was not much affected, Financer was clearly dealt a knock which may have cost him a certain second place. On the grounds that Winelight had caused another runner to lose a certain place, Financer's claim could have been upheld though it would have been beneficial to Screen Play in the end. However, the Stewards saw no reason to alter the placings though Financer deserved to be placated.

Millennium Flame and Extream were two ghastly outsiders who raised hell for the pool hunters. First timer Ashleen caught and easily passed Aesthete who had bolted away like a scalded cat. Autobahn had shown great improvement the moment the blinkers were taken off. Going a step further, Autobahn brought smiles back on the followers of money after all those batterings through the day. Jayaprakash switched Altosax completely off in the backstretch and in the event he got away cheap.

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