Cosmos wins South India St. Leger in record time

Saluting a champion: Suraj Narredu, right, who steered Cosmos to victory in the South India St. Leger, and trainer Darius Byramji, left, receiving the winner’s trophy from Madras Race Club chairman M.A.M.R. Muthiah.

Darius-trained Cosmos (Suraj Narredu astride) won the South India St. Leger, the last Classic of the season here on Thursday (Feb. 11). The winner is the property of Mr. Rienzie M.K. Edwards & Mrs. P.P.M. Edwards.

Cosmos, who was racing a handy fourth till the final turn, gradually improved and joined the issue with My Opinion in the straight. The gelding responded well to the urgings of Suraj and went on to win comfortably in a new course record time of 2 minutes, 54.72 seconds.

1. ROMANTIC DANCER PLATE (Div. II) , (1,000m), 5-y-o & over, rated 20 to 45:

STAR PROOF (Akshay Kumar) 1, Fun Lover (A.M. Alam) 2, Daiyamondo (S. Shareef) 3 and Intox (Kiran Naidu) 4. 2-3/4, lnk and 1. 1m, 0.34s. Owner: M.A.M. Ramaswamy Chettiar of Chettinad Charitable Trust. Trainer: B. Suresh.

2. ROMANTIC DANCER PLATE (Div. I) , (1,000m), 5-y-o & over, rated 20 to 45: COCOA (M. Bhaskar) 1, Magic Stream (Shahar Babu) 2, Wonderful Era (Nakhat Singh) 3 and Full Bloom (A.M. Alam) 4. Not run: Daring Dancer. 1/2, 4-3/4 and hd. 1m, 02s. Owner: Mr. M.A.M.R. Muthiah. Trainer: Uthaiah.

3. K. SRINIVASAN MEMORIAL TROPHY (1,000m), maiden 3-y-o only (Terms): AMORE (Brisson) 1, Glorious Symphony (Kuldeep Singh) 2, Proposed (P. Sai Kumar) 3 and Subjucate (P.P. Dhebe) 4. 6, 2-3/4 and 1. 59.55s. Owners: M/s. Arun Alagappan Racing, Mr. Chandrakanth Kankaria, Dr. Mahendra R, Mr. Angad Singh. Trainer: B. Suresh.

4. SILVER ARROW PLATE (1,400m), rated 20 to 45:

GLORIOUS SUNSHINE (P. Trevor) 1, Royal Dreams (Akshay Kumar) 2, Uncle Sam (Kiran Naidu) 3 and Wise Don (Zervan) 4. 2-1/4, 2-1/.2 and nose. 1m, 26.65s. Owners: Mr. Vazhaparambil J. Joseph & Bharat V. Epur. Trainer: Sebastian.

5. MAGICAL SPELL PLATE (1,000m), rated 20 to 45: WAKEFUL (H. Rahul) 1, Rhiannon (Arshad Alam) 2, Incredible Star (P. Sai Kumar) 3 and Renzaccio (Azad Alam) 4. 1-1/2, 3/4 and 9-1/4. 59.25s. Owners: M/s. Arun Alagappan Racing & Mr. Vikram Singh. Trainer: D.K. Futnani.

6. SNOWDRIFT PLATE (2,000m), rated 40 to 65: PENANG (Akshay Kumar) 1, Roman Senator (P. Sai Kumar) 2, Nekhbet (Zervan) 3 and Demerara (Azfar Syeed) 4. 1, 1-1/4 and 1/2. 2m, 6.19s. Owners: Mr. K.R. Muthukaruppan & Mr. V.M. Gopal. Trainer: Mandanna.

7. SOUTH INDIA ST. LEGER (2,800m), 4-y-o & over (Terms): COSMOS (Multidimensional-Hills and Stars) Suraj Narredu 1 , MY OPINION (Dialed In-Love Me Good) Akshay Kumar 2, CAPRISCA (Steinbeck-Xisca) P. Trevor 3 and SECRETIVE FORCE (Multidimensional-Secret Garden) Zervan 4. 1, dist and dist. 2m, 54.72s (record time). Owners: Mr. Rienzie M.K. Edwards & Mrs. P.P.M. Edwards. Trainer: Darius.

8. SHOCKWAVE PLATE (1,200m), 5-y-o & over, rated 00 to 25: BREAK THE SILENCE (A.M. Alam) 1, Symphony In Style (Antony Raj) 2, Azeria (Zervan) 3 and Vibrant Approach (Azfar Syeed) 4. Not run: Arazan's Diamond. 2-3/4, 1/2 and 3-1/2. 1m, 13.73s. Owner: Mr. Tatineni Prasad Rao. Trainer: Sebastian.