Ruffina, the five-year-old dark bay mare by Excellent Art ex Miss Danehill, proved that sometimes there can be certainties in racing. One and all said she would retain the Sprinters’ Cup and she did so in an emphatic fashion.
Owned by Villoo Poonawalla Racing and Breeding Pvt. Ltd. represented by Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla, Mr. Adar Poonawalla, Mrs. Natasha Poonawalla and Messrs. Saleem Fazelbhoy, Dinsha Shroff and Munchi Shroff, Ruffina is trained by Dallas Todywalla and was ridden by jockey A. Sandesh.
She will go down in the record books as one of the all-time-great sprinters ever seen as she waltzed away with her second successive Sprinters’ Cup.
Still the best! Ruffina (A. Sandesh up) being in led by owners Munchi P. Shroff, left, Dinsha P Shroff, trainer D. Todywalla, and Dr. C.S. Poonawalla, after retaining the Sprinters’ Cup in an emphatic fashion on Saturday.
An hour or so later, Sacred Roman, a 4-year-old by Holy Roman Emperor ex Chicquot, sporting the colours of Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus Palia, was ridden from the front and then kept up to the leader to win the gruelling 3000 metre Dr. M.A.M. Ramaswamy Stayers’ Cup.
Trained by Pesi Shroff, Sacred Roman was saddled by Leigh Roche, who judged the pace to nicety and, after challenging the leader Kambaku, pulled away to win as he liked.
COUNTRY STUD FARMS MILLION (1,400m), 4-y-o & over, rated 58 to 78, (Cat. II): VALEGRO (Leigh Roche) 1, Akita Pro (Zervan) 2, Super Dart (P.S. Chouhan) 3 and Treasure Delight (Suraj Narredu) 4. 2-3/4, 1/4 and nk. 1m, 25.52s. ₹7 (w), 6, 8 and 9 (p), SHP: 27, FP: 33, Q: 31. Tla: 126. Favourite: Valegro.
Owners: Mr. Vijay B. Shrike, Mrs. Padmaja Vijay Shrike, Mr. Jay Vijay Shirke & Mr. K.N. Dhunjibhoy rep. Five Stars Shipping Co. Pvt. Ltd. Trainer: P. Shroff.
DECCAN BOOKMAKERS WELFARE ASSOCIATION JUVENILE MILLION (1,400m), 3-y-o only (Terms): SWANSEA (C. Umesh) 1, Roma Victor (Akshay Kumar) 2, Born Greek (R.N. Darshan) 3 and Victory Parade (I. Chisty) 4. Not run: Agni. 1-3/4, 3/4 and shd. 1m, 26.39s. ₹51 (w), 13, 6 and 54 (p), SHP: 20, FP: 248, Q: 96. Tla: 7,724. Favourite: Roma Victor.
Owners: M/s. M. Rama Krishna Reddy & Bharat Venkat Epur. Trainer: L. D’Silva.
GLOBAL STUD MILLION (1,600m), 4-y-o & over, rated 26 to 46, (Cat. III): SIYABONGA (Akshay Kumar) 1, Ashwa Arjun (Gaurav Singh) 2, Soul Empress (Afroz Khan) 3 and Alta Vita (Rohit Kumar) 4. 3-1/4, 2 and 1-1/2. 1m, 39.31s. ₹9 (w), 6, 13 and 16 (p), SHP: 43 FP: 62, Q: 45. Tla: 557. Favourite: Siyabonga.
Owners: M/s. Five Stars Shipping Co. Pvt. Ltd. rep. by Mr & Mrs. K.N Dhunjibhoy & Mr. Z.K. Dhunjibhoy. Trainer: Laxman Singh.
TELANGANA RACE HORSE OWNERS ASSOCIATION MILLION (1,200m), 4-y-o & over, rated 42 to 62, (Cat. II): MOZAMBIQUE (Akshay Kumar) 1, Run Forest Run (Neeraj) 2, Gorgeous Lady (A. Imran Khan) 3 and Rapid Fire (Nakhat Singh) 4. Not run: New State. 3-3/4, 2 and 1. 1m, 11.69s. ₹32 (w), 12, 8 and 34 (p), SHP: 20, FP: 201, Q: 93. Tla: 4,871. Favourite: Barack.
Owners: M/s. Five Stars Shipping Co. Pvt. Ltd. rep. by Mr & Mrs. K.N. Dhunjibhoy & Mr. Z.K. Dhunjibhoy and Mr. Berjis Minoo Desai. Trainer: Laxman Singh.
SPRINTERS’ CUP (1,200m), 4-y-o & over (Terms): RUFFINA (Excellent Art-Miss Danehill) A. Sandesh 1, MAURITANIA (Excellent Art-Classic Sky) David Allan 2, TUTANKHAMUN (Phoenix Tower-Dancerllon) Suraj Narredu 3, ACCOLADE (Burden Of Proof-Alnasreya) Zervan 4. Not run: St. Andrews. 2, nk and 1-1/2. 1m, 10.17s. ₹8 (w), 6, 8 and 9 (p), SHP: 17, FP: 23, Q: 18. Tla: 59. Favourite: Ruffina. Owners: Dr. C.S. Poonawalla, Mr. A.C. Poonawalla & Mrs. Natasha A. Poonawalla rep. Poonawalla Racing & Breeders Pvt. Ltd., M/s. Saleem Fazelbhoy, Dinsha P. Shroff & M.P. Shroff. Trainer: D. Todywalla.
J & T DEVELOPERS MILLION (1,400m), 3-y-o & over, rated 74 & above, (Cat. I): BRAINSTORM (Suraj Narredu) 1, Isabella (Neeraj) 2, That’s My Class (Akshay Kumar) 3 and Courage (A. Sandesh) 4. Not run: Haedi’s Folly and Be Sure. Shd, 1-1/4 and 1/4. 1m, 23.88s. ₹10 (w), 5, 6 and 10 (p), SHP: 19, FP: 27, Q: 16. Tla: 95. Favourite: Brainstorm.
Owners: Mr. Niraj Tyagi & Mr. Vikas Sachdeva rep. Blazing Saddles (PF) & Mr. Haresh N. Mehta & Mr. Manav H. Mehta rep. Rohan Bloodstock Pvt. Ltd. Trainer: P. Shroff.
DR. M.A.M. RAMASWAMY STAYERS’ CUP (3,000m), 4-y-o & over (Terms): SACRED ROMAN (Holy Roman Emperor-Clicquot) Leigh Roche 1, RAEES (Sedgefield-Lost Perfrction) Srinath 2, KAMBAKU (Win Legend-Star Of The Crop) Neeraj 3 and NANHIPARI (Pinson-Bourbon Queen) Suraj Narredu 4. 4, nk and 4-1/4. 3m, 13.36s. ₹18 (w), 7, 9 and 19 (p), SHP: 25, FP: 77, Q: 32. Tla: 622. Favourite: Sacred Roman.
Owners: Mr & Mrs. Cyrus F. Palia. Trainer: P. Shroff.
BOL SPORTS BULLETIN MILLION (1,400m), 4-y-o & over, rated upto 30, (Cat. III): ACTUALLY (P.S. Chouhan) 1, Wood Bridge (Akshay Kumar) 2, Diesis Dream (I. Chisty) 3 and Mossad (Afroz Khan) 4. Not run: Limousine. 1-1/4, 2 and 1-3/4. 1m, 27.31s. ₹26 (w), 9, 9 and 23 (p), SHP: 22, FP: 108, Q: 45. Tla: 706. Favourite: Starboy.
Owner: Mr. M. Satyanarayana. Trainer: Deshmukh.
Note: Originally Starboy finished second but after a Stewards enquiry, he was disqualified.
Jackpot: ₹2,965 (428 tkts.), Runner-up: 274 (1,978 tkts.), Treble (i): 282 (216 tkts.), (ii): 278 (397 tkts.), (iii): 123 (2,050 tkts.).
