JOIN USSnow Bird looks to spread wings in Derby
The Bangalore Winter Derby returns to its customary Republic Day date this time where its biggest challenge will be in providing top-quality action.
A strike by the syces had forced the Derby to be moved out of the January 26 date last year but this time no such clouds hover over the event even though the big guns are away in pursuit of glory in the Indian Derby -- the biggest event in the racing calendar -- that customarily takes place on the first Sunday of February.
With the Deccan Bookmakers Golconda Derby Stakes too scheduled to take place in Hyderabad on Sunday, Saturday’s Kimmane Bangalore Derby (Grade I) might not boast of a field brimming with top-notch talent. However, two horses -- Snow Bird and Super Storm -- stand out in the eight-member field which will be battling it out for supremacy over 2,400 metres.
Although there is very little to choose between Snow Bird and Super Storm, the former’s victory in this month’s Bangalore Oaks over the same distance and the assuring presence of in-form jockey B Sreekanth just gives it a slight edge in the event which has a total prize money of Rs 58,31,000, with the winner taking home Rs 35,70,000.
In ten races Snow Bird has competed in, the four-year-old filly has notched up five victories, two second-place finishes and finished third twice. Sreekanth has piloted the K Satheesh-trained filly seven times, landing the spoils on three occasions. With Red Baron, O’Donoghue astride, being the only other horse that has tasted victory in the demanding 2400 metres distance, the odds do back Snow Bird.
Having said that, Super Storm will be determined to halt the flight of Snow Bird. To be ridden by VR DeSousa, the S Narredu-trained colt has proved his mettle with second-place finishes in the Kingfisher Derby here last July and the Poonawalla Mysore Derby last year.
No ordinary competitor, he has taken part in nine races, finishing atop in three, including the Mysore 2000 Guineas and Bangalore Juvenile Million. What could pull him back though, is a forced change in jockey and lack of experience in races more than two kilometres.
Suraj Narredu has guided Super Storm in its three victories but with him missing from action on Derby Day due to a suspension imposed by Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC), DeSousa faces the task of piloting the colt that he has already ridden twice.
That apart, having not run long distances, Super Storm took up a mock race over 2000 metres in the lead up to the big bash and one needs to wait and see what it brings to the track on Saturday.
Sreekanth, meanwhile, sounded confident of a good show by Snow Bird: “We brought this filly from Hyderabad for the Bangalore Oaks and she proved she can be a top competitor,” said Sreekanth. “Until then she had run a maximum of seven furlongs, but at the Oaks she raced like a dream.
She’s been in good form this season and if she can maintain it tomorrow, I don’t see a reason why it won’t cross the line first.”
Red Baron, trained by Kartik Ganapathy, is another challenger for Snow Bird. A good distance runner, Red Baron has the potential to upset the applecart and it will be hoping to make a strong impression.
Jersey Girl, to be piloted by Srinath and trained by Puttanna, and State Secret (David Allan up) would look to generate a surprise while Athletic Star, Maths Baby and Shivalik Fire are the other challengers. But unless they come up with something special, the Winter Derby may well be a three-horse race in near-perfect track conditions and fine January weather.
The Card
1. Bharachukki plate (Div II) (rated 20-45) -- 1200M: 1.30 PM
1. Resurgent (Faraz Arshad) 60 VR DeSousa 8
2. Towers Of Hanoi (Babu Rao) 59 Rajesh Babu 5
3. Fire Storm (Dominic) 56.5 Noornabi 3
4. Assurance (Ganapathy) 56 I Chisty 4
5. Super Saloni (Sharat K) 56 Afsar Khan 7
6. Many Wishes (D Byramji) 54.5 Sahanawaz 1
7. Thunder (Narayana Gowda) 53.5 R Anand 6
8. Balboa (Amit Caddy) 53 Tauseef A 2
Assurance 1; Resurgent 2; Fire Storm 3.
2. NRCE Cup (terms) -- 1400M: 2.00 PM
1. Amazonas (S Narredu) 57 Srinath 9
2. Arabian Warrior (Dhariwal) 57 Jamie Spencer 6
3. Aumento (S Narredu) 57 DK Ashish 11
4. Bronzino ( Byramji) 57 PS Chouhan 8
5. Homeric (S Narredu) 57 S John 1
6. Noble Path (Faraz Arshad) 57 VR DeSousa 13
7. Strengthandwonder (Neil Darashah) 57 P Mulrennan 3
8. Supreme Regime (Ganapathy) 57 O’Donoghue 4
9. Tiger Eyes (Sharat K) 57 C Henrique 2
10. Transformer (I Ghatala) 57 B Paswan 7
11. Aceempressjessie (Dominic) 55.5 Noornabi 12
12. Arziki (S Attaollahi) 55.5 R Marshall 10
13. Beauty Is Truth (Narayana Gowda) 55.5 Vivek 5
Homeric 1; Strengthandwonder 2; Bronzino 3.
3. Bharachukki plate (Div I) (rated 20-45) -- 1200M: 2.30 pm
1. Abbas Dreams (Babu Rao) 62.5 Rajesh Kumar 8
2. Sparkling Image (Babu Rao) 61.5 Rajesh Babu 7
3. Union Jack (Faraz Arshad) 61.5 VR DeSousa 4
4. Anfield (Pradeep) 60 PS Chouhan 3
5. Gorgeous Gold (Sharat K) 59 N Ganesh 5
6. Jeyem’s Pride (Puttanna) 59 Srinath 6
7. War Artist (Sharat K) 57 Mallikarjun 1
8. Market Maker (Sirajuddin) 54.5 Culhane 2
Jeyem’s Pride 1; Abbas Dreams 2; Anfield 3.
4. Vidhana Soudha cup (DIv I) (rated 40-65) -- 1400M: 3.05 pm
1. Foswell (R Byramji) 62.5 PS Chouhan 11
2. Cinnamon Rush (Neil Darashah) 61.5 P Mulrennan 1
3. Flying Tricolour (Sharat K) 61.5 Afsar Khan 12
4. Sutton Prince (Manohar) 61.5 VR DeSousa 7
5. Veyron (Dhariwal) 60 Noornabi 6
6. Savvy Concept (A Mangalorkar) 59.5 S John 10
7. Thrillseeker (Neil Darashah) 59.5 Vaideeshwaran 3
8. Apollo King (Samar Singh) 58 Sarvan Kumar 8
9. Brigade’s Pride (Warren S) 56 P Mani 5
10. Blue Star (Nityanand) 55.5 N Rajesh 4
11. Money Ball (Amit Caddy) 55.5 Tauseef A 2
12. Senor Speedy (Faraz Arshad) 54 B Nayak 9
Veyron 1; Cinnamon Rush 2; Foswell 3.
5. Mysore race club Trophy (terms) -- 1600M: 3.40 pm
1. Southern Bay (Ganapathy) 60 B Sreekanth 10
2. Atlantus (Sharat K) 59.5 Srinath 11
3. Sprint Star (S Narredu) 59 DK Ashish 6
4. Hillfiger (I Ghatala) 57.5 P Mulrennan 2
5. Magnitude Star (Sharat K) 57.5 C Henrique 9
6. Midtown Magic (Dhariwal) 57.5 Vaideeshwaran 12
7. One Time Magic (Amit Caddy) 57.5 Culhane 8
8. Ridgeway (A Mangalorkar) 57.5 S John 3
9. Severstahl (Dominic) 57.5 Noornabi 1
10. Caribbean Queen (S Attaollahi) 57 R Vaibhav 7
11. Sovetskaya (S Attaollahi) 56 Jamie Spencer 4
12. Raphire (Inayathulla) 54 Vivek 5
Sovetskaya 1; Sprint Star 2; Ridgeway 3.
6. Kimmane BangaLORE DERBY (GRADE i) (TERMS) -- 2400M: 4.15 pm
1. Athletic Star (Lokanath) 57 C Henrique 7
2. Maths Baby (Dhariwal) 57 PS Chouhan 8
3. Red Baron (Karthik G) 57 O’Donoghue 2
4. Shivalik Fire (I Ghatala) 57 P Mulrennan 3
5. Super Storm (S Narredu) 57 VR DeSousa 5
6. Jersey Girl (Puttanna) 55.5 Srinath 6
7. Snow Bird (Satheesh) 55.5 B Sreekanth 4
8. Star Secret (Padmanabhan) 55.5 David Allan 1
Snow Bird 1; Super Storm 2; Red Baron 3.
7. Indian republic trophy (rated 60-85) -- 1600M: 4.50 pm
1. Atlas Power (Sharat K) 60.5 S John 14
2. Astounding Gallop (Lokanath) 59.5 Indrajeet S 3
3. Radical Attraction (Neil Darashah) 59.5 VR DeSousa 13
4. Sudden Magik (Puttanna) 59.5 B Sreekanth 8
5. Courage In Red (S Attaollahi) 59 Jamie Spencer 5
6. Lad Star (Warren S) 59 P Mulrennan 9
7. Auburn Beauty (Neil Darashah) 58.5 Gnaneshwar 11
8. Nessie (D Byramji) 58.5 Sahanawaz 2
9. Panamera (Dhariwal) 58.5 PS Chouhan 7
10. Sicily (Amit Caddy) 57.5 Culhane 10
11. Mountain Range (S Narredu) 55 DK Ashish 1
12. Sussex Downs (D Byramji) 55 Srinath 12
13. Six Gun Smith (Sharat K) 53 Ganesh N 4
14. Supremacy (Babu Rao) 52 Rajesh Kumar 6
Mountain Range 1; Courage In Red 2; Auburn Beauty 3.
8. Nethravathi trophy (rated 20-45) -- 1400M: 5.25 pm
1. Serengeti (Puttanna) 60 Mudassar 2
2. Royal Admiral (Amit Caddy) 59 Culhane 6
3. Attractive Bay (Lokanath) 58 B Sreekanth 13
4. Ice Kingdom (I Ghatala) 57 P Mulrennan 7
5. Starstruck (Sharat K) 56 Afsar Khan 5
6. Dance With Me (Babu Rao) 55 Rajesh Kumar 3
7. Endurance (JS Pillay) 55 N Imam 8
8. Prince Of Darkness (Dominic) 55 PS Chouhan 9
9. Arabian King (Dhariwal) 54 Vaideeshwaran 10
10. Nation’s Glory (Puttanna) 54 Ashok Kumar 11
11. Tic Tac Toe (S Komandur) 54 R Vaibhav 4
12. Trust Me Boy (Amit Caddy) 53 Tauseef A 1
13. Go Green (Sharat K) 52.5 C Henrique 12
14. Prince Of Kintyre (Lokanath) 52 R Anand 14
Ice Kingdom 1; Serengeti 2; Starstruck 3.
9. Vidhana soudha cup (DIv II) (rated 40-65) -- 1400M: 6.00 pm
1. Adonis (Neil Darashah) 60 Vaideeshwaran 5
2. Yamas (Manohar) 60 VR DeSousa 11
3. Lowndes Square (Byramji) 59 S John 9
4. Spark Of Harmony (Warren S) 58 AR Pradeep 1
5. Cowboy Cal (Md Khan) 57.5 Gnaneshwar 12
6. Gustavo (Tharun T) 57.5 A Qureshi 7
7. Saratoga Spring (S Narredu) 57.5 S Hussain 6
8. Smart Exotic (Faraz Arshad) 57 Mudassar 4
9. Indian Pride (Inayathulla) 56.5 S Babu 3
10. Vega (Puttanna) 56 Ashok Kumar 10
11. Mystere (S Komandur) 55.5 PS Chouhan 8
12. Six Shooter (Sharat K) 54.5 C Henrique 2
Mystere 1; Adonis 2; Lowndes 3.
Day’s best: Spiritual Star.
Double: The Scientist and Red Bishop.
Jackpot: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Mini-jackpot: 2, 4, 6, 8. Treble: 6, 7, 8. Exacta pool: 3, 5, 7, 8.