JOIN USRed Baron swoops in to bag Derby
Red Baron lived up to its dangerous reputation, landing home the spoils in splendid fashion at the Kimmane Bangalore Derby (Grade I) here on Sunday.
A strong contender despite the presence of Bangalore Oaks winner Snow Bird and favourite Super Storm, the Colm O’Donoghue geld judged the Winter Season’s Blue Riband 2400-metre event to perfection, making it a sweet homecoming for young trainer
Karthik Ganapathy at the Bangalore Turf Club.
With many top horses away in Hyderabad and Mumbai for the Golconda Derby Stakes and the Indian Derby respectively, the punters had predicted an open race among the eight contenders, although the eyes were on Snow Bird, Super Storm and Red Baron.
While Super Storm, ridden by VR DeSousa and trained by S Narredu, did provide a stiff challenge towards the home stretch for Red Baron before ending runner-up a length-and-a-half behind, Snow Bird (B Sreekanth astride) was a major disappointment as she struggled to keep pace right from the start, signing off a poor fifth.
State Secret finishing third, a further one and a three-quarter length behind Super Storm while Maths Baby finished fourth.
“It’s a fantastic performance,” said a delighted Karthik, son of veteran trainer Ganapathy, who flew in from his new base Mumbai on Friday afternoon for the Derby. “This is my second Classic victory in a week and what a place to get the second.
As I had said on Saturday, this was going to be an open race and a horse that manages itself intelligently will win and Red Baron did just that. Kudos to Colm for anchoring him brilliantly.”
Long distance races are all about staying in the pack and conserving energy before unleashing it at the appropriate time. And this is exactly what Red Baron and O’Donoghue did.
Athletic Star, piloted by C Henrique, kicked into the lead the moment the gates opened with State Secret (David Allan up) and Jersey Girl (Jamie Spencer -- who replaced Srinath -- astride) staying within touching distance.
The placings remained the same until the halfway stage before Athletic Star opened up a three-and-a-half length lead over State Secret while Maths Baby (PS Chouhan astride) jumped into third spot. Athletic Star came off the final bend still in front when things began to heat up and the main contenders started to make their charge.
With quarter of a mile to go, Red Baron slowly broke away into the lead with State Secret and Super Storm hot on its heels. However, Red Baron almost assured himself of victory with a superb burst in the next 200 metres, opening up a lead of almost two lengths.
While Super Storm made a strong charge in the final 100 meters, raising hopes of a come-from-behind victory, Red Baron’s impressive stamina and experience of winning a 2400-metre race earlier proved to be the difference as he romped home in 2:33.87. Red Baron thus took home the cash prize of Rs 35,70,000.
Super Storm timed 2:34.11 for the second place while State Secret clocked 2:34.40. “It was just a perfect race and it worked according to the plan,” said a delighted O’Donoghue, who is expected to ride Shivalik Hero at the February 3 Indian Derby in Mumbai. “He’s a tough cookie and he proved it today. It is always a pleasure to ride for (Dr) MAM (Ramaswamy) as he always treats me like his son. I’m glad I’ve been able to give him a Classic victory.”
1. Bharachukki Cup (Div II) -- 1200M: Resurgent (Arjun Sanjani & Faraz Arshad’s) VR DeSousa 1; Fire Storm (Noornabi) 2; Assuarance (I Chisty) 3; Balboa (Tauseef A) 4; WB: 5-1/2, 1-1/4, 1-1/4L; T: 1:15.42; Tote: Rs 26w, Rs 11, Rs 14, Rs 13p; TB: Faraz Arshad; Fav: Assuarance; Fc: Rs 112; Q: Rs 121; SHP: Rs 43; Tri: Rs 99 and Rs 26.
2. NRCE Cup -- 1400M: Strengthandwonder (N Chandrashekar Rai’s) P Mulrennan 1; Bronzino (PS Chouhan) 2; Noble Path (VR DeSousa) 3; Aumento (DK Ashish) 4; WB: 2, Nk, 1L; T: 1:27.52; Tote: Rs 21w, Rs 13, Rs 62, Rs 50p; TB: Neil Darashah; Fav: Strengthandwonder; Fc: Rs 218; Q: Rs 148; SHP: Rs 171; Tri: Rs 3,317 and Rs 1,680.
3. Bharachukki Cup (Div I) -- 1200M: Union Jack (Usman Faheed F & Mrs Shamina Arshad’s) VR DeSousa 1; Anfield (PS Chouhan) 2; War Artist (Mallikarjun) 3; Abbas Dream (Rajesh Kumar) 4; WB: 2, 1-1/2, Ns; T: 1:16.57; Tote: Rs 37w, Rs 13, Rs 13, Rs 106p; TB: Faraz Arshad; Fav: Anfield; Fc: Rs 51; Q: Rs 22; SHP: Rs 22; Tri: Rs 801 and Rs 520.
4. Vidhana Soudha Cup (Div I) -- 1400M: Cinnamon Rush (Joseph Thomas’) P Mulrennan 1; Apollo King (Sarvan Kumar) 2; Savvy Concept (S John) 3; Thrillseeker (Vaideeshwaran) 4; WB: 1, 1/2, 1/2L; T: 1:28.29; Tote: Rs 38w, Rs 17, Rs 45, Rs 41p; TB: Neil Darahah; Fav: Cinnamon Rush; Fc: Rs 1,946; Q: Rs 550; SHP: Rs 147; Tri: Rs 5,194 and Rs 1,619.
5. Mysore Race Club Trophy -- 1600M: Hillfiger (Raksh Kumar Wadhawan and Waryam Singh’s) P Mulrennan 1; Southern Bay (B Sreekanth) 2; Sprint Star (DK Ashish) 3; Ridgeway (S John) 4; WB: Lnk, 1, Shd; T: 1:38.68; Tote: Rs 151w, Rs 39, Rs 54, Rs 17p; TB: I Ghatala; Fav: Sovetskaya; Fc: Rs 2,081; Q: Rs 691; SHP: Rs 195; Tri: Rs 7,290 and Rs 3,749.
6. Kimmane Bangalore Derby (Grade I) -- 2400M: Red Baron (Dr MAM Ramaswamy’s) Colm O’Donoghue 1; Super Storm (VR DeSousa) 2; State Secret (David Allan) 3; Maths Baby (PS Chouhan) 4; WB: 1-1/2, 1-3/4, 3/4L; T: 2:33.87; Tote: Rs 52w, Rs 18, Rs 15, Rs 23p; TB: Karthik G; Fav: Super Storm; Fc: Rs 101; Q: Rs 52; SHP: Rs 46; Tri: Rs 507 and Rs 291.
7. Indian Republic Trophy -- 1600M: Panamera (Marthand Singh Mahindra & Zaheer F Rattonsey rep Hyperion Bloodstock Pvt Ltd’s) PS Chouhan 1; Mountain Range (DK Ashish) 2; Radical Attraction (VR DeSousa) 3; Sussex Downs (David Allan) 4; WB: Ns, 3-1/2, 1L; T: 1:38.67; Tote: Rs 98w, Rs 32, Rs 18, Rs 34p; TB: Dhariwal; Fav: Mountain Range; Fc: Rs 453; Q: Rs 250; SHP: Rs 52; Tri: Rs 2,688 and Rs 1,408; Exp: Rs 55,321 and Rs 28,451.
8. Nethravathi Trophy -- 1400M: Go Green (M Majid Ali Khan’s) C Henrique 1; Prince Of Darkness (PS Chouhan) 3; Nation’s Glory (Ashok Kumar) 4; WB: 2, 1-3/4, 1-3/4L; T: 1:28.90; Tote: Rs 375w, Rs 43, Rs 21, R 13p; TB: Sharat K; Fav: Ice Kingdom; Fc: Rs 14,212; Q: Rs 665; SHP: Rs 58; Tri: Rs 4,817 and Rs 1,548; Exp: Rs 34,751 and Rs 44,680.
9. Vidhana Soudha Cup (Div II) -- 1400M: Adonis (Saad A Khan’s) Vaideeshwaran 1; Saratoga Spring (S Hussain) 2; Six Shooter (C Henrique) 3; Lowndes Square (S John) 4; WB: 1/2, Nk, 3L; T: 1:28.61; Tote: Rs 73w, Rs 22, Rs 25, Rs 32p; TB: Neil Darashah; Fav: Mystere; Fc: Rs 534; Q: Rs 293; SHP: Rs 72; Tri: Rs 3,541 and Rs 1,242; Exp: Rs 59,937 and Rs 17,125.
Jackpot: Rs 13,67,665 (c/o). Mini-jackpot: Rs 39,787. I treble: Rs 1,411 (23). II treble: Rs 3,974 (15). Exp: Rs 1,75,637 (c/o).