Six Speed picks the plum

BANGALORE

UPTO A mile Six Speed, beyond that Allaire. This was a popular refrain after a mere head divided the two in the Bangalore Summer Derby. On Saturday, Six Speed drove home the point in taking style. Allaire had been consumed by the audacious fire she herself had fanned by briefly heading Six Speed.

Perhaps, the Placerville-Haunting Beauty chestnut needed a spur like that. The moment Allaire's neck threateningly stretched past her, Six Speed dug in to her reserves and Shroff into his. Two backhanders later the Darius Byramji trainee had come on terms with another star contender from her own stable. There is little to choose between them, though on the endurance side Allaire may still hold a slight edge.

Aslam was generous in his praise for the way Six Speed responded when it came to the crunch. Shroff rode a tactically brilliant race in the sense that he held back his hand till well after Aslam had made known his. It gave Six Speed that much of time to conserve herself for that final surge. The Indian Guineas are the nearest logical targets for both. The presence of Allaire and Six Speed in the line up made others look irrelevant. Desert Gold cut good early pace and made way for the big guns to boom. Adamile dutifully filed in third and she looks capable of better results.

Arrakis had been praised to the skies at the end of summer. Winner of just two races the Steinbeck-Run For The Crown gelding had been touted as such a hot property that an astronomical figure had reportedly been quoted on him. It is from that high pedestal that Arrakis hit the dust. All that glitters can never be gold! More or less the same people are now deducing that it was a case of much ado about an ordinary mortal.

Sent out ``unbackable'', Arrakis cut a pathetic figure. At no time did the gelding show the signs of combustible material he was thought to be on the evidence of his previous devastation when he had picked up speed like an express train barely a furlong from home in Summer. Not only was that flash of brilliance sadly missing, the gelding seemingly travelled most of the way on his wrong leg a clear indication that all was certainly not well with him. Ironically scoping after the race and varied other `vet' checks revealed nothing amiss.

Demystifying this costly failure could be a difficult task. The stewards have now opened an enquiry at the end of which some light may be thrown as to what went wrong. How, where and why are the most difficult questions to answer in racing. We have seen how badly Arrakis lost, second last in a field of eight! Obviously the community would be eager and concerned to know ``why''. Was it the stiff penalty that got to Arrakis. A section seems to think it did. To an extent. Or was it that Arrakis had been given the kind of star billing, he didn't deserve after all. Or is it that he is not made of the champion stuff, the world at large presumed that he was loaded with after those two impressive wins. It must be said to the credit of some analysts that they had gone on record after Arrakis's second win that the gelding ought to do things bigger than that to justify the sort of stardom that was being thrust on him. Strangely though, people who raved and ranted about Arrakis, are now denouncing him as pretty ordinary.!. Yet beware all is not yet lost, warn hard- nosed professionals. It could be one terrible day on the track for Arrakis and the gelding may see better days. This optimism stems from a tiny section.

If taken in isolation, Arrakis' bad loss would have kicked the usual dust that goes up when odds-on favourites are kayoed and nothing more. But here on Friday, the public sentiment had to deal with the fact that an owner mate of Arrakis, Crystal Moment was the winner at a juicy price.

Public perception of such occurrences so frequently seen during the Mysore season is generally based on suspicion that the outcomes are designed not accidental. That is what led to public show of anger and resentment at Mysore. That is what led to missile throwing. That is what led to a trickle of blood on the forehead of an MRC cameraman when a stone purportedly thrown at Aslam Kader missed the jockey and instead hit the poor soul. Near riotous situations these.

The Father-Son element is another factor which has often played on the public psyche in situations like these. It is no fault of the Byramjis that they are trainers who have big strings, good horses, services of top jockeys and patronage of big owners, family bonds apart. But when the outcome throws a better priced winner from one yard ahead of a fancied one from the other, the public tends to suspect the honest worth of the results! It is unfortunate. In some cases the suspicion may be well founded. In others it may not be, the best way forward would be to find ways of preventing such happenings to an extent possible. The one solution that is begging consideration is bracketing of horses involving the same ownerships. For some obscure reasons Authority is fighting shy of bracketing ownermates. If this is to do with a lobby fighting against it on the grounds that bracketing would affect betting mobilisation, it is an argument without much credence.

It happened in Bangalore. Booing and jeering of officials. Abusive language. Odd footwear thrown into the paddock. Mercifully it stopped at that and nothing graver. Crystal Moment had been knocking the victory doors, though not forcefully. Estocade at seven enlivened the finish even as Cruden Bay decided to get back into his form of two seasons ago.

It was rather sad to see that the classic ambience was missing on the 1000 Guineas day. Is it to do with over-racing, or general slackening of interest in these regional classics. Hard to say.

Ganapathy's winning progression with two-year olds continued unchecked. This time it was Amber Dancer. The bay filly by Alnasar Alwasheek had a fight on her hooves as Lyrical Queen proved hard to dislodge. Amber Dancer found foot late but once she did, she won much more decisively than the verdict suggests. Forest Rose should be all the better for this run.

Hoyo Hoyo hoisted a surprise by winning a race that seemed to be Roman Flame's for quite a long while in the straight. In shedding her maiden status, Hoyo Hoyo set up a double for trainer Inayathulla and owner T. R. Rangarajan and apprentice Amit. The trio struck purple on Gypsie's Wish later in the day. Alluring Bay led on sufferance and Bold Tycoon was full steam at the finish.

Pas De Memories has never been a weight carrier. The record stood as the filly was unable to come to terms at any stage of the race. When Comet Star dropped out in the backstretch, the temptation was to put her out of mind.

That is precisely what the race caller did. But when the finish developed into an intense contest, the well conserved Comet Star had descended on the scene like a comet. Mr. S. Rangarajan's standard-bearer brooked no answer when Appu set her alight. King's Common rallied well but late.

But the one who caught the eye was Mayfair for whom the distance may have been a bit sharp.

Xar opened the account for owner-trainer V.V.Abdullah. The Hamas Gelding made a start to finish affair of it. But the end was a bit chaotic as Mussleburgh, River Nile and Machrie Bay closed in. Both Mussleburgh and Machrie Bay will be different propositions next time since both were running first time after being gelded.

When Golden Estate reared up on the way to the starting gate, Shakti Singh hurt himself in his lower lip. The time was too short for a replacement and the widely backed Golden Estate had to be pulled out of the race. This left the field open and making the best of it was Mohan Valavi's Spark of Life.

Classic Belle found the leeway Spark of Life had established too big to bridge. Mambo should not linger long in this company.

Treat gathered momentum close home to overhaul Young Lust who spent a great deal of energy in working out the early leader Selected Princess.

Step In Time stepped up the tempo to such a level that a majority preferred to duck out of sight, giving the Mohan Valavi trainee a flattering victory margin. Crystal Goblet is better suited for longer course.

A fancy and a flop more than once, the small field of five afforded Argyle Gold a winning opportunity. Though Imran Chisty notably tightened Silvano, he managed to eke out extra from the Byramji trainee who first sped past Kingston Heath and then held Surfside at bay. But for that squeeze Silvano would have finished a lot closer.

A handicapper's delight is a commentator's nightmare.One such finish was conceived when nearly half a dozen rushed to the line, head to head, quarters to quarters.

A finish of three short-heads ultimately threw up Plain Truth as the winner at a nourishing 200 to 1 on win and 30 to one on place, a rare win for Babu Rao, who hardly gets rides leave alone winners. Lance's Pet was easily the best finisher. National Star was flashing home. The result left Mahmood Khan with mixed feelings. Winner for any trainer is a winner but the plain truth is that it happened to be the wrong one for Mahmood Khan.

He had to cough up Rs. 5,000 for Plain Truth's inconsistent running pattern.!

Renzino hit the front and stayed on to the chagrin of Saujas and Chanel both of whom were gaining ground on the leader towards the close. Apprentice Sachin did no justice to Ronson at any stage. Will a mere fine meet the demands of justice?

H. S. MANJUNATH

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