Daniel David trails on the trainers? championship table by a big deficit of six points against Vijay Singh. However, his tally of eight trophies, during the seven meetings held so far, ideally matches Vijay?s score in that category. Further, Daniel?s achievement in trophy events also include the two ?graded? classics held so far ? the Calcutta 1,000 Guineas and the 2,000 Guineas which was the main attraction in last Saturday?s race-card. The fact that Vijay had packed the Guineas? field with five of his well-performed three-year-olds against Daniel?s three ? Moon Emperor, Star Emblem and Amazing Balze, the Guineas? results took most by surprise. Moon Emperor triumphed leaving Vijay?s four ? Aperitivo, Alaskan, Approved and Formal Invitation ? to make it look like an Indian file.
Again Moon Emperor was considered to be a suspect to last the Guineas? mile. Yet, the Placerville-Menorah son found his eight rivals wanting when it came to unleashing final acceleration. With Aperitivo in command after shrugging of Approved?s challenge inside the last furlong, little did one think Moon Emperor had in him that much in reserve.
Jockey David Badel, for whom it was a chance ride because of B. Prakash?s fall the previous day, was all delight after the race. He also declared that the winner would see the Derby trip of 2,400m by an equal measure. However, the Derby, on January 9, is going to be a different ball game. The pace is going to be different and also strategies will change. One may not see the likes of Alaskans, Approveds, Formal Invitations and Star Emblems in the roles they were allotted in the Guineas.
Guineas apart, Daniel also had a cupful in the eight-event card and the chief contributor being jockey Imran Chisty. In the baby race, the first of the season, the 1,200m Hong Kong Jockey Club Trophy, Chisty?s ploy to nurse his long-priced filly Regal Empress behind the fancied lot of Acrostic, Imperial Dynasty and Averroes paid off. Normally, the front runners are known to be at advantage in races for debutants.
Chisty?s passage to victory on Secret Obsession in the 1,600m Silver Cup was made easy by Vijay?s Alashaan, the 35-100 hot-favourite. C.Alford partnering the favourite, rode a mindless race keeping the Diffident-Take A Powder son in the rear ? nearly 15 lengths behind the leader. The favourite had jumped out with the field and there was no infringement at the start. Alford did shake his arms to improve his position by the half-way trip but he had already missed the bus.
Star Above had opened Daniel?s account in the Phoenecian Handicap. The 6-10 public-choice, however, failed to justify his odds as he was stretched to the fullest by Frontier Flame on whom apprentice Shane Domingo was impressive in defeat. The young boy is maturing fast with experience.
Vijay?s Arapahoe and Bountiful Pleasure could have done equally well if ridden by a lesser jockey than Alford. The two hot-favourites recorded very facile wins in their respective events, the San Francisco Handicap and the Bengal Area Cup. Trainer T.N. Jaiswal, on the other hand, was gutsier. He trusted his son, apprentice Vinay Jaiswal, to land a good gamble on Flinders in the Whiplash Handicap. In the same race, jockey Surjeet Singh was expected to adopt waiting tactics on the heavyweight Socrates, an even-money favourite, instead of trying to win from the start.
Bharath Singh is a quiet assassin. He had a champion in Ardella but only those close to him got the wind of it. In the 1,400m Winged Tiger Handicap, the 5-2 second favourite dashed hopes of the even-money rage Rare Destiny. Ardella negotiated the home-turn miles wide and galloped along the far side rails for her five-length-plus victory.
