Calcutta: Trainer Vijay Singh’s pair of Arktouros and Andreus, take on brother Bharath’s Malpensa in Saturday’s feature event, the 1,600m Elusive Pimpernel Cup which has attracted seven hopefuls. However, Andreus is yet to attain maturity to beat the top-rated runners like Malpensa, and also Arktouros, who, however, is getting no younger at the age of nine. Therefore, it may pay to follow Malpensa, to be ridden by Dashrath Singh.
Meanwhile, in Bangalore, the business was as usual on Friday but Saturday’s eight-event card features a Grade-III race, the 1,400m Bangalore Juvenile Million. There are nine runners in the fray but it is trainer S. Padmanabhan’s up-coming filly, Remembrance Of You (A. Sandesh) who bears watching.
Read as: Sl. nos, last 4 runs, horse name, trainer, jockey, weight & draw: 5. Elusive Pimpernel Cup 1,600m Terms, 4-y- & over 4pm
1 2120 Arktouros [Vijay] C.Alford 60.0 1
2 2003 Malpensa [Bharath] Dashrath S. 60.0 7
3 3424 Star Symphony [Bharath] V.Jaiswal 60.0 3
4 2211 Andreus [Vijay] Shailesh S. 54.5 6
5 0341 Berlusconi [R.Alford] Shrikant Kamble 54.5 5
6 - 000 Ace Dancer [Quinn] D.K.Ashish 52.0 2
7 - - - 0 White Knight [Quinn] Vikash Tamang 52.0 4
1. MALPENSA (2) 2. ARKTOUROS (1) 3. ANDREUS (4)
Malpensa: Rated alongside of Arktouros but the youth is by his side. Arktouros: a nine-year-old who has been maintaining his form. Andreus: May upset.
SELECTIONS
2pm: Carnival Point 1. Bold Desire 2. Cee Four 3.
2.30pm: Grande Dame 1. Monsieur Strauss 2. Amarilla 3.
3pm: My Boy Lollipop 1. Dance In China 2. A’Ma Shukum 3.
3.30pm: Dancehall Days 1. Xavier 2. Arbroath 3.
4pm: Malpensa 1. Arktouros 2. Andreus 3.
4.30pm: Sage Valley 1. Primrose 3. Lexi 3.
Day’s Best: Malpensa Double: Carnival Point & Sage Valley.
Bangalore results — with inter-state dividends: 1st race: Optimistic 1, Bel Esprit 2, White Snowdrops 3. Win Rs 53; (P) 16, 24, 110; (Q) 227; 2nd race: Pure Allure 1, Hidden Soldier 2, Oye Como Va 3. Win Rs 15; (P) 12, 26, 53; (Q) 104; 3rd race: Arta 1, Ace Lexington 2, Lovely Lady 3. NR: Diamond Quest. Win Rs 26; (P) 12, 13, 21; (Q) 19.
4th race: Atlas Power 1, Supreme 2, Greyconnection 3. Win Rs 33; (P) 15, 19, 14; (Q) 99. (Note: Supreme was awarded the second berth, ahead of Greyconnection after an objection).
5th race: Luc Divine 1, Ruling Passions 2, Anmol Hira 3. Win Rs 88; (P) 24, 19, 18; (Q) 206; 6th race: Clueless 1, Fioritta 2, Soviet Melody 3. NR: Super Saloni. Win Rs 29; (P) 14, 14, 39; (Q) 25. 7th race: Sun Glow 1, Vigorous 2, Champakali 3. NR: Secret Touch. Win Rs 59; (P) 18, 16, 11; (Q) 90. Jackpot: Rs 8,667; (C) Rs 539. Treble: (i) Rs 131; (ii) Rs 645.
TODAY’S SELECTIONS
2.15pm: Dominator 1. Encourager 2. Sayyonee 3. 2.45pm: Vencedora 1. Our Little Dragon 2. Break On Thru 3. 3.15pm: Tic Tac Toe 1. Fashion Flame 2. Noble Princess 3. 3.45pm: Valahak 1. Amazing Redd 2. Icelander 3. 4.15pm: Remembrance Of You 1. Dare To Dream 2. Alexandra Mills 3. 4.45pm: Expert 1. Anecdote 2. Merion 3. 5.15pm: One Of A Kind 1. Cherry Hinton 2. Amazonas 3. 5.45pm: Smooth Glider 1. Mountain Beauty 2. Smithsonite 3.
Day’s Best: Remembrance Of You Double: Tic Tac Toe & Expert.
THE HADDOCK SAGA
In relation to Haddock’s case, reactions like “RCTC’s high-handed attitude and unreasonable ban on Haddock’s owner, Ajay Jalan, keep on coming from different racing quarters.
Some also appreciated Justice I.P. Mukerji‘s observations in his November 13 order: “..., the Appeal Board should be asked to hear out the appeal itself within four weeks of communication of this order, ...”
The Calcutta Racehorse Owners Society (CROS)’s president, Gautam Sen Gupta, too, felt that the matter has gone too far. “RCTC could have settled the issue in-house, and amicably;” said Sen Gupta over the phone.
In November 2012, Haddock was injected a non-recognised drug, ATB-7, which was procured by Jalan, but administered by the RCTC’s vet, Dr I. Banerjee, and not by I. Majumdar, as was mentioned in this column, on March 20. The vet was asked to resign during the course of the RCTC’s inquiry.
