Jockey Richard Hughes rides to glory in first MiD DAY Trophy
Jockey Richard Hughes rides to glory in first MiD DAY Trophy
Clocking the time that was just quarter of a second outside the course record for seven furlongs, Jaydev Mody's Autonomy zoomed past the winning post in the hands of Englishman Richard Hughes to win the MiD DAY Trophy at the Mahalaxmi racetrack yesterday.
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Autonomy (Richard Hughes up) winning the MiD DAY Trophy from Dancing Dynamite (Daniel Grant up) at the Mahalaxmi racecourse yesterday. |
The Bezan Chenoy-trained Razeen-All Heart four-year-old braved a huge lay-off of more than five months to emerge victorious by half a length from his main rival Dancing Dynamite (D Grant up).
The small field of six runners was despatched by the starter ten minutes later than the scheduled time of 4 pm, but one man surely did not complain actor John Abraham, special guest of MiD DAY, who spent those ten minutes getting himself a crash course in racing as he enthusiastically watched horses and horsemen in the paddock parade before the race.
Blazing pace
Dynamic Cat shot to the front as the gates opened, and set a very hot pace. He was soon joined on the haunches by Lahinch, followed by Arkhos, Autonomy, Dancing Dynamite and Sea Princess in that order. The blazing pace saw the first four furlongs being cut in an unthinkable 45 seconds, and the strain started telling on both Dynamic Cat and Lahinch, who shortened their strides midway into the homestretch. Richard Hughes astride Autonomy then moved up with giant strides to assume command, hotly chased by Dancing Dynamite, and the two fought all the way up to the winning post where Autonomy spared half a length to the latter, and stopped the clock at 1:23.37 for the seven-furlong trip.
Trip too sharpWhile Autonomy's victory was noteworthy, his famous turn of foot that he had displayed last year when winning the Poonawalla Breeders Multimillion, was missing this time. However, Autonomy's owner Jaydev Mody is not perturbed at all.
"I am satisfied with my horse's show," he told MiD DAY in a post-race interview. "This trip was a bit too sharp for him, I am sure he would have just bounded away if he had more ground to cover." When asked if, in his opinion, this victory puts him back on the Classic map, he smiled and retorted, "When were we off the map?"
