Kariega and Trouvaille crowned champion equines

Mahalaxmi racecourse

The Vishal Gaikwad-trained Kariega (Kingda Ka - Smoke Ring) outclassed her five rivals to win the Forbes Breeders' Juvenile Fillies Championship (Gr 3) at the Mahalaxmi racecourse yesterday. Biding her time off the pace, Kariega was asked for effort by jockey Trevor Patel after the heads turned for home, and the three-year-old filly owned by the family of RWITC chairman K N Dhunjibhoy shot ahead like an arrow on the inside rails to surge clear of rivals, putting an impressive four lengths between herself and Mishka's Pride (A Sandesh up) who took up the runner up berth.

"Her last run was disappointing," Kariega's trainer Vishal Gaikwad told mid-day in a post-race chat, "but she was shaping up well during the track trials since then, and the change of equipment (adding tongue strap) must have helped her."

Trouvaille mocks rivals
Trouvaille, a piping hot favourite from traienr S K Sunderji's yard, won the colts' version, the Shapoorji Pallonji Juvenile Colts' Championship (Gr 3) without working up sweat. Jockey A Sandesh held Trouvaille on a tight leash in fourth spot until approaching the 400-meter marker before letting him loose. In a trice, Trouvaille zoomed past the front runners Silver King & Beemer like a rocket taking off from a launch pad. The Rajesh Monga-owned Surfrider - Highly Fashionable gelding then bounded away for a glorious 4-1/4-length victory in a smart time of one minute 38.26 seconds for the mile trip.

Riding excellence
Jockey Sandesh, having earlier won the J P Vazifdar Trophy astride the Imtiaz Sait-trained Flying Visit, thus ended the day with a double. But the day's honours were bagged by jockey P S Chouhan who rode a lucrative treble with Transform (5/2), Notting Hill (10/1) and Daddy's Pride (6/1).

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