Successor wins feature event

This picture has been used for representational purpose

Successor, taken on a start-to-finish mission by jockey P Trevor, outpaced and outclassed her class I rivals to win the Delhi Race Club Trophy, the feature event of Saturday's seven-race card.

The Dallas Todywalla-trained six-year-old mare, who was making her last appearance on racetrack, thus retired in style. She will now move to the breeding establishment of Zavaray Poonawalla whose family owns her in partnership with Mukul Sonawala and DR Thacker.

Also Read: Jamari fancied for Pune Derby

Trainer Bezan Chenoy saddled a shock winner in the opening race of the card, when 15/1 shot Treasure Gold, who was slow at the gates, accelerated in an incredible manner to sweep past the field. Silver Spring (Akshay Kumar up) who had shaped like a winner and looked home and dry until then, didn't know what hit him when Mosin whizzed past her in the final furlong of the lower division of the Animal Welfare Board Of India Trophy. The other division of the same race was won by Cordelia (C Umesh up) who posted an easy, start-to-finish victory for trainer Pesi Shroff.

Trainer Pesi Shroff excelled on Saturday by leading in two more winners. Besides Cordelia, the champion trainer also saddled Chamonix (N Bhosale up) who edged out Own Voice (M Alam up) in the final yards of the 2,000m, Democraticus Plate; and Shroff later sent out De Marquis (C Umesh up) who surprised the field in the Bronx Plate which also included stable-mate piping-hot favourite Chagall (P Trevor up).

Trainer Imtiaz Sait saddled the winner of the Dakshin Maharashtra & Goa Sub-Area Trophy in Geographique with whom jockey Neeraj Rawal made every post of the mile trip a winning one. The last race of the day, the A J Wadia Plate, was won by the SS Shah-trained Dagger's Strike (MS Deora up), also in a wire-to-wire manner.

What's wrong with the Pune racetrack?

The Pune racetrack, since this month of October began, has become extremely fast, and that may still be an understatement.

As many as five exisiting records have been shattered since then over various trip distances (by Juliette, Pissaro, Divine Thoughts, Joaquin & Enabler), and many races have been won by horses whose early momentum took them past the winning post, in some cases, despite known stamina limitations. Once they hit the front, they simply ran away from their rivals who were unable to accelerate despite desparate, all out effort by their riders.

Just over the last two race days--Sun, Oct 15 & Sat, Oct 21--as many as ten of the 14 races were won in this manner. The race club needs to investigate the reasons for this sudden change of character of the Pune racetrack, and announce their findings.