In a thrilling battle virtually all the way up the straight, Desert God, the champion four-year-old, staved off the stiff challenge of Quasar, the champion five-year-old, to raise the pennant for younger horses in the blue riband of Indian turf — the Invitation Cup. Ridden brilliantly by visiting British jockey David Allan, Desert God landed the plum close home by a long neck, prevailing perhaps by the sheer quality of the finish.
Always prominent in the running of the 2,400m event, Quasar was attempting to slip into the lead at the top of the straight, which is when Allan, who had placed his mount a handy fourth or fifth till then, pushed Desert God into the lead and went on to win the royal battle at the wire. One hundred meters out, it appeared Quasar (Yash Narredu up) might prevail as he slipped into the lead on the inside. This is when Allan gathered his horse and coaxed him into one great final effort to land the plum for his trainer S. Padmanabhan who had confidently predicted only a four-year-old would win the Invitation Cup because the terms favour the younger horses.
A supremely confident Padmanbhan had thrown open the challenge on the floor of a media conference last Thursday saying older horses would struggle to give weight to younger ones. His horse may have won just as much on the strength of the four kgs granted by Quasar as his jockey’s great handling of a game horse. Incidentally, Padmnabhan and his wife Sharmila own Desert God, whose dam is Running Flame who also won this event for the trainer. It was a happy homecoming of sorts for Padmanabhan who began his training career in MRC and came back here hunting for his Grade-1 win here which had so far proved elusive till now although he has won the plum Grade-1 races at every other major racing centre in the country.
Myrtlewood exhibits brilliance over mile
Myrtlewood hacked the field in the Super Mile, giving Pradeep Chauhan an armchair ride in the straight. Keeping the filly, who had finished behind Desert God in the Indian Derby, off the pace but in a handy position in the mid bunch until well into the turn, the accomplished jockey pushed her through a gap between two animals to set her alight.
Responding brilliantly on being given the command to gallop, Myrtlewood began drawing away leaving the fight for minor placing. She cut a smart time of 1m 37.17s while winning handily by a little over 3 lengths.
Asked whether there was any regret over not taking a chance with her in the Invitation Cup, the owners and the ace trainer, Pesi Shroff, said they believed Myrtlewood was most comfortable over a metric mile and hence were happy to exploit the opportunity. Backed down to less than half money in the rung, Myrtlewood met all expectations with affluent win.
