Bangalore: It was Subbaiah Ganapathy’s Light Of Success all the way in the Hoysala Trophy which featured in Saturday’s eightevents card. Taken to the front early by Byregowda Srikanth from a favourable drawn stall number two, Light Of Success held on to win comfortably from the late warming course favourite Wind Wonder, who was bidding for hat trick.
In the other action, the Gangavathi Trophy, a sprint race for maiden juveniles, Tharun Thimmaiah’s Conrad dominated the show right from the word ‘go’. While Hidden Hero pursued the eventual winner in vain, rank outsider Ace Shineon came with a flourish to deprive Scorching Vulcan the place money.
Ace Shinenon’s flashing finish clearly indicated that he will not stay in the maiden category for long. Juggy Dhariwal’s Sovereign Rule easily prevailed over the rest of the contenders in the seven-furlong race meant for horses in the 40 to 65 category. The hard-ridden Triumphant ended up second ahead of All Proof after a hot chase while Go Green completed the frame without much effort from the saddle.
It was not a good beginning for the followers of money as the first two races went the way of lesser fancied Oriental Star and Salsa Touch, both hailing from B. Prithviraj’s yard.
The well supported Faith And Toil was not sighted anywhere near the firing line in the race won by Oriental Star with a measure of comfort adopting start-to-finish tactics. After raising some hope entering the home stretch, Rashid Byramji's Clever Trick failed to materialise in the 1200 metres race meant for horses in the 40 to 65 category, won by Salsa Touch who geared up quickly from a forward position to go clear of Better Than Ever and Resurgent.
The punters agitated for a while, shouted and abused the professionals and authorities for the loss of fancied runners in the first two races but soon cooled down following the victory of short-priced Saanta Ana, who made mincemeat of the opposition in the third race, a sprint event meant for horses rated 20 to 45.
Oriental Magic ran the best of the rest while finishing an unwanted third behind Jaanvi. Padmanabhan completed a fine double as his Sur La Tete shed her maiden status in splendid fashion in mile race for horses in the 20 to 45 category, having earlier led in Saanta Ana.
Mohammed Khan trained Turf Striker garnered maximum support based on his consistency in the classics and Pradeep Chouhan had no problem in guiding the favourite to a facile victory in the Ashoka Chakra Cup.
