rio bravo bangalore

Sriram Komandur's charge Rio Bravo put up a brlliant performance while annexing the Hyderabad Silver Vase, the feature event in Saturday's race card at Bangalore. This was his fifth win in a row since he first won during the summer season eight months ago. The handicapper has been pretty tough on Rio Bravo, but this stout galloper has been defying the penalties and winning his races in very workmanlike fashion. It is believed that he is a very tough horse to train and can not be pushed in the morning track work. Rio Bravo was hard pressed to get up in the final fifty metres to down Alekona in his previous start. Most seasoned race goers had opined at that time that the handicapper had finally got the measure of this horse. The fact that Alekona came out and easily won his next two starts made Rio Bravo the obvious first favorite in today's feature.

Rio Bravo was amongst a total of seven acceptors for this race. His main opponents seemed to be Flaming Lamborgini and Carabinieri, both of whom had been handicapped at the bottom of the scales and were set to receive a fair amount of weight from him. All three of them had their own group of supporters and Rio Bravo reached the start as the 2/1 favorite. Suraj Narredu was riding him for the first time, replacing his regular partner Vivek who had won with him on four earlier occasions. Lava set a fast pace for this race followed by Flaming Lamborgini, Stone Of Destiny and Carabinieri while Rio Bravo was seen being niggled to keep in touch with the front runners. The first horse beat in this race was Carabinieri, who started to drop out of the race at the bend. It was Flaming Lamborgini who took over the proceedings and skipped away from the tiring Lava and Stone Of Destiny, while Suraj Narredu brought Rio Bravo on the wide outside and was seen making free use of the whip. In his customary style, Rio Bravo started gaining on the front runner and got the measure of Flaming Lamborgini in the final hundred metres.It ceased to be a contest thereafter .It was a popular victory for the sporting owners of Rio Bravo, and his trainer announced that the horse shall be given a well deserved rest till the summer season.

Suraj was earlier seen to advantage on the Darius trained Rimpuche who lifted the Glass House Trophy. This was a terms race over a sprint for three year olds, where the winners of a race were set to concede weight to the maidens who were participating along with them. The betting was confined to Scenic Melody (Alnasr Alwasheek-Forest Fantasy) and Rimpuche (Penine Ridge-Smarlee). The first one was fashionably bred and had the services of Prakash in the saddle, but was making his reappearance on the race track after a gap of more than three months. The second one had recent form. There was great anticipation before the start of the race but the final result was an anticlimax. Rimpuche sat in a comfortable second position and quickened nicely to get the measure of the front running Little Splendour. Imperial Dream finished the fastest to be a respectable third. The well bred Scenic Melody was seen plodding in the end and finished a tame fourth thus gulping down a lot of money.

The maidens race was split into two divisions. Trainer Babu Rao had accepted with two well performed yougsters Flair Queen and On A Roll, and they found themselves as hot favorites to win their respective divisions. Appu was declared to ride both these horses. In the opening event, Flair Queen was backed down to half money but had no answers when Samar Singh's Nearco Master went to the front and refused to allow any of his opponents to come near him. Hall Mark came from fourth position and occupied the second slot ahead of Flair Queen. Simple ran an unextended fourth. The other division saw Appu taking On A Roll to the front and easily accounting for first timers Spicy Star and Spark Of Class. Spicy Star can be earmarked for an early success.

Prakash ridden Southern Chieftain was another horse which was backed to the exclusion of his rivals. Prakash took a good jump on this horse and sat in box seat behind My Friend Paul with the rest of the field led by lord Of Illusion following at a respectable distance. The moment Southern Chieftain was popped the question by his jockey, he started to send distress signals and faded away from the scene. Alchesaye in the hands of Mallesh Narredu came with a menacing run and challenged the front running My Friend Paul in the last fifty metres. The two of them were locked together as they passed the winning post. The judge declared My Friend Paul as the winner. The verdict was just a nose. Ever So Clever came from behind to occupy the third slot. Lord Of illusion was reported to have burst his blood vessels during the race .

The last race saw the appearance of the got abroad Leagues Apart from Padmanabhan's yard. He was backed as though there is no tomorrow. The fact that a very mediocre apprentice called Sunil Kumar was riding this horse made no difference to his supporters. They also chose to ignore the fact that the fashionably bred horse was unsound and was seen sporting bandages in the parade ring. All those who wagered on him paid a heavy price as he was seen struggling at the rear of the field. Mystic Star and Luckynumberslevin fought out the finish before the latter put his neck in front at the all important end. Anoosheek ended third ahead of Gift A Diamond. This win with Luckynumberslevin gave his trainer Amit Caddy a double for the day since he had won earlier in the afternoon with Reborn. Amit Caddy shared the day's professional honors with Suraj Narredu.