One ran out of superlatives to describe the wonder mare Juliette, the eight-year-old got-abroad grey by Musketier out of Gimmesumsugar, as she strolled to victory in the HPSL Indian Turf Invitation Cup here on Sunday. Sporting the colours of the Poonawalla family this time, but with the professional combination of trainer Karthik Ganapathy and jockey C.S. Jodha remaining unchanged, Juliette put daylight between herself and her rivals.
At the regal age of 8, it was almost as if she was making a statement when leaving the runner-up Jamari eight lengths adrift while stopping the clock at a record time of 2 minutes, 26.783s.
In the bargain she also completed a hat-trick of Invitation Cups and there’s no question that she’s one of the greatest of all time. Every sport loves a superstar, and Juliette can rightly lay claim to the title ‘Empress of the Indian Turf’.
In the Major P.K. Mehra Super Mile, A Star Is Born, a six-year-old bay horse trained by Rajesh Narredu and ridden with panache by Suraj Narredu, got going in time to peg back Knotty Charmer who at one stage looked like having sealed the deal.
Suraj, who kept the son of Roderic O’Connor in fourth place, pushed his steed with an electrifying run to win by a shade over a neck.
Siege Courageous waltzed away in the Suresh Mahindra Multi Million. The Prasanna Kumar-trained five-year-old son of Gusto out of Golden Queen made amends for losing out in the Sprinters’ Cup by turning in a record-breaking run.
The results:
1. BANGALORE TURF CLUB MILLION: MISS AMERICAN PIE (N.S. Parmar) 1, Fortune Teller (S. Saqlain) 2, Adjustment (Antony Raj) 3 and Toussaint (Neeraj) 4. 8, 3/4 and 2-1/2. 1m, 23.44s. ₹14 (w), 12, 17 and 14 (p). SHP: 59, THP: 46, Q: 45, Tanala: 268. Favourite: Miss American Pie. Owner: Mr. Prashant Nagar rep. SKJ Thourghbreds Pvt. Ltd. Trainer: M.K. Jadhav.
2. DASHMESH STUD CALCUTTA MILLION: LADY SUNSHINE (P. Trevor) 1, Global Influence (Suraj Narredu) 2, Mothers Grace (Neeraj) 3 and Nomitsi (Yash Narredu) 4. 2, Lnk and Nose. 1m, 36.71s. ₹30 (w), 13 and 71 (p). SHP: 45, THP: 29, FP: 58, Q: 15, Tanala: 339. Favourite: Global Influence. Owners: Mr. Joydeep Datta Gupta, M/s. Ritu Puri, Ms. Tarshia Dutta, Mr. Achuthan Siddharth, Mr. Sanjay Datta Gupta, Mr. Aniruddha Lahiri, Mr. Manosh Mukherjee, Mr. Atul Singh, Mr. Pradeep Sabherwal & Mr. Zeeshan Babu. Trainer: Bharat Singh.
3. OCI CABLES & BOLRACECARD.COM MILLION: LA DOMINATE (Antony Raj S) 1, Divine Thoughts (Mustakim) 2, Sir Baffert (P.S. Chouhan) 3 and All Time Legend (Bhawani) 4. Lnk, 2-1/2 and Head. 1m, 5.15s. ₹120 (w), 26, 18 and 19 (p). SHP: 50, THP: 85, FP: 717, Q: 294, Tanala: 6,180. Favourite: Leather Back. Owners: Mrs. S. Dhanalakshmi & Mr. B. Mahesh. Trainer: B. Mahesh.
4. SURESH MAHINDRA MULTI-MILLION TROPHY (Gr. 2): SIEGE COURAGEOUS (Vivek G) 1, Shamrock (Suraj Narredu) 2, Ahead Of My Time (C.S. Jodha) 3 and Savvy Chic (P.S. Chouhan) 4. 4, 2 and 2. 1m, 22.52s (record time). ₹97 (w), 21, 11 and 20 (p). SHP: 42, THP: 51, FP: 158, Q: 46, Tanala: 955. Favourite: Shamrock. Owners: Mr. Dean Stephen & M/s. Mukteshwar Racing LLP. Trainer: Prassana Kumar.
5. MAJ. P.K. MEHRA MEMORIAL SUPER MILE CUP (Gr. 1): A STAR IS BORN (Roderic O’ Connor-Angel Dust) (Suraj Narredu) 1, Knotty Charmer (Gusto-Stormy Princess) (Vivek G) 2, Mojito (Speaking Of Which-Margarita Rita) (N.S. Parmar) 3 and De Villers (Sepoy-Expect) (P. Trevor) 4. 1/2, 2 and 2. 1m, 35.73s. ₹20 (w), 11, 14 and 14 (p). SHP: 42, THP: 49, FP: 68, Q: 29, Tanala: 233. Favourite: A Star Is Born. Owners: Mr. Cyrus S. Poonawalla, Mr. Adar C. Poonawalla and Mrs. Natasha A. Poonawalla rep. Villoo Poonawalla Racing and Breeding Pvt. Ltd. & Mr. Zavaray S. Poonawalla, Mrs. Behroze Z. Poonawalla, Ms. Delna Z. Poonawalla and Mrs. Simone Poonawalla Pandole rep. Poonawalla Racing and Breeding Pvt. Ltd. Trainer: Rajesh Narredu.
6. HPSL INDIAN TURF INVITATION CUP (Gr. 1): JULIETTE (Musketier-Gimmesumsugar) (C.S. Jodha) 1, Jamari (Cougar Mountain-Glyndebourne) (P. Trevor) 2, Touch Of Grey (Top Class-Zacara) (Neeraj Rawal) 3 and Synthesis (Speaking Of Which-Sana) (Suraj Narredu) 4. 8, 4-1/4 and 2-1/4. 2m, 26.78s (record time). ₹15 (w), 11, 10 and 21 (p). SHP: 21, THP: 38, FP: 30, Q: 13, Tanala: 265. Favourite: Juliette. Owners: Mr. Zavaray S. Poonawalla, Mrs. Behroze Z. Poonawalla, Mr. Yohan Z. Poonawlla, Mrs. Michelle Y. Poonawalla, Ms. Delna Z. Poonawalla, Mrs. Simone Poonawalla Pandole, Mr. Rishad N. Pandole & Mr. Raunak Banerjee rep. Poonawalla Racing & Breeding Pvt. Ltd. Trainer: Karthik Ganapathy.
7. ROYAL WESTERN INDIA TURF CLUB MILLION: MAGNETO (S. Saqlain) 1, Golden Kingdom (P.S. Chouhan) 2, Life Is Good (Mohit Singh) 3 and Shubankar (Merchant) 4. 1/2, 5 and 3/4. 2m, 3.58s. ₹49 (w), 14, 13 and 23 (p). SHP: 29, THP: 50, FP: 166, Q: 75, Tanala: 1,223. Favourite: Long Lease. Owner: Mr. Ajay Jalan rep. Ultimo Stud Farm Pvt. Ltd. Trainer: Faisal A. Abbas.
Note: First favourite Long Lease (Suraj Narredu up) returned lame after the race.
8. MADRAS RACE CLUB MILLION: BLACKSTONE (Bhawani Singh) 1, Fresh Hope (S.K. Paswan) 2, Hasting Sunrise (Akshay Kumar) 3 and Sun Flare (Vinod Shinde) 4. 4-1/2, 3 and 2-1/4. 1m, 12.18s. ₹16 (w), 12, 38 and 16 (p). SHP: 209, THP: 57, FP: 351, Q: 469, Tanala: 2,396. Favourite: Blackstone. Owner: Mr. H.S. Chandre Gowda. Trainer: M. Rajendra Singh.
Jackpot: 70%: ₹3,994 (244 tkts.) & 30%: 823 (403 tkts.).
Mini Jackpot: 392 (147 tkts.).
Treble: (i) 990 (34 tkts.), (ii) 5,003 (19 tkts.), (iii) 213 (594 tkts.).
