The richest stakes earner in the history of Indian racing, 4y colt Quasar trained by Malesh Narredu, effortlessly accounted for his five hapless rivals in the Deltin Stayers Challenge, the prime event of Sunday's eight-race card at Mahalaxmi
The richest stakes earner in the history of Indian racing, 4y colt Quasar trained by Malesh Narredu, effortlessly accounted for his five hapless rivals in the Deltin Stayers Challenge, the prime event of Sunday's eight-race card at Mahalaxmi.
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The Seeking The Dia - Belle Jour colt has proved a virtual goldmine for his owners--Jaydev M Mody, Tanmay A Agashe and Madhav G Patankar--by crossing the Rs 5.75 crore mark in earnings after already having claimed the title as the richest stakes earner in the Indian turf history.
As the field of six was dispatched from the gates, Quasar look a little too keen thanks to the leisurely pace set by Shivalik Storm, but Yash Narredu, Quasar's regular partner, settled him well along the rails as Snowing stalked the leader, and Azzuro tried to keep company to him on the outside, with Rodeo and Highlander bring up the rear.
Yash was unperturbed as they approached the final turn despite all his rivals being put into top gear, and his supreme confidence was justified by Quasar who, despite giving a chunk of weight to all, moved up effortlessly on turning for home, taking the gap between Shivalik Storm and Snowing, and then surging ahead with majestic strides to put the issue beyond doubt.
Strangely, Quasar for whom it was a mere formality as I had mentioned in the preview of the race, was quoted at 10-9 on, before receiving support to close at 70 paise to a rupee. But his manner of victory proved that even that was a very generous price, and the followers of money had a great reason to thank Quasar as he was the sole favourite to oblige on the eight-race card which saw only a lone successful jackpot pool ticket scooping up Rs 3.75 lakh when Captain Abdon, a 25-1 shot, shocked favourite Kandinsky in the last race of the day.
Dancing Phoenix, ridden by Sandesh, was another star performer of the afternoon. The five year old trained by Dallas Todywalla smashed the existing course record for the five-furlong trip when winning the Metro Motors Auto Hangar Sir H M Mehta Sprinters' Challenge in only 57.67 seconds!