Juliette, the got abroad daughter of Musketier out of Givemesumsugar, kept her date all right on Sunday. No there were no Romeos around, but at stake was the Chettinad Indian Turf Invitation Cup. A race in which she’d played bridesmaid twice before.
Owned by the M.A.M. Ramaswamy of Chettiar Charitable Trust and sporting the legendary Gold and brown belt silks, Juliette romped home to win convincingly. Trained by Karthik Ganapathy, ridden with aplomb by C.S. Jodha, the 6-year-old mare, who is bred at the Sohna Stud, gave her breeder Mr. Sultan Singh his third Invitation victory in four years.
The Major P.K. Mehra Memorial Super Mile was billed a clash of the fairer sex. Cosmic Ray and Forest Flame, both from the stable of Sulaiman Attaohlahi, were the rage of the betting and from the top of the straight it became a battle between the pair. In the end, Cosmic Ray, who always appeared to be travelling the better of the two, kicked clear, leaving Forest Flame to be content with the runner-up prize.
Cosmic Ray, a daughter of Burden Of Proof out of Corsican Girl, was ridden by jockey P. Trevor and sported the colours of United Racing And Bloodstock Breeders Pvt. Ltd. Bred at the Kunigal Stud, she becomes the first horse in the history of the Super Mile to win this Grade 1 affair back-to-back.
The results:
1. WIN NEWS MILLION (1,200m), rated 60 to 85: THE SOVEREIGN ORB (Suraj Narredu) 1, Columbian (P.S. Chouhan) 2, Lagos (Akshay Kumar) 3, Judy Blue Eyes (Zervan) 4. 2-1/4, 1 and 2-3/4. 1m, 12.04s. Owners: M/s. Poonawalla Racing & Breeding rep. by Mr. Zavaray S. Poonawalla & Mrs. Behroze Z. Poonawala. Trainer: S. Attaollahi.
2. HOOVES OF STEEL SUMANGALA TMT MILLION (1,600m), rated 60 to 85: NEW LOOK (Gaurav Singh) 1, Mr Kool (T.S. Jodha) 2, Stockbridge (Antony Raj) 3 and Chashni (S. John) 4. Not run: Gallantry. 2, nose and 3. 1m, 39.36s. Owner: Mr. Digvijay Singh Shekhawat. Trainer: Ravinder Singh.
3. SANS CRAINTES STUD JUVENILE MILLION (1,200m),3-y-o only (Terms): ASHWA MOROCCO (Antony Raj) 1, Soup And Sandwich (T.S. Jodha) 2, O Hansini (R.N. Dharshan) 3 and Divine Thoughts (P. Trevor) 4. 2, 3/4 and 1-1/2. 1m, 12.56s. Owner: Mr. Ravinder Pal Singh Chouhan. Trainer: G. Shashikanth.
4. DASHMESH STUD JUVENILE MILLION (1,400m), Colts & Geldings 3-y-o only (Terms): Last Wish (Antony Raj) 1, King Louis (P.S. Chouhan) 2, Ashwa Yudhvir (Suraj Narredu) 3 and Still I Rise (C. Umesh) 4. 2, 2 and 3-3/4. 1m, 26.30s. Owner: Dr. Suresh Chintamaneni. Trainer: Neil B. Devaney.
5. SURESH MAHINDRA MULTI MILLION TROPHY (Gr. II), (1,400m), 4-y-o & over (Terms): NORTHERN ALLIANCE (C. Umesh) 1, Knotty Dancer (Akshay Kumar) 2, Multifaceted (S. John) 3 and Priceless Gold (Suraj Narredu) 4. 1-3/4, 3/4 and hd. 1m, 24.39s. Owners: Mr. Clinton Miller, Mr. Sujay Chandrahas & Mr. Dean Stephens. Trainer: Neil B. Devaney.
6. MAJ. P.K. MEHRA MEMORIAL SUPER MILE CUP (Gr. I), (1,600m), 4-y-o & over (Terms): COSMIC RAY (Burden Proof-Corsican Gal) P. Trevor 1, FOREST FLAME (Leitir Mor-Memory Bay) David Egan 2, ETERNAL BLAZE (Multidimensional-Majestic Opinion) C.S. Jodha 3 and HISTORIAN (Phoenix Tower-Dolce Vita) Santosh G 4. 2, 8-1/2 and shd. 1m, 37.49s. Owner: M/s. United Racing & Bloodstock Breeders. Trainer: S. Attaollahi.
7. CHETTINAD INDIAN TURF INVITATION CUP (Gr.I) (2,400m), 4-y-o & over (Terms): JULIETTE (Musketier-Gimmesumsugar) C.S. Jodha) 1, LAGARDE (Kingda Ka-La Terrasse) Akshay Kumar 2, ZUCCARELLI (Western Aristocrat-Circle Of Bliss) P. Trevor 3 and A STAR IS BORN (Roderic O’Connor-Angel Dust) Suraj Narredu 4. 2-1/4, 3 and 5-3/4. 2m, 29.21s. Owner: Mr. M.A.M Ramaswamy Chettiar of Chettinad Charitable Trust. Trainer: Karthik G.
8. M.R. PRATAP MEMORIAL MILLION (1,400m), rated 40 to 65: ALLAMANDA (Antony Raj) 1, Garamond (P.S. Chouhan) 2, Four Wheel Drive (Akshay Kumar) 3 and Whizzo (Jagadeesh) 4. 3, hd and 1-3/4. 1m, 26.10s. Owner: Miss Ameeta Mehra. Trainer: Arjun Mangalorkar.
