BENGALURU: The Suleiman Attaollahi-trained Lagarde, guided beautifully by jockey Akshay Kumar, raced to victory within the Kingfisher Extremely Derby Bangalore (Grade 1, 2400m), the most important and richest occasion of the winter races right here on Tuesday.
Sovereign Legend, from S Padmanabhan’s yard, ridden by A Sandesh, took the second spot by the shortest of margins after an in depth struggle with the Attaollahi-schooled Forest Flame (Trevor Patel up). Antibes, educated by Arjun Mangalorkar and ridden by S John, accomplished the body in one of the crucial thrilling races of the season, ending fourth.
Lagarde prevailed by one and a half lengths. That is the third consecutive basic win for the colt this season after Bangalore and Indian 2000 Guineas and the primary Derby win in Bengaluru for Akshay, who had paired up with the horse for the primary time.
Jockey Akshay Kumar astride Lagarde. (TOI Picture)
Lagarde maintained a convincing lead proper from the beginning at the same time as the opposite horses fought for the second and third positions at totally different factors of the race. On the midway mark, Lagarde was nonetheless calling the pictures and was virtually three-quarter of a size forward of its opponents.
Attaollahi felt Forest Flame was unfortunate to not end second. “We did what Lagarde appreciated within the race and that is how he gained the highest prize. However the filly (Forest Flame) was a bit of unfortunate, in any other case it might have been a really shut race. She acquired caught out very huge. We thought Lagarde and Forest Flame would emerge the highest two, however sadly Forest Flame could not,” he added.
Company on the Kingfisher Extremely Derby in Bangalore Turf Membership on Tuesday. (TOI Picture)
It was a memorable day for Hyderabad’s Akshay, who had joined the workforce only a day earlier than the race. “Although he joined us solely on Monday, Akshay understood what was anticipated of him and did simply that,” Attaollahi mentioned.
“This victory means so much to us. Our horse has gained all of the three classics in a row,” mentioned Rama Seshu Eyunni, one of many house owners of Lagarde.
Though the premier occasion was comparatively a low-key affair as a result of Covid-19 pandemic, practically 2,000 folks turned up on the races on Republic Day.
From the presentation ceremony. (TOI Picture)
