The Special Race Day at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse in Mumbai on April 14th threw up some wholesome entertainment for enthusiasts. We had picked out two of the Sunday races as part of our last preview article. Here’s how our Mahalaxmi Race Course betting top picks for those races fared.
Mahalaxmi Race Course Betting: Review For April 14th
The Stylecracker Million
With just five horses on the track, this was certainly not the most crowded affair on Sunday. But it was not short on excitement or surprise (albeit unwanted), with one of our Mahalaxmi Race Course betting picks Princess Annabel being forced to withdraw. That left just four horses in this 1400m race, with Gallantry and Silver Flames as our favourites.
Both repaid our faith with strong performances on the track; Gallantry came out on top while Silver Flames finished in third place. Here are the top three placements from this race:
1. Gallantry
Gallantry was the odds-on favourite for this race and showed exactly why that was the case with a very strong run. Run by jockey Trevor, the young colt cantered home with a time of 1:24:018. With this win, Gallantry has finally returned back to winning ways, proving that the underwhelming performance in early March was just a blip in an otherwise promising career.
2. Royal Crystal
Royal Crystal managed to edge out Silver Flames in the final third of the race and came out in second place. Since Gallantry finished at least three lengths ahead of Royal Crystal, the most exciting part of this race was the fight for the second and third places. K Nazil was the jockey who managed to coax this horse into second with a time of 1:24:537.
3. Silver Flames
Silver Flames was our second pick for this race and for much of it, he managed to stay in second. But in the final stretch, he finally ran out of steam a bit and was bested by Royal Crystal. This young horse still has a long way to go, having had only three starts so far. With jockey A Sandesh in the saddle, he ended the race with a time of 1:24:679.
The Godspeed Plate
This was always going to be a tough horse race to call, with eleven horses in the running. And the field was also quite strong, with a nice mix of exciting young colts/fillies, and more experienced thoroughbreds all vying for the honours. Since we had to pick three horses for our Mahalaxmi Race Course betting tips, we went with Cormorant and Bakhtawar as our favourites, with Excellent Sorrento as our long-shot choice.
Although we were successful in putting our finger on the two runners up in this race, the top spot eluded us. Here is how things stood at the end:
1. Gentilesse
Gentilesse and Notting Hill were the two horses we had chosen to overlook when trying to whittle our top five down to a top three. Trained by Sanjay Kolse, this 5-year-old mare had scored the first win of her career on April 6th. She repeated that feat on Sunday, pipping Excellent Sorrento into second place at the last moment on the final stretch. With jockey Amit in the saddle, Gentilesse finished with a time of 1:22:528.
2. Excellent Sorrento
Excellent Sorrento was outside the leading pack as the horses crossed the 800m mark in this race. While he managed to claw his way back to the top in the final stretch, a late charge by winner Gentilesse put paid to any hopes of adding to his two wins this season. Still, a second place finish in such a closely fought race should only raise the punters’ interest in this young colt.
3. Cormorant
Cormorant was widely considered to be the top runner in this race. And as the horses headed into the final stretch, things seemed to be working with him sitting pretty in first. But that didn’t last for long and Cormorant could not complete his hat trick on Sunday. Regardless of that, he did manage to impress with his staying power in the race, ending it in third with a time of 1:22:674.
