Alcazaba and Captain Haddock gave the stable a double
Deepthika Jayakody Stables did what has to be done to turn their disappointments of the previous outing into glories as Alcazaba and Captain Haddock gave the stable a double win at the RTC Governor's Cup Horse Racing Meet held at the Racecourse in Nuwara Eliya yesterday. In addition trainer S.P.A. Raju enjoyed a rare success of four wins in seven races which included the wins of the HNB Grameen Cup, Queen's Cup, Governor's Cup and the Hoghway and Higer Education Ministry Cup.
After been slightly edged out by Hasanga Jayaratne's Meheran in the RTC Magic Million Cup a fortnight ago, Alcazaba made a brilliant comeback to regain its winning momentum by claiming the 1600metre race, ran under Terms, and win the coveted RTC Governor's Cup for the first time. The race belonged to Santos, ridden by L. Dayalan, from the start almost right to the end but A. Vishwanath challenged on Charlemagne in the final 300metre stretch. The battle was between Charlemagne and Santos for the next 150 metres but the inevitable occurred right before the winning post. Alcazaba and Silver Streak, both owned by Jayakody and run by Y.S. Srinath and Irvan Singh respectively snatched the first and second paces out of nowhere to leave Charlemagne at third and push Santos further back of the bunch.
Earlier on in the Queen's Cup, another race run on Terms, on a 2000 metre distance, Jayakody enjoyed her first win after Irvan
Race 1: HNB Grameen Cup 1070m Class 5
1: Krabi (M. Mohanraj/Dhanawardene Guruge) 2: Agusta (S. Selvaratnam/Mr and Mrs Gamini Jayaratne)
Blazing Berry (L. Ravi Kumar/David Anthony)
Race 2: The Blackpool Hotel Cup 1070m Class 4
Vigorous (S. Punithraj/Ajantha de Soyza) Stormont (Y.S. Srinath/Mr and Mrs Rienzie Edwards) Singh rode Captain Haddock in the race where the RTC Magic Million Cup winner Meheran dominated almost one third of the race. But Singh took matters to the hand in Torpedo (A. Vishwanath/Anura Delgoda)
Race 3: Hi Magazine Cup 1400m Class5
Stormy Petrel (L. Ravi Kumar/Anjali Stables) Honourious (S. Pradeep/Fearless Stables) Waiting for Glory (S. Suganthan/Hasanga Jayaratne)
Race 4: Queen's Cup 2000m Terms
Captain Haddock (Irvan Singh/Deepthika Jayakody)
Celestial Fire (A. Vishwanath/Anura the final quarter to put Captain Haddock in the front as Celestial Fire, ridden by A. Vishwanath took the second place pushing Meheran to third. Delgoda)
Meheran (Deep Shanker/Hasanga Jayaratne)
Race 5: RTC Governor's Cup 1600m Terms
Alcazaba (Y.S. Srinath/Deepthika Jayakody) Silver Streak (Irvan Singh/Deepthika Jayakody) 3: Charlemagne (A. Vishwanath/Anjali Stables)
Race 6: Highway and Higher Education Ministry Cup 1400m
Y.S. Srinath rode Glittering to the wining post in the Highway and Higher Education Ministry Cup ahead of Spirited Touch and Icelandic. The Hi Magazine Cup was won by Stormy Petrel ridden by L. Ravi Kumar as Honourious and Waiting for Glory finished behind at second and third.
Vigorous was steered by S. Punithraj to victory ahead of Stormont and Torpedo in the Blackpool Hotel Cup while M. Mohanraj took Krabi ahead of Agusta and Blazing Berry in the HNB Grameen Cup. Eye Touch, ridden by A. Dilan won the Lankadeepa Challenge Trophy comfortably over Misty Queen and Flash. L. Dayalan was awarded the Best Local Jockey award and S.V. Mathialagan won the Best Trainer's award in the April Holiday Horseracing Season conducted by the Royal Turf Club.
Class 3
Glittering (Y.S. Srinath/Mr and Mrs Rienzie Edwards) Spirited Touch (C. Alford/Fearless Stables) Icelandic (S. Suganthan/Hasanga Jayaratne)
Race 7: Lankadeepa Challenge Trophy 1000m 1/2 Bred
Eye Touch (A. Dilan/Balachandran) Misty Queen (M. Mohanraj/S.V. Mathialagan)
Flash (L. Logendran/Shivakumar)