Another Ace creates major upset claim Osaka Consulate Trophy
D.W. Aluthgamage, the Honorary Consul of Sri Lanka Honorary Consulate in Osaka, presenting the Osaka Consulate Trophy to the winning combination of Another Ace with RTC officials and special guests in presence
The third raceday of the RTC VisitSriLanka Horseracing Season 2023 ended with enthralling outcomes as Another Ace, the 11-year-old mare owned by Hasanga Jayaratne, created the grandest upset to outpace firm favourites Mauritania and Legendary Princess to win the main race of the day.
All who gathered at the Racecourse in Nuwara Eliya predicted a thrilling finish between Mauritania and Legendary Princess, but out from nowhere came Another Ace with jockey P.S. Kaviraj up, to create a spoiler and win the main race of the day, The Osaka Consulate Trophy, the Terms Race of 1800m for horses rated 60 and above.
The finish was never expected as it was Meheran who took the early lead, and by the halfway marker, as expected Mauritania and Legendary Princess got into their usual attacking mode. Up until the final straight the expected finish was visible, until out of nowhere Another Ace took the lead and maintained it for the next 400metres and complete the win. With that, Kaviraj recorded his second win in three runs on Another Ace, trained by S.V. Mathialagan and owned by Hasanga Jayaratne.
Legendary Princess, ridden by L. Ravi Kumar, trained by S.D. Mahesh and owned by Mrs. Dagmar Woehrl, finished second, while Mauritania, ridden by C. Umesh, trained by S.D. Mahesh and owned by the Edwards Stables, completed at third.
In the opening event of the day, despite the threat that was evident from the rest of the field, local jockey L. Ravi Kumar kept his nerve intact to steer Cosmic Feeling to a thrilling win against Queen’s Hall and Crack Of Dawn and claim the Blackpool Hotel Cup in the 1600m race for Class II horses rated 40 to 65.
Jockey L. Ravi Kumar, thus, bettered his win tally, completing his fourth of the season, out of eight runs, which includes a second and a third, and managed to beat Indian jockeys P.S. Kaviraj and C. Umesh after a thrilling run.
Half-a-length behind Cosmic Feeling, Queen’s Hall finished at second as Crack Of Dawn finished third.
In the second event, Street Cat, ridden by Indian jockey P.S. Kaviraj, made a sudden acceleration in the final straight, to outpace the charging Godsword, to win The Masters Cup, the 1400m race for Class III horses rated 20 to 45.
Godsword finished close behind at second, while Krabi finished at third.
Fancy Face, ridden by M. Isahan, trained by L.M. Prasanna Niroshan and owned by Mr. Naveen Madawa and Mr. Sanjaya Kimarasinghe, won the Japan-Sri Lanka Friendship Cup, the race for 3/4 bred horses with a distance of 1000metres.
Malee finished close behind at second while Special Fighter finished third.