Alexi for Villoo Poonawalla Indian 2000 Guineas

Alexi, the Pesi Shroff-trained three-year-old, who went down to Juliette and Sultan Suleiman in last start, may not be overly fancied for the feature event of Sunady, the Villoo Poonawalla Indian 2000 Guineas (Gr 1), especially as Sultan Suleiman is also in the fray.

However, after charting the video of his losing run I have reason to believe that Alexi's undoing was because of the extremely fast fraction (5.44 sec for 100m) he cut between the the 400m & 300m markers, after himself setting up a rather fast pace. A change in strategy, like sitting in mid-bunch not too far away from the leader, can completely transform both his performance and fortunes.

I therefore intend to give Alexi another chance to redeem his reputation by winning the second Classic of the Mahalaxmi campaign from the formidable Sultan Suleiman trained by Altaf Hussain.

The ones who will lock horns with Alexi (Trevor Patel up) and Sultan Suleiman (A Sandesh up) appear to be Knight Templar (David Allan up), Wizard Of Odds (L Roche up) & Trouvaille (N Mackay up).

First race at 2 pm.
Selections:

Satinello Trophy (For 3y, class IV; 1000m)
Hidden Gold 1, Del Mar 2, Blazing Bay 3.

P M Rungta Golden Sprint Stakes (Class III; 1200m)
Headway 1, Castilian 2, En Sabah Nur 3.

Gulamhusein Essaji Trophy (Class IV; 1600m)
Galloping Goldmine 1, Dumas 2, Elation 3.

Ranjit V Bhat Memorial Gold Trophy (Class I; 1600m)
Roberta 1, Pure Zinc 2, Flying Visit 3.

Faiz Jasdanwalla Trophy (For 2y, maidens; 1200m)
Rising Sun 1, Birkin Blower 2, Taimur 3.
(Highlighted box starts here)

The 6th race
The Villoo Poonawalla Indian 2000 Guineas - Gr 1
For 3-year-old Indian horses
Time: 4.30 pm, Distance: 1600m.

1. Alexi (P Shroff) P. Trevor 10;
2. Kildare (SK Sunderji) David Egan 7;
3. Knight Templar (S Padmanabhan) D Allan 8;
4. Malwa (S Attaollahi) P S Chouhan 2;
5. Mystic Bay (M Narredu) N Evans 9;
6. Royal Crystal (A Mangalorkar) Suraj Narredu 1;
7. Sultan Suleiman (Altaf Hussain) A Sandesh 3;
8. Trouvaille (S K Sunderji) N Mackay 6;
9. Victorious Sermon (V Gaikwad) C O'Donoghue 5;
10. Wizard Of Stocks (P Shroff) L Roche 4.
Selections: Alexi 1, Sultan Suleiman 2, Knight Templar 3.

(Highlighted box ends here)

Simply Noble Trophy (For 4y&o, class V; 1200m)
Royal Ace 1, Highland Woods 2, Antarctica 3.

Recommendations
Best bet: Roberta (4-2)
Upsets: Peerless (1-11), Goshawk (3-1), Exotique (5-9) & Majestical (7-3)

Today's pools
Super jackpot pool: 2,3,4,5,6,7
Jackpot pool: 3,4,5,6,7
Treble pool: 5,6,7
Tanala pool: All races.

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