Highground, Social Butterfly and Cornucopia impress in Pune morning gallops

Highground, Social Butterfly and Cornucopia impressed when the horses were exercised at Pune on Tuesday (Sept. 22) morning.

The session featured timed works over a range of distances including 600m, 800m, 1000m, 1200m and 1400m, with gate practice noted on the inner sand. Mock races from September 20 were also recorded in the report alongside the regular morning gallops.

At 600m, Gunsmoke (S.J. Sunil) and Saffron Glow (Peter) posted 40 and finished level. In the 800m bracket Leo The Lion (J. Chinoy) recorded 55, 600/42 and was described as moving freely; Tonto (P. Dhebe) and Luna (D.A. Naik) did 57, 600/43 and were pair easy. Leading Light (Avinash) did 53, 600/40 and was slightly urged while Amelia Earhart (S. Kamble) produced 57, 600/43 and was easy.

Bezalel (N.B. Kuldeep) and Taaqath (S. Kamble) recorded 51, 600/38, moving neck and neck freely; Kaiser (Kaviraj) posted 55, 600/41 and was easy. Vermeer (Shekawat) and Jumanah (Dashrath) returned 52, 600/38, were urged and ended level; Saint Sizzle (rb) did 50, 600/38 and was urged in the last part. Alpine Star (Avinash) logged 53, 600/39 and was pressed, while Sussing (Pranil) posted 54, 600/39 and moved freely; Irish Gold (Gore) did 53, 600/40 and moved well.

In the 1000m works Caspian (N.B. Kuldeep) and Magical Star (Kaviraj) returned 1-9, 800/54, 600/40 and the pair moved together freely. Ange Raphael (Akram) and Sir Churchill (Santosh) produced 1-10, 800/54, 600/40 and moved level freely. Lumineer (Yash) and Star Dream (Peter) recorded 1-10, 800/54, 600/40 with the former finishing four lengths ahead; El Nino (S.J. Sunil) and Golden Gun (Yash) did 1-7, 800/52, 600/38 and moved level freely.

Cornucopia (Gore) and Whisper (Peter) posted 1-5, 800/49, 600/37 with the former moving well and finishing well clear. Enrich (Yash) returned 1-8, 800/53, 600/40 and worked well; Go Tonto (Pranil) did 1-9, 800/54, 600/40 and worked freely. Royal Champ (Ramswarup) and Wise Approach (app) recorded 1-5, 800/50, 600/38 with the former finishing a distance ahead, while Social Butterfly (Mosin) posted 1-5, 800/52, 600/40 and moved attractively.

Over longer distances The Olive Crown (Ajinkya) and Savage Peacock (Santosh) did 1-37, 1200/1-21, 1000/1-7, 800/52, 600/39 and moved neck and neck freely. Gate practice on the inner sand 1000m saw Highground (Siddharth) record 1-3, 800/49, 600/37 and respond well. Challenge Accepted (Santosh) produced 52, 600/39 at 800m and moved well; Wings Of Fury (Santosh) and Caviar Queen (Ramswarup) did 1-6, 800/52, 600/38, were urged and ended level. Time And Tide (Sandesh) posted 1-19, 1000/1-4, 800/51, 600/38 and was noted as moving impressively.

Mock races on September 20 included a 1200m contest in which Minimus (Ramswarup), Brahmastra (A Prakash), Crown Flame (A. Gaikwad) and Fantastica (app) ran 1-11, 600/38 with margins 3/4, 5-1/4 and Dist; Minimus, who was racing far behind last till the bend, came very well in the last part and beat the long time leader Brahmastra. A separate 1200m mock produced Starbuster (T.S. Jodha), Rise All Stars (Siddharth), Theodosius (N. Bhosale), Dancing Star (Avinash) and Angelo (Bhawani) 1-12, 600/36 with margins 3/4, Dist and Dist, and Starbuster won the race pillar to post.

Published - September 22, 2026 05:41 pm IST - Pune