Royal Ascot 2011- Bapak Chinta wins Norfolk Stakes under Phillip Makin, Kevin Ryan trainer
Run over a distance of 5 furlongs, Group 2 Norfolk Stakes was the first race of day three of the Royal Ascot 2011, open to two-year-old thoroughbreds.
This year’s competitors included 3/1 favourite, Bapak Chinta, Silverheels, Burwaaz, Everyday Dave, Bannock, Pyman's Theory, Crown Dependency and Boomerang Bob. The race was eventually won by Bapak Chinta with 20/1 Boomerang Bob, and, 8/1 Crown Dependency,
finishing second and third respectively.
Speightstown’s son, Bapak Chinta started off strongly but faced a challenge from his bridle at two furlongs, but quickly overcame them. At the final furlong Boomerang Bob posed a threat to Bapak Chinta, but was left behind as Bapak Chinta got ahead of him
again.
However, John Hill’s Boomerang Bob put up a good fight too, finishing clearly ahead of Crown Dependency. Richard Hannon’s Crown Dependency was outpaced in the beginning but soon his pace quickened. He tried to get ahead of the others at the two furlong pole
but could not manage to do so.
He was followed by Burwaaz, who finished fourth and was the best runner on the stands side rail. Heavy showers earlier in the day made the race difficult for those on the near side.
Signifer started poorly with a weak pace and ended up finishing fifth. He was followed closely by Bannock, who ran a decent race, and, finished in sixth place. Pyman's Theory and Sans Loi started off well but soon slowed down, while Silverheels gave a consistently
poor performance.
This is jockey Phillip Makin’s first Royal Ascot victory. After the victory he said:
"I've always had a lot of faith in this horse…I've never sat on a two-year-old as sharp as him. We gave him a blow with an older horse the other day and he was so impressive”.
John Hills seemed satisfied with runner up Boomerang Bob’s performance too and said they were considering participation in Prix Robert-Papin in the future. He also said, "He's a lovely little horse and he's twice the price (20-1) he should have been”.
Richard Hannon said about Crown Dependency, "He got bumped in the race and it could have cost him”.
Keeping this performance as well as Bapak Chinta’s previous victory over Windsor Castle winner Frederick Engels at Hamilton, it looks like Bapak Chinta might have much more to offer in the future.
Trainer Kevin Ryan confesses that the rain shook his confidence a little but Bapak Chinta makes everything look easy. He futher said that Bapak Chinta’s attitude made him a joy to train.
Future prospects include July Stakes and Gimcrack but for now one can only hope that Bapak Chinta’s consistently good performances continue to bring laurels for Trainer Kevin Ryan and owner T A Rahman.
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