Dancing Image set the
pace and gave way when threatened by favourite Ocean of Angels as they
approached the turn for home. Ocean of Angels was looming large on the outside when he suddenly wobbled in his stride followed by a stumble. Ocean of Angels faded away from contention rapidly. Hormuz Antia’s ward
suffered a sesamoid fracture, one of the costliest endured by the punters.
Racing in the same colours as Ocean of Angels, Red Amytheist (Alnasr Alwasheek–L’lle Mysterieuse), gave no anxious moments to her followers in the Sense of Humour Plate.
The full sister to Ocean of Angels, saddled by Antia, went streaking into the lead as the gates opened and P.S.Chouhan had no difficulty in keeping her on course to victory. Band of Gold made a valiant
but vain attempt to collar the favourite in the closing stages. Thief of the Knight ran on leisurely to figure on the
judge's board.
The two Frenchmen, Samuel Fargeat and his close buddy Cyrille Stefan, had a profitable day in the saddle.
Stefan started his day by helping the erratic Whyem (Sir Bruce–Romantic Moments)
find the winner’s enclosure. The Arti Doctor trained mare behaved well at the gates for a change and was rewarded with
long overdue success. Force Nine took over the running from Jonty Rhodes when half the journey was through but ran out of fuel in the straight allowing Whyem a smooth passage. Chirayu tried to throw in some thrill in the finish but Whyem was in no mood to capitulate.
Stefan later assisted Nina Lalvani saddled Baryshnikhov (Duja–Flattery) to victory in the upper division of the K.J.K.Irani Plate. Cyrille had to wage a fierce battle with Vikram Walkar ridden Nucleus, who had stolen a march at the top of the home stretch and appeared to be coasting for an overdue win. Golden Key ended third ahead of
Upstage, who languished in the rear for most of the journey.
Fargeatl took second favourite Morpheus (Metal Precieux–Crepe de Chine) on a wire-to-wire mission and accomplished it easily in the end. Favourite Zroom with C. Rajendra in saddle tried to intimidate the winner opposite the stands but Morpheus stretched out to frustrate Zroom. Scarsdale found her rhythm far too late to cause any bother to the winner and the runner-up.
A similar effort astride Queen Adler (Greensmith – Classic Line), the favourite sent out by Altaf Hussain, gave
Fargeat his second winner of the day. The five-year-old bay mare raced close to the inner rails after a smart jump from the gates and was never troubled by her rivals. Body And Soul took the second spot ahead of Silver Shine and True Beauty.
Dallas Todywalla saddled Star Queen (Major Impact–Zelka) made a winning debut in the Dubinushka Plate with a smashing victory. The bay filly came out smartly from the wide draw to grab the lead and stayed
there over the scurry with C. Rajendra in saddle.
The aged Taras Bulba (Portroe–Argyll), carrying nothing but feather-weight rookie Dashrath Singh on his back, gave trainer Jayantilal Gor his first winner of the season. Taras Bulba snatched the lead well before the bend and the weight difference proved to be crucial as the favourite duo, Second To Go and Perfect Peace, tried
without success to close the gap on him. Although tiring out towards the fag end of the mile trip, the winner had enough power to last out till the winning post and was a length ahead of Second To Go, who was inconvenienced by the extra burden of 15kg she was expected to concede to the winner.
