An identical case was witnessed in the Black Swan Plate when Hormuz Antia saddled Sword of Power (Conquering Hero-Fairway Goddess) carried the public purse to victory. Since his maiden success exactly a year ago, a protective shield was woven around Sword of Power in his subsequent four runs. It was only the power of money that helped in unveiling the “Sword of Power” who was steered to a trouble free win by P. S. Chouhan with Princeway, Star Divine and Hard Rock completing the judges’ frame. Queen Adler called the early shots but got squeezed out from the fray towards the end as such the filly well-bred filly should not be lingering in the maiden ranks for long.
There was a flurry of activity seen at the counters in favour of Cocaine (Warrshan-Always Elite) in the Cassandra Plate. The Hosidar Daji saddled mare got a hassle-free ride from Ravi Birmane as
she sprinted away to victory from the word go. Twin Power and Disastrous ran on to place second and third. Danger In Sight never showed any inclination and looked to be out for an airing for one more time this season.
The decision to claim the 5kg allowance of apprentice L. Prashant on Charlie Parker (Tecorno-Badedra) turned out to be a master-stroke from trainer Robert D’Mellow. A winner in his previous appearance, Charlie Parker came with a flourishing run when cajoled by Prashant and overhauled the on-money favourite Zahra close home. Roofer ran an encouraging third. Cooji Katrak nursed Seaport (Diffident-Iquique) ran true to form as Malesh Narredu piloted her to a comfortable victory over No Time, Realism and Trainership, who finished way behind the winner.
At the end of the day, Montana registered an encore to help Vikram Walkar achieve a brace of winners. The resident of Don Surti’s barns went streaking clear of his rivals as the gates opened and kept going to add to the frustration of favourite Convenience who found his moorings late and in the end was beaten by the post as the proverbial whisker separated him from Montana. The favourite had earlier suffered inconvenience caused by Feet So Fast and See No Evil as the start was given.
