Veteran Bezan Chenoy and jockey Y. S. Srinath were associated in a profitable double through Agha (Glory of Dancer-Anusha) and Fraud (Sizzling Melody-Danseuse) although Winkle Twinkle failed to provide the proverbial icing on the cake in the concluding event. Srinath’s energetic drive astride Agha helped the three-year-old gelding in graduating from the maiden ranks after Red Amytheist threatened to pull off an upset start-to-finish victory. The Cooji Katrak trained runner-up bowled along merrily in front and Srinath really had to pull out all stops on Agha to stall Red Amytheist’s victory bid. Top-weighted Fraud too was required to be hard ridden as Serendipity, Peronda and Rushing River pestered him close home.
The winning post came to the rescue of the Dallas Todywalla nursed filly Eagle Sky (Inner City-Eagle Wind) as she just lasted out to win the first division of the M. D. Mehta Trophy from Desert Sunrise. The debutant from Imtiaz Sait’s yard took time to get into her stride but she did scare the wits out of B. Prakash astride Eagle Sky. Last’n Impression was relegated to the fourth slot by Marquisa, who found her rhythm late and while doing so her tail appeared to be swishing at a faster pace than her stride. Desert Sunrise can make amends if she makes an appearance before the end of the season.
The Kolse siblings, Nana and Sanjay Kolse, led in a winner apiece. The four-year-old filly Romantic Ridge (Pennine Ridge-Kalariya) succeeded for the first time this season as apprentice Neeraj Rawal thrust Sanjay’s ward through a narrow gap between Well Versed and Magic Nobility. Neeraj was badly hemmed up as Magic Nobility ranged along side to chase Well Versed who had nearly stolen a march in the final stretch. Neeraj even lost his whip at that stage to make matters worse for himself. Undaunted by this setback, Neeraj kept his cool and drove Romantic Ridge with some purpose. The young lad’s efforts didn’t go waste as the filly caught hold of Well Versed in the last few strides. Nana’s winner came through the unfancied Game of Power (Diffident-Grand It Is), who won warding off the late threat posed by Khushnaseeb. Reap The Bounty retired after leading all the way with Akash wresting the third berth from him.
The brother-sister duo of Robert D’Mellow and Irene Patel also had their share of glory. Like Nana, Robert too was provided an opportunity to lead in a winner by a totally unfancied Keytothevaults, who despite tiring out in the end stages of the seven-furlong journey held on by a whisker from the late finishing Love And Joy. Ocean of Angels, who was making his first appearance this season, was out for an airing and finished a noteworthy fourth behind Tarascon. Favourite Brave Victor ran far below par and the drift in the odds against him couldn’t have been a coincidence. Though long in the tooth, the Amyn Merchant-ridden eight-year-old Momentous Mover (Broto-Sarmatara) went wire to wire over the gruelling mile-and-a-half journey and saw to it that Winkle Twinkle remained a maiden. Master Zahir (Steinbeck-Green Medina), who is as old as Momentous Mover, was ridden by A. J. Nilesh as he earned his second bracket of the season after keeping Queen’s Special and Absolute Dominance at bay.
