Overconfidence is a chronic debility that forms an integral part of jockey Richard Hughes’ profile. A recurring bout of this ailment took toll of the bred-in-purple Starsky who was making his debut in the Nora Plate. Brought in-foal to Zaya and sired by Selkirk, Starsky was kept too far off in the seven-furlong trip by the Irish jockey. Pesi Shroff astride Affability knew that the only chance he had to win this race was in catching Hughes off-guard. So, when the heads turned for home, he took flight with Affability and built a leeway that was to prove his cushion when Starsky started devouring ground with each stride. But even with the brilliance of Starsky, Hughes could not bridge the gap and ended up vanquished by the narrowest of margins.

The earlier two races were also decided in close finishes. A battle royal was witnessed in the curtain raiser with Raring To Go and True Thriller going stride for stride in the final two furlongs. The fortunes swayed with each stride as C. Rajendra atop Raring To Go played cool when Mark Gallagher joined the issue with True Thriller. At one stage it looked as though True Thriller would go surging clear and although he had the upper hand for a while, the son of Mulhollande out of Shortning Bread was reluctant to overtake the leader. Raring To Go then played his bit in responding with a gallant run when asked the question by Rajendra. The judges failed to separate the two horses and the photo-finish camera came into play. The verdict went in favour of Raring To Go with his whisker doing the damage for True Thriller. There shouldn’t be any harm if Hormuz Antia decides to experiment with the use of blinkers on True Thriller. 

Trainer Cooji Katrak cornered all the limelight during the day with Sanaga winning the Kr. Ramkrishan Singh Trophy and Queenscliff taking the Y. M. Chaudhary Memorial Million, the plum event of the day which is now upgraded to a Grade III event. The fillies were turned out well by Katrak and both the winners got inspired rides by jockeys B. Prakash and M. Narredu. Prakash, though surprised initially to find himself in the lead on Sanaga, showed remarkable poise in setting his own sweet pace for the 2400m journey. The sturdy daughter of Alnasr Alwasheek out of Regency Gold strode well in the straight to thwart the bid of Pesi Shroff-ridden favourite Great Pasha. Knoxville was fighting for his head for almost half the journey and then there was nothing left in him when the race took a serious turn. 

Having caught a tartar in Wild Eagle, Queenscliff came back with a bang to humble Noble Opinion, the challenger from Bangalore, and Iceberg. Stablemate Calpurnia did the spadework for Queenscliff as Mallesh settled the speedy daughter of Tick Tock by Razeen. The bay filly showed an amazing turn of foot when Narredu cajoled her and the race was all over bar the shouting. Noble Opinion just managed to wrest the runners-up berth from Iceberg.

With two exploring runs in terms races for three-year-old horses, Imtiaz Sait had Anagram all braced up for a battle with Class II horses. Running at the bottom of the scale, Anagram raised no sweat when jockey Aslam Kader had her in command a little over a furlong away for home. Ocean Breeze, Sunny Sez and Cristina were left fighting for the crumbs.

Old habits die hard. So it was hardly surprising to see trainer S. S. Shah grabbing two winners by what can be termed as shrewd placement and some hard regiment. But that in RWITC’s  testament means - improved performance. The veteran was fined for the survival run of Amorous Warrior against Amber Eyes and Vengeance. Earlier Quick Decision ran well to win a 2000m race in the hands of apprentice Aadesh Kumar. There was some support for V. Khanna-groomed Valid Appeal but he ended a tame second and is reported to have returned home lame.

Showing vast improvement over his last essay, Heaven Sent from Nina M. Lalwani’s small string, scored a stunning upset in the hands of Mansoor Khan. Bonjour Tristesse ran like a dud to finish a good five lengths behind the winner. Champagne Gold raised a fluent a gallop this time out on his way to a facile victory over Royal Secret and Golden Dynasty. Starafar flattered to deceive by calling the shots early in the race but gave in meekly to the onslaught of Champagne Gold. A resolute run produced by Come Prima, the new induction in trainer Nosher Cama’s camp, saw the start to finish mission of Pot Magic come to a naught close home. Go Dancing was again out for an airing while Great Magician ran a purposeful third.