Foreign Connection — the darling of the moneybags on Saturday, lost all his chances in the gates itself when he reared up as the start for the Mangal Plate was given. Owned by Haresh Mehta and trained by Veteran Raza Ali, Foreign Connection had the services of Niall McCullagh and was a rage in the betting ring. Unfortunately for both the punters and McCullagh alike, Foreign Connection was fractious inside the stalls. A few moments earlier too he had reared up and just when he gave an impression that he had calmed down, Foreign Connection once again stood on his hind legs which coincided with the opening of the gates.

Dendrobrium and Golden Tiger disputed the issue in the early stages of the race but were upstaged by the winning flourish of Millenium Star. Some hard riding by jockey P. Belose enabled the Magansingh Jodha ward gain his maiden career success. Foreign Connection gradually caught up with the field but could only finish a distant third behind Golden Tiger.

As jockey S. N. Chavan could not fulfill his assignment astride Zehera; Amyn Merchant was commissioned to guide the even-money favourite. The maiden four-year-old progeny of Alnasr Alwasheek was badly placed in the early part as second favourite Moira shot into the lead. The Narendra Lagad-saddled filly ridden by C. Rajendra had all but upset the applecart of Zehera. But it is to the credit of young Amyn Merchant who kept his cool and bridged the gap by giving admirable support in the saddle to Zehera. The Robert D’Mellow-groomed filly shocked Moira in virtually her last stride.

Earlier in the day, Exhilarating was another filly to have shed her maiden status. With ante post favourite Software Lady (late Silverita) opting out of the fray, That’s Momentum carried the burden of the public’s purse without raising hopes of a victory at any stage of the race for his followers. The doors were then left wide open for Exhilarating to reach her goal. Given her head by in-form jockey B. Prakash after turning for home and the bay daughter of Jacinta showed tremendous acceleration and galloped away to glory. It took some hard labour in the final stages for White Lie to fetch her the second place. 

River God, another piping-hot favourite to run during the day, made a winning debut in the Red Flannel Plate. Jockey Mark Gallagher settled the chestnut son of Razeen out of Ideas and Trends, saddled by Shiraz Sunderji, nicely behind Reaching Out and Crown Affair. As the field came into the view for the final run in, River God was brushed up to take charge and the race was all over bar the shouting. Crown Affair occupied the second berth ahead of Blue Clues. 

Her failure to oblige twice on the all-weather track was enough to put the punters off Fantasy’s trail. Despite the harsh penalty of 10kg incurred by Snow Star she was in much demand again. The price on Fantasy took a tumbling as their was sustained betting on the Dr M. A. M. Ramaswamy-owned filly. Taking no chances on Fantasy, jockey B. Prakash hit the front and stayed put to counter the fierce challenge of Snow Star in the closing stages. The got-abroad filly from the yards of Dallas Todywalla spared half-a-length to the favourite with Dancing Dreams coming wide into the straight and finishing a close third.