Hormuz Antia had the ignominy of saddling two unsuccessful favourites and then leading in an unfancied winner as if to rub salt into his own wounds and also the punters. In the first instance, See No Evil battled for survival against Feet So Fast and Diamond Princess but Rehanullah Khan’s charge All Or Nothing came with a dazzling run to bring their dispute to an abrupt halt. The winner, surprisingly, was allowed to keep the race after an enquiry was initiated at the behest of the stipes to look into the fall of jockey Rajeev Pandey astride Letsgetloud. After a brief deliberation, the Stewards ruled that apprentice Neeraj Rawal’s act of cutting across Letsgetloud was "careless" yet they were not inclined to disturb the judges’ placings. It remains unclear whether the Stewards considered that Letsgetloud had no chance of winning the race when the incident occurred. For, if Letsgetloud had any chance to win and Neeraj was indeed careless, then there was no legitimacy in allowing All Or Nothing to keep the race.
Imperial Thriller was the second major embarrassment for Antia and an expensive one for that matter. Although Imperial Thriller went down by a mere neck at the wire, the mare was outpaced all the way by Don Surti’s ward Maranello, who was ridden confidently by Vikram Walkar. Peronda, Super Sword, Yvresse, Atlantic Princess and Relish The Thought figured in the beaten brigade all right but their true potential is likely to be exploited during the forthcoming Mumbai season.
Antia’s cup of woes overflowed when Storm Ahead made every post of the seven-furlong journey a winning one in the hands of Anil Baandal. His stable-mate Strategic Moves was supposed to be the "fancied" one but the filly trailed the field hopelessly throughout. Strategic Moves was not the lone horse to have disappointed the students of form. Sixty Seconds, Fiery Future, Santarelle and favourite Revelry figured prominently in the list of dismal performers.
Like Strategic Moves, Storm Alert was expected to be the forerunner from among the three runners sent out by Narendra Lagad. However, it was the other two horses of Narendra that performed better. Out To Win and Turf Crown finished behind winner Cakravana, who recovered from a lethargic start to provide ex-jockey Mahroze Irani his first winner of the season.
Imtiaz Sait’s decision to use blinkers on his ward Highness paid off as C. Alford steered the filly to a narrow win over Campanero and barn-mate King of Hearts, who was just warming up when the race got over. Somewhat similar was the story of Ardmore who had the services of C. Alford in the last race of the season. The favourite came into the frame only when Star Gold had overwhelmed California in the closing stages.
Altaf Hussain-saddled Dancing Image lived up to the expectations when she showed a clean pair of heels to her rivals. Fairy Goddess finally tasted some overdue success as she pipped leader Imogene on the post.
