Nucleus gave Jadhav the turnaround he was desperately looking at the end of August and Attention Seeker followed up by scoring on Saturday. But the real icing on his cake was provided by Strawberry Fields (Placerville-Baroque Pearl) who latched on to the opportunity provided by Pampered Princess in the final stages of the richly endowed Panchshil Million. 

Pramod Belose ridden Pampered Princess went straight down to business in this six-furlong sprint for maidens and looked to be coasting to a runaway victory before veering out in the last furlong. Things didn't look rosy for Strawberry Fields at the bend but the wayward Pampered Princess opened a window of opportunity which jockey P. S. Chouhan grabbed with both hands, wasting no time in driving her with renewed vigour. Strawberry Fields got stronger at the finish to delay Hymn's success as a stallion in India. Roman Beauty ran an impressive third and so did Dream Destiny, Schubert and Lago Medio, who ran close behind. Dream Destiny gave repeated her previous performance by splashing on to the scene late.

Pampered Princess was not the only horse that failed to keep a straight course and lose a certain race in the bargain. Striking Out, also from Magansingh Jodha's yard, earned this dubious honour at the start of the day.

Digressing from this issue for a moment, it would be pertinent to note that money did a lot of talking in the success of the other winners in Sunday's card which included a few who caused a flutter by the amount that came pouring on them. Without implying that the horses in question did not deserve to win, it must be said that the horses that tasted defeat could have done better. Striking Out was one of them.

The filly was backed down from 5 to 4 against to less than even money and it was being presumed by many that it would be a one-horse race. But there existed some who thought otherwise. They made their presence felt in the bookie's ring only minutes before the proceedings began. The odds of Nina Lalvani-trained filly Charlize (Diffident-La Louviere) were battered beyond comprehension from 9 to 2 against to 18 to 10. All of a sudden the prospects of Striking Out looked bleak and spurred bookmakers to generously offer 75/100 for the Dashrath Singh piloted filly to finish in one-two. Taking these incidents into account it becomes hard to digest the fact that Striking Out did not have the ability to perform better. The discernable apathy in the efforts of the other runners and their riders is evident from runner-up Imola's sudden improvement in form. 

Immediately in the next race, it was Sangramsingh Joshi's ward Return Of The King (Bee's Prospector-Amorous Dancer) who accentuated the bookmakers' misery and also the serious students of form. The winner was knocking at the doors of success but on comparing his last two runs with the solitary run of Narendra Lagad saddled Interlaken, the latter seemed to hold the advantage. If horses are not machines then smart operators are also not fools. One thing is certain: they don't back the wrong horse.

True to the expectations, Return Of The King, aided by Malcolm Kharadi in the saddle, stamped his authority on the field and drew away after taking charge from Cape Merino close home. Interlaken on his part did not cause any bother to either Return Of The King or his supporters and finished fourth behind Blazing Arrow. Had trainer Jayantilal engaged somebody more enterprising than R. Rupesh atop Blazing Arrow, the result might have been different.

The support for Mothers Son (Inner City-Bittersweet) had taken a long time coming and he too was spot on for the punters. The drift in the odds against O What A Babe had a story to tell of its own though there were few who cared to listen. Mothers Son eventually overshadowed the favourite but not before C. Rajendra raised some false hopes on the mare sent out by Imtiaz Sait.

Rajendra was however his original self when he ably partnered the dark bay gelding Skywards (Storm Trooper-Indrayani) for a comfortable win in the Jaidev Plate. The recent migrant to Sait's stables was pestered for a while by Sail Away but the even-money favourite shrugged it off easily.

Faisal Abbas trained Yess Boss (Alnasr Alwasheek-Thanksgiving) made it two in a row but unlike his previous run K. P. G. Appu was happy to race in the mid-bunch and let Oscar Star do the front-running. Charging Rhino and Sixty Seconds' late flourish didn't make any difference to the final outcome. Love And Be Loved suffered quite a bit of interference and should be better off with this experience. No one could put a finger on the reasons behind the poor show of both Get Fresh and Convenience but the writing was on the wall if it had to do anything with the poor response they got in the betting arena.

Gruezi (Royal Kingdom-Sarmatara) proved too good for Acceptance and Sonic Boom in the concluding race. There was a cause for concern when Neeraj Rawal ridden grey filly got pocketed towards the inner rails but she got the opening at the right moment and flew towards the wire to open the account for trainer Nosher Cama, who was brought back for his second innings by breeder-owner Shyam Ruia.