But Rajendra, as seen in the past few weeks this season, surprised the market forces. He did atop Shower of Roses (Major Impact-Lovely Fantasy) what was considered improbable till the last furlong or so. He subdued the C. D. Katrak schooled juvenile Royal Crown, entrusted to jockey Imran Shaikh who is not exactly known for his exceptional riding skills. The prime motive of Royal Crown's connections to avail the services of Imran was to secure better odds. They succeeded in beating the bookies at the odds but Royal Crown found the task of countering his rivals a daunting one.

True to the script written for him, Royal Crown embarked on a start-to-finish mission. He seemed to be coasting home when the field entered the home stretch but his fate looked ominous the moment Imran pulled out his whip. Royal Crown shortened his strides allowing Rajendra to gain the upper hand without raising any sweat astride Shower of Roses. Ptolemy was always in chase of Royal Crown though without causing him any real anxiety. He dragged Malcolm Kharadi to end on the haunches of Royal Crown.

Rajendra was soon to meet the same fate as Imran. The highly-fancied Thundering Tan was tamed by Karthik Ganapathy saddled and B. Prakash steered filly Present Glory (Diffident-Persepolis). Trainer Sandeep Mangalorkar got Thundering Tan tuned such that the owners could taste their maiden success. But Thundering Tan let them down badly. He proved no match for Present Glory when Prakash urged her for a response. Second favourite Indian Quest kissed his chances goodbye at the start by veering out. He did well to finish fourth behind Aquadisiac on the board. King of the Ring's saddle slipped which explains his lacklustre performance.

Rajendra's misery was unabated. He was outsmarted by novice A. M. Tograllu in the PRA Independence Trophy. Tograllu, jockey T. Mahesh's son, took Vinayak trained Gaea (Placerville-Zuni) on a successful wire-to-wire mission over the mile-and-a-quarter trip. Vinayak's decision to put the whipless jockey atop the tail-swishing Gaea paid off as the filly was really kind to the young jockey and stretched out when ridden out plain hand and heels by Tograllu. Gaea, who dislikes the whip being used on her, found the winning post coming to her rescue as Rajendra had to overcome quite a few hurdles before Aqua Glow made his bid. Master Planner and Xian figured on the frame but far behind the first two horses.

Vinayak began the day on a successful note when Malcolm Kharadi drove Fredericia (Sahm-Make Over) to a convincing win over Johnny Bravo and Destined Prince. Fredericia had to wage another battle to keep the race as Destined Prince's rider lodged a protest against both him and Johnny Bravo. Destined Prince had the consolation of being promoted after the Stewards upheld Nirmal Jodha's objection against Johnny Bravo and relegated him to the third spot.

Tograllu was seen in full flow at the end of the day when he inspired Arti Doctor's ward Hoofbeats (Diffident-Thunderous) to a victory which took a long time coming. Narendra Lagad's candidate Festive Light got less than expected support in the betting ring if only to give a hint of the fate that awaited her in the race. She hit the front as expected but faded out without much ado. Mantovani tried to wrest the advantage but Hoofbeats' surge left him licking the wounds for the second time in succession. Nectar Jewel ran a game third and a bracket should not be too far off for this Shiraz Sunderji protege.

Art of War (Diffident-Storm Dancer) finished on with a flourish towards the end of the six-furlong journey in the hands of Anil Baandal to shock the favourite duo Consuela and Pacemaker, who were involved in a keen tussle till then.

Baandal was later involved with the victory of Don Gama (Don Micheletto-Fascinating Lady), who proved that his previous success was not a flash-in-the-pan and provided his master a well-earned treble. The five-year-old gelding put in another sustained effort in the final stages of the race to mow down Rivaaz and the rest. Favourite Raudo ran another dismal race after being prominent till the fag end of the race. Oprah ended a close fourth after being edged out by Master Craft at the post.

Peoria (Tirol-Canadian Fame) ran true to form and easily tackled leader Win For Me in the Liberty Belle Trophy. The Saeed Shah schooled bay filly received confident support in the saddle from T. S. Jodha when she was engaged in a fierce battle for supremacy initially with Strathendrick and then Win For Me. Spiritual Hymn came from nowhere to prevent Stunning Star from coming into the money.