The 'victory-stand' occupants of the McDowell Signature Indian Derby yet again proved that they formed the superior quartet on the racing circuit. The presence of the regional Derby winners in the line-up was scoffed at by the ‘major-four’ and none in the fray could even think of toppling them. The slots in the judge’s frame seemed ‘booked in advance’ and so it panned out. Moonlight Romance (China Visit – Wandering Star) underscored her superiority in no uncertain terms. In fact, she soared even higher, displaying tremendous guts and presence of mind in the face of adversity, when she encountered a hitch that could easily have led to a major accident.

Just before taking the curve between the 1200-metre marker and the 1000, Business Tycoon, the Hyderabad challenger nearly came down and veered violently outward. Ocean And Beyond and Moonlight Romance were not too far behind the Hyderabad Derby winner. Both, Neil McCullagh astride Ocean And Beyond and Richard Hughes atop Moonlight Romance were forced to take evasive action at a time when they were at the curve. Richard had to swerve Moonlight Romance out of harm’s way and the filly was jolted out her fine rhythm. It surely ought to have shocked the filly, but within a couple of strides, she regained her poise putting the incident behind her in a trice! All this happened within a blink of the eyelids.

This could have thrown many good horses totally off gear, but not Moonlight Romance! Moon Star played the role of the pacemaker to perfection. He executed his ‘drawing board’ strategy to the dot, escorted Moonlight Romance and Ocean And Beyond into the straight and retired having played his part well. Xisca was travelling along the rails closer to the rear end and had Sun Kingdom on her outside as an irritant. Macchupicchu was further behind and biding his time unlike what he did in the two previous assignments. The rest went through their motions. The excitement grew as they straightened up for the final run. Ocean And Beyond briefly led the charge to the winning post. Moonlight Romance was travelling sweetly on his outside. Richard Hughes has his inimitable style of exuding awesome confidence, keeping an exaggerated tight rein on his mount, that could well give the impression that he is travelling extremely well (much better than he probably is) to possibly have his rivals bite his bait and force them to err in judgement.

Whatever his ploy, Richard’s focus remained on the lush green spread of 400 meters ahead. He chose the right moment to hustle his filly and Moonlight Romance unleashed her best turn of foot to gain ascendancy. Xisca, this time, lit up earlier than her Derby effort and joined Moonlight Romance with about a furlong to go. Ocean And Beyond was squarely beaten. Macchupicchu could not raise the bar. It was apparent that the final furlong would provide a two-way fight between the “weaker gender". Moonlight Romance and Xisca battled hard and there was enough adrenalin flowing off the turf as well. The Grand Stands were vibrating with the impact of the crowd screaming, some jumping and punching the air.

Xisca was closing in and the winning post was in sight! Richard Hughes and Stephane Pasquier were at their fiery best. “It’s Moonlight Romance...” screamed Deepak Rajpal, who is in his 25th year as race commentator. Despite his vast experience, his voice was pitched too high in excitement and a massive chorus of thousands of voices echoed in sync “Moonlight Romance”! I even saw two mates doing the ‘chest bump’ a la Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathy on the lawns. Moonlight Romance seemed to be owned by many in the stands and not just Rakesh KumarWadhawan, Waryam Singh and Prem Tharani. The filly was an instant darling of the masses. She had achieved a rare feat. Three mile and half gruelling races inside six weeks is by any standards a massive achievement.

The HDIL Indian Oaks, the McDowell Signature Indian Derby and now the latest conquest, the HDIL Indian Turf Invitation Cup, all top grade-one races on the Mahalaxmi turf. Moonlight Romance truly had evolved to legendary heights. She is the best in the land and certainly one among the all-time greats too! “Moonlight Romance showed the tremendous talent she possesses. Honestly I thought my other horse Ocean And Beyond would do it. But I don’t mind being proven wrong. Moonlight Romance has endeared herself to me and kudos to her trainer Cooji Katrak for his unflinching courage and faith in the filly.

I thank my whole team who have done wonderfully well for this success,” commented Mr Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan at the podium. “I am extremely overjoyed at this marvellous feat. Moonlight Romance has delivered each time and for a filly to come out and win over such long trips each time, this is indeed a rare and magnificent feat,” said trainer CD Katrak. “I was confident that she would come up trumps. The incident (Business Tycoon breaking down past the 1200m) did shake me up a bit, but thankfully, Moonlight Romance wasn’t too distracted. That she went on regardless shows that she has superb temperament and I was pleased with her progress post the incident. It was a close fight in the end, but I always held the upper hand.

Xisca too ran a good race and provided lots to cheer for the enthusiasts. I have had a great season and I now return with pleasant memories. India is a great country and I love to do my bit here. I had a new job this year and I am glad that I could do justice and provide some positive results. It’s always good to go on a winning note,” concluded Richard. Young Mr Sunny Diwan did the presentation honours escorted by Mr Vivek Jain, Chairman RWITC and the Turf Authorities of India and the enthusiastic Mr Champaklal Zaveri. Mr Jain presented a memento to the sponsors on behalf of the Club while Mr Zaveri gave away a flower bouquet to Mr Wadhawan.