For the second consecutive afternoon, a heavy downpour left the track on the soft side, which may not have suited some of the favourites. Further, connections of prize youngsters would be unwilling to risk their wards under such conditions, which is quite understandable.

The main event, The Sweet Senorita Trophy, saw Arbroath (Hurricane State – Integral) make mincemeat of his rivals. The sprinter was travelling so well from the word ‘go’ that the Bharath Singh ward could be spotted a winner at the half-way mark. Shailesh Shinde enjoyed an armchair ride while Christopher Alford on Born To Fly had to go flat out to occupy the runner-up berth. The other runners never appeared to be in with a chance.

The afternoon commenced on a bright note for the Javed Khan stable. Ocean Dancer was the public choice from David’s yard but he may have found the trip too sharp for his liking. Scorsese led the field till the straight before Sugar N Salt (Don Micheletto-Speedy) shot ahead. Though challenged by the favourite, Mark stayed ahead of his closest rival by using the stick freely. Suavemente did find a gap along the rails but could not match the other two.

Trainer Bath and his patron Sol Noah enjoyed a wonderful afternoon in the rain. They notched up a clever high-priced double – both winners being ridden by able apprentice Shezad Khan. Their first was Glorious Invention (Glory Of Dancer-Inventive) who made the Night Jar Handicap a start to finish affair. Must Be Magic chased him all the way while the surprise favourite Impressive Wish was anything but impressive, though he did finish third.

Bath’s second winner was Queen Vic (Mr Mellon-Essex) in the Green Sari Handicap. The favourite Whistling Strait was taken to the front early in the seven-furlong race but she was anything but comfortable. She received a couple of cracks at the half-way mark as Queen Vic came alongside but to no effect. Queen Vic was travelling extremely well and quite easily managed to stave off the challenge of Autocrat.

Melody Belle was the ante-post favourite for the Mountain Lily Handicap and considered as a ‘good thing’ by several knowledgeable racegoers. However, there were two factors which proved to be deterrents for the shrewd punters. One was the fact that she was running after a very long lay-off and the other being that whether such a highly rated filly would be tried flat out under such poor underfoot condition.

Bharath Singh-trained Secret Reward (Alnasr Alwasheek-Queen Of Swords) was backed down to favouritism and he ran like a champion. Quentin Derward called the shots till the distance post before calling it a day. Mahesh on the ultimate winner faced no problem at all as he won from the fast moving Stormica. C. Alford on Melody Belle was content to sit in the rear, which was probably the wisest thing to do under the circumstances.

The curtain came down with Christopher Alford giving his backers something to cheer about. The filly Secret Visit (China Visit-Secret Garden) made light work of her top-weight as she won as she liked. The Darius Byramji ward seemed to relish the middle distance and more will be heard of her.