Silk Cut (Diffident – Sensuality) owned by Dr Tarita Shankar & Mr Chetak Wakalkar rep Sahaan Infrastructure (I) Pvt Ltd and trained by Bezan Chenoy warded off the challenge thrown by Zakynthos to win the Tattersalls Classic Trial Million in a convincing fashion. Jockey Ladjadj Stephane showed remarkable presence of mind as he was quick to realise that none of his three rivals were eager to hit the front and Lake Geneva who was in the lead by default, was held, reluctant to make a genuine pace. Ladjadj took the split second decision on the spur of the moment and galloped ahead to make his own pace. Zakynthos did not wait too long and soon settled behind Silk Cut, with Lake Geneva and Suryaveer following about two lengths behind.

The race picked up momentum when Silk Cut led them into the straight. Ladjadj Stephane got vigorous on his mount and started to surge forward. Zakynthos soon started to bridge the gap and fought hard to get almost alongside Silk Cut. Lake Geneva and Suryaveer, by then, had thrown in the towel. Silk Cut and Zakynthos fought it out briefly before Stephane’s guile and Silk Cut’s experience saw them home by a just a length. Zakynthos ran a bit green and wouldn’t quicken when he had to. However, the runner-up ought to improve from here and Zakynthos is to be recalled in Mumbai.

River Blitz (Ikhtyar – Eubee) justified the strong support to romp home to a convincing victory. Racing alongside Class Apart, River Blitz bided his time and Moon Flower did all the initial running along with Highland Bounty. In his keenness to get to the front on straightening up, Class Apart tried to go between Moon Flower and Highland Bounty, but the gap narrowed and Class Apart was jilted for a stride or two, a shock that could have shaken her. River Blitz seized his opportunity and quickly shot ahead and bolted away from the rest. Moon Flower held on to the runner up berth.

Trainer Narendra Lagad, fondly referred to as Naren, made up for a sudden dip in his current winning streak by sending out a whopping four winners. He had the maximum number of horses running on the day and had at least one runner in ten out of twelve races slated for the day. However, success came as late as the 6th race for Naren.

Full Throttle (Binkhaldoun – By Queen) overcame a sluggish start and then true to her name, accelerated tremendously to surface from an improbable position to hit the wire in a tight finish involving the more fancied Mischevious Z. Bonny Light and Tomorrows Dreams guided the field homeward and they were closely huddled at the curve. Full Throttle improved steadily past the 800 and Trevor was patient with the mare even as she took the widest.

Bonny Light kept going but the ones with her were falling apart. Fiery Fortune, Tomorrows Dreams and Adventurer fell back as Mischevious Z started to make her presence felt. Full Throttle picked up momentum midway up the straight and in the final furlong, travelled the best. Mishevious Z put up stiff resistance and went down fighting by a narrow ‘head’ margin. Bonny Light did well to keep the third spot another ¾ length away.

Naren scored in the very next race again with Flying Kiss (Major Impact –Kiss of Luck). This one was a typical Naren trademark win - Flying Kiss, literally ‘flying’ out of the gates and signally the ‘kiss’ of death to her rivals. She set off at a brisk pace and jockey Rajendra keeping her ready for the final run. Once into the straight, Flying Kiss bounded forward and made them all run. Tapococha who chased her all the while, could not raise his tempo. Adams Vision showed some zest but Flying Kiss stormed ahead to post an impressive victory.

Afsoon (Glory of Dancer – Glowing Sands) then outpaced favourite Ishpingo to bag the upper division of the Party Whip Trophy. Ishpingo disappointed for the second time and worse, he was tardy at the start. Dashrath Singh brushed him up to get into the bunch and he settled in fourth behind leader Brave Vision, Afsoon and Oluchi were right up behind the leader. Brave Vision folded up without a fight soon on turning for home. Afsoon was quick to seize her opportunity and darted into the lead working up good speed. Ishpingo set about chasing down Afsoon. Ishpingo started to drift out slightly under pressure and although Dashrath did correct him he could not get enough to beat Afsoon. Afsoon stubbornly held her ground and prevailed narrowly.

Queen’s Kiss (King’s Best – Your Welcome) provided an awesome fourth taste of success to the Lagad stables, picking up the last race of the day. Queen’s Kiss came through from the outside and ploughed through the opposition with a tremendous burst of speed. Sylvinia had barely led them home and was about to quicken when apprentice Shrikath produced Queen’s Kiss from the wider outside. Once she got going, it was the end for the rest. Queen’s Kiss completed a overwhelmingly successful day for Naren’s yard.

Another budding ‘pro’ enjoyed the best day of his career and that was young apprentice jockey Kavraj Singh. The lad had a fantastic treble with some lesser fancied horses. His first victory for the day came astride C’est La Vie (Senure – Miss Potter) and Kavraj really earned this one.

Emerging Star was sent on a start to finish mission. He led for the major part of the race and seemed to be going well even on entering the straight. Enchanted, Golden Spurs, Al Zamarud who were all in close vicinity looked spent and that was making Emerging Star look on course to victory. C’est La Vie then got into top gear and soon started to devour ground. Suddenly Emerging Star looked gettable and Kavraj opened his shoulders and went all out in chase. He caught up with the favourite in the final furlong and shot ahead to win comfortably. Golden Spurs did well to end in the money.

Kavraj then partnered the frequent runner-up Jen’s Glory (Placerville – Difficult Doll). Jen’s Glory who had found one better in each of her four outings this season finally played the bride accounting for a listless favourite Sledgehammer. Taking to the lead from the outset, Jen’s Glory courageously set a true pace and had things under control, getting into a smooth rhythm. Sheriff, who also prefers a run up in front, settled into second. Sledgehammer stuck to the third, while Reinstate who suffered a slight slow start, raced in the rear. On turning for home, Jen’s Glory showed a lot more steam and accelerated nicely to build a handy lead. Sledgehammer came under pressure and Rajendra didn’t seem to get much out of him. Reinstate surfaced from the rear and started to cut the distance at a remarkable rate. Sheriff refused to get cowed down and hung on to the second spot. Jen’s Glory who has been knocking on the door for a while now, got that bit extra and shoved her way to mark an impressive win to sign off successfully.

Scintillo (Glory of Dancer – Tilkreet) scored a facile victory and won without a spot of bother. Hitting the front soon on start, Scintillo sped away to build a handy lead. On turning for home, Scintillo quickened and stole a march on his rivals. He maintained a healthy distance from the rest and looked the winner long way from home. Lady Black Star returned a tame second without making any impact on the winner. Daredevil came from some distance behind to snatch the place money denying Blue Daffodils that honour. That brought about a fine lucrative treble for young Kavraj Singh and this catapulted him to winning the Apprentice Jockey Championship piping Shrikath Kamble to the title.

Heiress (Placerville – Ramada) finally dished out a solid performance and ran true to expectations this time. The highly rated filly had had her fitness issues and had run below par in her only outing before this one. However, young trainer Ms Nazak Chenoy seemed to have found the right potion which had Heiress in poetic motion in the straight. Cashing Crowned Princess into the straight, Heiress did not wait too long to make her bid and once she got alongside Crowned Princess she propelled her way to a resounding victory leaving her rivals far behind. Star Builder moved well in the final furlong to narrow down the margin of victory just ahead of Gatravat who too did well to earn place money.

Ariane (Brave Hunter – Badedra) grabbed her last chance this season and made it count. The markets were favouring Home Alone and Star Prince. Ariane was not exactly ignored in the betting, but was offered at nourishing odds. Tell Me More led the field and close behind were Home Alone and Ariane. Star Prince ran poorly and raised no hope at any stage. Ariane grabbed the lead approaching the distance post and travelled well to look a winner long before the wire. Great White stretched out far too late and had to be content with the next best spot. Grant Park raised a spark midway up the straight, but did not reproduce his last impressive run, hence was pushed to the third slot.

Hermann (Behrens – Accentuate) created a flutter in the day’s opening race and that trend was contagious as only three firm favourites obliged in a dozen-race card. Shooting smoothly into hte lead past the 800, Hermann won in top fashion stretching out majestically to win with ridiculous ease. He was travelling extremely well at the bend and simply spanked the opposition with a powerful victory, providing jockey RK Mahesh his first success this season. The favourite Golden Kingdom ended a tame second ahead of Arabian Pride and Insite Soul.

For the professionals, trainer Narendra Lagad was easily the star of the day sending out four winners while Faisal Abbas scored a high-return double. Apprentice Kavraj Singh had a great day with three to his name and jockey Ladjadj Stephane returned with a double.