It was a day with a right blend of excitement and responsible gestures. The nine races slated for the day threw up some surprise elements, a couple of successful come-backs, a gritty debut and finally a redemption-run in the last race. In a responsible gesture, the RWITC created a platform for a donation drive, encouraging the entire racing fraternity to raise funds for the Cancer Society of India. The day also hosted the first ever indiarace.com Trophy, which saw the main three contenders finish on closely.

The day however, belonged to one Mr Pesi Shroff. His jockey, the rapidly improving young lad S Zervan, displayed some forceful riding skills partnering two of Shroff’s horses to win the two big trophy events of the day – the AC Ardeshir Trophy (Gr3) and the Indiarace.com trophy.  Shroff also added the concluding event of the day, thus striking with three out of the four possible victories he could have notched up.

Onassis (Glory of Dancer – Rahy’s Serenade) finally came out of the shadows of his arch rivals and this time forced a terrific win after a gripping fight with Ciel Indienne. Macchupicchu went for it right from the start setting up a true pace for the mile race. Ciel Indienne was quick to position himself close behind the leader. Onassis travelled next on the inside rails and had Su Chaliyo for company. Ocean And Beyond was towards the rails closer to the rear with only Beautiful Stranger and Rajasthan Royals following him.

The battle began in the latter half of the straight.  Macchupicchu was in charge when they turned the final bend and seemed to be going well. Soon Ciel Indienne started to apply pressure and Macchupicchu was struggling to keep up. Native Knight made a brief call but could not advance much. Ocean And Beyond was switched out just when Zervan put Onassis in top gear. Before Ocean And Beyond could muster up some speed, Onassis pounced on the fighting duo of Macchupicchu and Ciel Indienne. Ciel Indienne could get the better of Macchupicchu, but Onassis flew towards the winning post and although jockey Anthony Crastus gave it his best shot astride Ciel Indienne, he could not thwart the final brilliance of Onassis. Onassis finished on with a spirited gallop and snatched victory in the last couple of strides.

“This was a remarkable performance from Onassis and although we were expecting his to run well, he thrilled us with this power-packed victory. He is a game horse, and has always run well in elite company. I won’t say this has not come as a surprise, but it surely is a pleasant one,” said owner, Mr Vijay Shirke.      

Ocean And Beyond disappointed yet again and this time the reasoning points to coming out a wee bit late from the inner rails. There was a bit of crowding as they steered for home and by the time Ocean And Beyond wriggled out, Onassis was away in a flash from right next to him. That sudden blaze seemed to have caught Ocean And Beyond unawares and he could never catch up. Ocean and Beyond however, should some spark to end a good third. So, one cannot really write him off, not just yet.

The Indiarace.com Trophy was won by another Shroff student who was making a first appearance. Portia (Bertolini – Pescara) partnered by Zervan was sent on a successful start to finish mission. Zervan, as he revealed in a recent TV interview, is a strict disciplinarian and a hard working young pro. With Pesi Shroff as his mentor, he could not have asked for a better tutor. He has evolved as a jockey and is blessed with both, talent and presence of mind, so necessary to possess, in his chosen sport.  He was quick to take advantage of the innermost draw as he flew out of the gates and then ensured that the others on his outside did not cover him on the rails. This held him in good stead and as they turned for home, Portia had a clear advantage over the rest.

Zervan did not use up Portia and nurtured her into a fine rhythm and did not disappoint her when she herself volunteered to quicken. Past the 400, Zervan niggled Portia ahead and they quickly shot ahead of Your Lordship and Fajr. Soon Winter Wind started to make headway under some strong riding from Martin Dwyer. Portia had stolen a march and Zervan was keeping her going. In the final furlong, Winter Wind started to bridge the two-length gap and from nowhere Bizarro sprang into the fray. However, the clever ploy by Zervan of surging ahead just at the right juncture held him in good stead and Portia won the indiarace.com trophy from Bizarro who was lightening fast at the finish. Winter Wind managed the third spot. Bizarro was the one who might rue a missed chance, but surely looked good for his next outing.

For us at Indiarace, it was a significant day sponsoring a race for juveniles, most of whom were taking their first major step of their racing careers. Mr Zeyn Mirza Managing Director of URBB, under whom Indiarace operates, was present at the podium along with Mr Vivek Jain and Mr Zaveri. As the representative of Indiarace, I too slipped to one corner of the presentation podium to be a part of the ceremony. Mr Ashok Rajani, Chief Co-ordinator of Indiarace presented the trophy to Mr Vijay Shirke and Mr Berjis Desai owners of Portia. The moment was captured on camera and a copy will be added to my memorabilia for sure.  

Pesi Shroff ended the day on a winning note this time with Dr Vijay Mallya owned Scarlet Pimpernel (Hold That Tiger – Margarita Rita) giving jockey Anthony Crastus his first taste of victory on the Mahalaxmi track. He had earlier missed that honour atop Ciel Indienne, but he made up for it amply astride Scarlet Pimpernel with a powerful finishing turn of foot to get past hot favourite Ocean Tern in the final furlong. Scarlet Pimpernel left Ocean Tern panting as she stretched away majestically to pull off an impressive victory sparing just under three lengths to Ocean Tern. Destined to Glory who was detached last before the turn, beat the rest to earn place money.

Trainer Imtiaz Sait too had a good day saddling two winners in Cypress Point and Venus Rosewater.

Cypress Point (Out of Place – Dixiana Sky) with Rajendra in the saddle carried 61 kilos and played the waiting game to the hilt and was amply rewarded for the strategy. Radical Mackie stepped up on his early lead and tore away from the bunch with intentions of catching the others unawares. The ploy seemed to work well up to the latter half of the straight, only apprentice jockey Roushan failed to keep a straight course.  

Radical Mackie built a handy lead of over 5 lengths coming into the straight. Equiano positioned himself in the fourth position close behind Let it Fly and Sparkler. Cypress Point was content in the rear with only Twittillator behind her.

Radical Mackie squandered a potent lead by shifting out to the outer half of the homestretch and soon Equiano started to bridge the gap along the rails. Rajendra lit up Cypress Point and soon they joined the fight for supremacy. The forceful Rajendra managed to wrest the advantage past the stands and managed to stay ahead at the wire by ¾ lengths. Money For Nothing completed the frame.

Venus Rosewater (Senure – Zealous Cat) did not relish the shorter Pune track or so she implied as she put in a sustained gallop late in the straight to score a narrow victory to claim the Plastindia ace of Hope Gold Cup. It was a hat-trick of sorts as Venus Rosewater had won her last two races in Mumbai, so on the course, it could be so counted.

Albuurz shot into the early lead and was soon joined by Beyond Comparison. Silver screen was in the mid-bunch and the two main contenders, Venus Rosewater and Stardom Bound were racing in the rear. The race took a serious turn past the 400 when Stardom Bound made quick surge to the front and at the same juncture, Dashrath Singh too started to go for it astride Venus Rosewater. Silver Screen had to move out of a traffic jam and in doing so, lagged behind the two front line contenders. Both Stardom Bound and Venus Rosewater fought out the final furlong and Venus Rosewater, in the end, finished on more powerfully. Silver Screen finished on close on the heels of Stardom Bound and would have been keenly involved in the fight, but for that traffic glitch.

Trainer Narendra Lagad opened his account with his trademark bang sending out two long shots back to back. Arctic Minstrel (Mambo Minstrel – Cymbidium) accounted for hot favourite Pride of the Hills. Viva La Diva had stolen a march entering the straight and opened a huge gap. Pride of the Hills set about to chase and had Arctic Minstrel just behind. Both started to cut down the lead and caught up with Viva La Diva. A brief tussle followed between Arctic Minstrel and Pride of the Hills, however, Stephane Ladjadj drove Arctic Minstrel with purpose and held on by half a length. C’est La Vie came from a long way back to finish ahead of Viva La Diva to earn place money.

Flying Kiss (Major Impact – Kiss of Luck) won the Plastindia Race of Hope Salver with a late flourish from the wider out. It was a scramble right from the word go and as they entered the straight, Spirit of Mercy had a slender lead and soon King Julien made his presence felt. He took charge but his lead was short lived as Star Builder and Marudhara Ratan converged upon him but it was Flying Kiss who blew them out of contention with a sustained gallop to win by a length. Golden Memory ended fourth. Moon Farer, who was in the front as they straightened for home, despite a nasty check did well to finish one off the frame ahead of king Julien. Favourite Double Diamond did not raise any hope at any stage and finished in the rut.

Ran Banka (Case Law – Imperial Call) won end to end in his familiar style. He showed good early speed and jockey CS Jodha capitalised on the early lead to stretch out nicely all the way to the winning post. Coming into the straight will a handy lead, Ran Banka increased the tempo and started adding turf between self and his rivals. Tomorrows Dreams tried hard to stay in contention but was losing ground. Arabian Eagle warmed up slightly but couldn’t match the speed of Ran Banka and surrendered tamely to end just ahead of Tomorrows Dreams. None from the field behind made any impact on the top three.

Arabian Empire (Royal Kingdom – Cinora) put in a lively performance to clinch the day’s first race in an impressive fashion. It was not an ideal start for Arabian Empire as he jumped out awkwardly falling back on the early start. However, jockey TS Jodha was quick to recover and did not waste time in making up lost ground and was soon well in touch with the front runners. Arabian Empire shot into the lead soon past the 400 m mark and once ahead, showed tremendous acceleration to afford to ease up in the final fifty. Hickory finished on well to end a close second while Lady Black Star and Young Offender surfaced from the rear to take the remaining two slots in the frame.

The RWITC, keeping to its stance of being socially responsible for charitable causes chose the day to synergise a collection drive for the Cancer Society of India.  The Club’s initiative received encouraging response with the jockeys wearing their hearts on their sleeves and contributing 25% of the stakes earned through the entire day towards the cause. Mr Vivek Jain, the Chairman of the RWITC, led from the front, donating 25% of the winning stakes that his horse Venus Rosewater earned by winning the Plastindia Race of Hope Gold Cup.  Mr Ashwin Mehta, spontaneously announced that the Sporting league Racing Syndicate would donate Rs 10,000/- and trainer Imtiaz Sait too contributed Rs 25,000/- towards the fund. The staff of the RWITC too pulled in their might behind the initiative and collected Rs 8000/- from employees and added to the day’s collections. The RWITC presented a cheque for Rs one lac to the Society.

One felt lighter returning home after a great day’s racing punctuated by the ‘feel good’ factor of having done something for a noble cause after enjoying the high-octane activity on the race track.