Volterra (Razeen – Averoff) from the Shroff yard, became yet another successful debutante to add to the string of juveniles that have made a winning debut from the stables. Volterra jumped out well and settled well up with the front-bunch, headed by Balaclava, Mountain fairy and Neath. Victoire took her time to get in sync at the start and ran detached from the field.

Balaclava brought the field into view, but was soon challenged by Neath pushing to take charge. Malcolm Kharadi then guided Volterra to switch path and the cracks that Malcolm inflicted spurred Volterra on. The filly sprinted ahead and looked the winner even as they hit the final-furlong mark. Volterra accelerated in a scintillating fashion and won easing up. This was a splendid performance considering it was her first turn out on the race track. The seven-furlong race as a first assignment and the manner of victory clearly showed that Volterra would relish the longer trip and this augurs well for the Shirke & Dhinjibhoy owned filly. Neath, another with a good reputation was easily accounted for despite Volterra lacking in experience vis a vis Neath. Balaclava too ran a good race to retain the place money after a decent start-to-finish easy.

The same camp’s Rebecca had earlier tasted her maiden victory over the shorter five-furlong scurry. Little Warrior was pretty quick to shoot into the lead soon as the gates flung open. He led the field all the way into the straight, with Greatness quickly moving behind the leader, followed by Fortuner, Stringsofmyheart and Mountain Wind bunched up together, Rebecca biding her time on the rails. Hills N Dales and Batyam were off slowly.

Little Warrior soon felt the pressure as Greatness started asking questions. Stringsofmyheart moved up on the rails, but wasn’t making much headway. Approaching the distance post, Rebecca (Byron – Reflectance) came with a sustained gallop in the hands of jockey B Prakash and once she appeared on the scene, the others looked pedestrian. Rebecca romped home with a lot to spare and was seen tearing away from her rivals. Greatness was completely overwhelmed and could only manage to take the runner-up spot. Little Warrior did well to end third and this looked a good lung-opener for another day.

Enlightenment (Razeen – Forest Treasure) yet again proved a money spinner for the Malesh Narredu’s stables. Most of Narredu’s winners have come from this gelding and Malesh would be the first to agree that he has now become the pride of his stables.

Tell Me More made the running with a crowd of horses tailing him. As they turned for home, Tell Me More looked spent, giving way to Guns N Roses who looked sharp and sailed into the lead. Enlightenment soon started to warm up as he shook off his owner mate Dictator to surge past a determined Guns N Roses to win comfortably. Forward Charge is now becoming notorious of making an appearance while all is over. He came with a strong finishing effort and snatched to place verdict from the clasp of Dictator.

The HDFC-Ergo Trophy sprang a surprise as the well-fancied trio of Belmont, Silver Birch and Astromia were completely floored by Dr MAM Ramaswamy’s Phoenix Force (Mull of Kintyre – Whispering Shadows). Astromia led the bunch homeward and was soon challenged by Belmont who slipped through the rails and in the process of moving outward, started to drift uncontrollably. Silver Birch had to quickly swerve and take the inside route. Meanwhile, Phoenix Force came from the wide outside with a fiery gallop to collar the drifting Belmont in the final fifty and surged past to score an upset victory. Belmont looked good when he started his final run but the outward drift proved fatal for him. Silver Birch too did well to end third a little over a length away. Days Best ran on from way behind to end in the frame. Astromia disappointed.

Westerlie (Sunday Doubt – Classic Stype) pulled off a comfortable victory as Prince Brijendra let down a large following. Settling in the front-bunch which had Red Sensation at the helm for the major part of the race, Westerlie took charge midway in the straight. Adventurer moved ahead places to try and challenge Westerlie but his effort was only good enough to earn him the runner-up berth. Celebrations covered a lot of ground and finished on well, but just failed to force his way in the money as Hymn Path made it to the wire with the bob of her head. Prince Brijendra flopped badly and even though he was in the fore-front when it mattered, he simply could not quicken and fell back considerably. Westerlie, on the day, was clearly superior.

Jockey C Rajendra had earlier in the day started off with an emphatic double, forcing victories in the day’s first two races. He played a decisive part in guiding Star of Gibraltar (Alnasr Alwasheek – Dancing Image) to a narrow victory and Rajendra had to be his forceful best when Bling enlivened the race in the final furlong.

Star of Gibraltar took charge soon on start and dictated his own pace. The others followed within three lengths and that’s the way they travelled all the way into the homestretch. Once into the straight, Star of Gibraltar and Bling left the seniors behind and midway up the straight, Bling started to gain of the favourite. Inside the final furlong, Bling got too close for comfort of Rajendra and the powerful rider, went all out, literally pushing his mount to go on to the wire. Star of Gibraltar obliged and Bling just failed in his valiant effort to topple the hot favourite.

Heavenly Prize (Concordial – Crystal girl) was a relatively easy ride for Rajendra but not without effort. Fallen Angel grabbed the initiative from Heavenly Prize early in the race and led them all into the homestretch. Heaven Prize though, was just one behind Fallen Angel and started to cover ground soon past the final 400 m mark. Fallen Angel resisted for a couple of strides, but it was clear that Heavenly Prize was travelling a lot better. Rajendra went for the kill in the final furlong and sailed comfortably ahead to post a maiden victory for Heavenly Prize. Nanina came up with a good finishing effort to peg back Fallen Angel to grab the runner-up berth.

Svelte Lady (Ikhtyar – Musical Pepper) raised the bar and got past Flying Star in the closing stages of the race in a gripping finish. Laurus Pride shot into the early lead and had Flying Star close behind, Classic Ruler and Svelte Lady came up next with Ocean Admiral with them. Laurus Pride brought the field homebound and soon Flying Star started to surge forward. Svelte Lady was right up there with the front bunch as was Classic Ruler. Flying Star shot ahead with 200 to go and shaped like a winner. Svelte Lady had other ideas as she quickened well to put in a sustained bid and collared Flying Star close home to win by a narrow margin. Classic Ruler just managed to hold on to the third place warding off Rose Bowl and Celestial Call.

For the professionals, trainer P Shroff and jockey C Rajendra scored a double each.