There were no serious hitches during the long-drawn card of nine races though the general opinion was that the feature could have been a cup event as it injects a certain amount of glitz and glam into the day’s proceedings.

The Statue Of Liberty Handicap was bagged by Richard Alford-trained Raznandan who made every post a winning one. Jockey Imran Chisty cleverly controlled the pace of the 2000 metres race by reducing the first 600 metres to a crawl and thereafter pulling away from his rivals. The gelding by Razeen out of Athabasca is a long striding three-year-old and completely outpaced Danube Valley in the home stretch. Top-weight Lunar Quest ran on to occupy the runner-up berth.

Earlier Imran Chisty had piloted Alexander (Placerville-Sprungli) to an equally facile triumph in the Tanganyika Handicap. The property of Messrs. Gautam Sengupta and Chiranjit Basu was always well positioned behind pacemaker Mythos and gave no anxious moments to his followers. Despite the top-weight, Perseverance was a creditable second behind the Shafiq Khan ward. The latter too completed a double as he had earlier led in Regal Bearing (Inhabitant-Athinai) in the lower division of the Pentire Handicap. The winner was competently handled by top-weight jockey Imran Khan. After biding his time in mid-bunch till the half-way mark, Imran made his move at the top of the straight. Though he took the bend a little wide, his superior horse had no problem whatsoever in collaring the favourite Harness Free.

The upper division of the Pentire Handicap, which was also the opening event, saw Daniel David-trained Roman Centurion (Royal Gladiator-Temple Tune) produce a scintillating run in the straight to get the better of his rivals after losing quite a bit of ground at the start. There was a certain amount of apprehension among the superstitious punters, prior to the start of the race, that the favourite may not run at his best as David couldn’t make it to the racecourse. The trainer was involved in an accident close to the racecourse and got held up. However, the ‘Centurion’ and jockey B. Sreekanth proved them wrong with an excellent victory.

Shailesh Shinde rode an opportunistic race on Strauss (Placerville-Romantic Memories) to land the Academy Gold Handicap. But the talking point was the poor run of Asian Rocket. The assistant trainer to Darius Byramji and jockey Christopher Alford were questioned about the sudden change of tactics with this promising forward chestnut. They had no suitable explanation except for the fact that they were instructed to hold Asian Rocket in check before making his move in the straight. The enquiry is still on.

Christopher however did not let down his followers astride Araneda. This full sister to Rocket Ball (Gaswar-Alannah) won in a fairly mediocre set despite drifting off a straight course in the straight. Her closest rival Secret Don also drifted out but nevertheless ended up quite close to the winner. The rest of the field were never in it.

C.Alford completed a fine brace when he piloted Bluegrass to an effortless triumph in the Stringfellows Handicap. The odds of the property of Mr Harish Ramchandhani surprisingly expanded to 4/1 as money came poured in on the outstation favourite Ocean Fairy. The five-year-old by China Visit out of Blue Ridge won without being stretched.

With the benefit of a mock race trainer Habbu’s Inspiration (Imtiyaz-Indiscretion) got the better of Secret Gloss in the straight. By winning her maiden start is such a competent manner, she raises hopes of a bright future ahead. Unfortunately, the ante-post favourite Romantic Sunset burst her blood vessels after being well positioned early.

Arti Doctor’s Daddy Cool (Dark Nile-Everlastling Love) completed a brace for Shailesh Shinde. He went hell for from the word go and held on to the advantage from a fast finishing Arctic Force. The property of Mrs Menaka Gupta and Mr Rakesh Sahani thus ensured that punters went home in a happy frame of mind as Daddy Cool was backed down to on-money.