Persian Lily (Duja – Persian conquest) trained by Rehanullah Khan produced a late flourish to spoil Blue Sky’s party and emerge victorious in the Director General of Police Trophy, the feature of the day. What was awe-inspiring about this victory was the fact that in this wide open sprint race, Persian Lily was lying last of the bunch, with only Star Zone behind her, while entering the homestretch.

It was a huddle and then a scramble once they entered the straight. Rein In Spain, Super Hero, Emerging Star, and Palazzo Grazioli. Albuurz and Blue Sky were close enough for their jockeys to swap saddles if they so wanted. In a sudden surge, Blue sky shot ahead and even shaped like a winner, with less than a furlong to go. 

Blue Sky was at least a length clear of those behind her and was going at full clip. Palazzo Grazioli got a little cramped for space, Super Hero dropped out of contention and neither Emerging Star nor Rein In Spain were making any headway.

Persian Lily quickened passing the distance post and appeared on the scene with a blinding gallop. She was too fast in the final fifty for Blue Sky to handle and Persian Lily stood out amongst the set to pull off a sensational victory. Blue Sky was dazed but not disgraced in defeat and ran a worthy runner up. Palazzo Grazioli ran on third. Super Hero disappointed.

Clinton (Razeen – Veena’s Pet) showed no sign of either any rustiness or a setback as he made his reappearance on the race track a memorable one. Clinton made light of the heavy weight he was carrying (60.5 kilos) and Zervan did all the right things to carve out a fashionable victory.

Cougar led for most of the way with Prince Brijendra in close attendance and these two entered the straight together. Clinton, who was all along following them on the rails, shot through soon on turning for home and looked a clear winner long way from home.  He accelerated extremely well and won in a convincing manner. Free For All toiled behind but could never catch up. Clinton looks good to add to his success in the current season.

Frost Fairy did everything right and got down to her original tactics of going for it start to finish, only to lose the plot and the very fag end of the mile and half race. She led all the way until well into the final furlong. Thunder Strike (Inhabitant – Lending prospect) began to gain at that stage and his final charge under the strong and able handling of Richard Hughes was just about enough to land the spoils. Richard did well to conserve Thunder Strike even as Frost Fairy surged ahead in the straight. At the final hurdle, Thunder Strike had that much more to put it across the tiring Frost Fairy to win in a battle of wits.

Star Goddess (Alnasr Alwasheek - Palazzio) showed a clean pair of heels and announced that she is no match for this set of rivals and was far too superior. She was on the tail of Nanina who led them into the straight. As Nanina labored to keep her lead, Star goddess moved alongside still on a tight rein. When Richard asked her to go, Star goddess moved attractively and sped away from them all adding more ground with every stride. She outclassed them all and won unchallenged with absolute ease. Blau Himmel put in a spirited run towards the finish to grab the runner up berth from Nanina.

Celtic Manor (Razeen – Ladybank) called Lord of Killarney’s bluff and after systematically sizing him up, produced a forceful final surge to get past the long time leader in the last fifty. Lord Of Killarney had shot to the front soon on start and by the time they turned for home, had worked up a sizable lead. Celtic Manor, trained by Ms Nazak Chenoy, followed the leader all the way and began to inch closer past the distance post. In the final surge to the post, Celtic Manor progressed rapidly to seal the issue meters from the winning post. Arabian Star ran on to earn place money just ahead of Peregrine Falcon.  

Macho Uno (Juniper – Universal Star) sizzled yet again and this time his victory was well earned. He came from behind and his final finish was absolutely commendable. He was hampered for room on straightening up, as Towering High and River Dragon were at each other. Always Smile, the prime favourite then got into top gear and began to gain on the fighting duo. Fantastic was along with them and also making slight headway. Apprentice MA Roushan, showed pleasing maturity, as he astutely switched Macho Uno outward and then made a go for it. The Dr Anil Kumar trainee got the signal and bounded forward firing on all cylinder and timed his assault to a nicety, just managing to pip always Smile on the post. Fantastic ran a good third. Ran Banka broke a blood vessel.

Malesh Narredu’s Rose Bowl Steinbeck – Roses In the Snow) obliged a large following and the little drift in the odds towards starting time only added to the anxiety. Solar Angel and Ptolemy were the other two well-backed horses in the fray. While Solar Angel failed to raise any hopes, Ptolemy stretched out in front and easily got past Pound Foolish who had just taken charge. The pair had Arabian champ also putting in a run in between them. Rose Bowl, who was racing closer to the rear end of the field, quickened well and past the distance post started to devour ground at a brisk pace.

Ptolemy, by then had got into vantage position and it looked a task to overhaul Ptolemy with the winning post in sight. Jockey DK Ashish set alight Rose Bowl and the Malesh ward charged forward to peg back Ptolemy just in time to snatch victory on the last stride.  

Justerini (Hymn – Romodia) upset all calculations and stubbornly held on all the way despite drifting out alarmingly in the latter half of the homestretch. Hitting the front soon on start, Justerini cashed in on the early initiative and held the late challengers at bay. Dancing Money came closest to Justerini but the latter kicked on to hold on by a length. Dancing Money did well, but lacked the killer instinct to make it count. Sweaty Betty did extremely well to run into place money as she had to cover a lot of ground to make that cut.

Jockey Richard Hughes was the lone professional to score a double.