It was an unusual day at the Mahalaxmi racecourse where lesser successful professionals and horses dominated on the turf. If the start was any indicator, the trend continued through the day. Jayantilal scoring his first winner in a long time. Antia working magic with maiden McQueen and the wagering spoke volumes of this trainer’s confidence. He scored again at the fag end of the day on yet another heavily backed favourite. Then you had two other maidens tasting their first success – Tysea and Wild Imagination.

Nirad Karanjawala chipped in to pull off an upset with Set Afire shocking Ocean Admiral on the post. Mansoor Shah sent out his second winner with Grand Warrior, who was well supported too. The day was not lacklustre though, with quite a few races ending in close finishes. Wild Torronaado (Juniper – Crystal girl) produced his best and despite giving weight to his rivals scored a hard fought victory surging past the favourite, Swept Away. Sepia Tone hit the front soon on start and Swept Away showed eagerness to tag alone. Wild Torronaado was right behind these two. Silver Soul stumbled during the early part of the race and both the jockey and the gelding were fortunate to return unharmed.

As they turned for home, the trio was almost abreast and was charging into the homestretch. Sepia Tone rallied on but was fighting a losing battle. Swept Away poked through the middle to take a slender lead. Wild Torronaado loomed large on his outside and the duo pulled away from the rest past the distance post. Kiss Away, who also found a little support towards the race time did not justify the wagering and never was in the hunt. The final furlong saw a stiff fight between Swept Away and Wild Torronaado. The Dallas Todywalla-trainee managed to hold a slight upper hand right through to the winning post carving out a narrow victory. Kiss Away ran to end third. The day surely belonged to trainer Hormuz Antia. The way his horses were fancied showed a lot of guts and conviction on the part of the trainer.

McQueen had no past record to show and had run off the frame in most of his previous engagements. Yet he was confident and the odds confirmed the fact since McQueen (China Visit – Oiseau de Guerre) was backed further down from evens to on money. McQueen darted to the front and maintained a handy lead all through. Once in the straight, jockey Imran Chisty waited a while before getting him to go. McQueen responded well and never looked in danger. Those who backed him were thrilled at the manner of victory as there was not a bit of anxiety at any given time. If there ever was a successful coup, this was it.

What is amazing is that McQueen had been a poor performer right from the start. He was fancied more than once but had disappointed on every occasion. Antia has again made a definite statement by getting him racing fit and guiding the gelding to his first ever victory. To top it, he even had the gumption to stake strong claims before the race, generating volumes of wagering on a past non-winner! Due accolades should be expressed for this vastly underrated trainer. Antia’s Rising Glory (Black Cash – Serious Trouble) was another one who was backed with overflowing confidence. This one too was an authoritative victory.

Marigold was the front-runner and Rising Glory chased her closely until into the straight. The other fancied runner in the race was Rehan’s The Rebel. All of eight years in age, The Rebel was too far back coming into the straight to make any impact on Rising Glory. But the old-timer once again proved his calibre and ran a good second. Rising Glory had Marigold to tackle in the straight, but into the final furlong, despite shifting out and being a bit erratic, Rising Glory finally notched up a two-length plus victory landing another fruitful coup for the Antia camp.

Antia nearly pulled off a treble had not his charge Mystic Temple been overwhelmed by the sudden effective surge that Tysea came up with. As they turned for home, there was a scramble for vantage position as Geisha began to weaken, Emerald Queen shot to the front, Again Gallop was on the outside and Fascination started to show some speed. Mystic Temple was behind horses and was looking for any possible opening. He got a slight gap and shot through it to challenge Fascination. At about 200, Tysea accelerated with a tremendous gallop and shot past the fighting duo to easily out run them all. Mystic Temple tried hard to make a fight of it, but Tysea’s final burst was too hot to handle. Fascination ended third. Marudhara Ratan ran a decent fourth and it may prove fruitful to keep an eye on him in a longer distance. (Emerald Cat – Sheen Falls) Star Blaze was not alert at the gates and lost a distance at the start.

Rodrigo (Sinndar – Dance In The Stars) saw the odds drift on him and Lightening Cavalry received solid support at race time. However, the Jayantilal Gor ward fought it out in the straight to ward off a menacing challenge from Lightening Cavalry. Femenist ran away to a huge lead but that came to a naught before the turn itself as Rodrigo pushed himself to take charge early in the straight. Monk’s Ferrari tried to match strides but soon faded away. Lightening Cavalry made steady progress in the latter half of the straight, but could never bring that bit extra to get past Rodrigo. Rodrigo kept the momentum going and prevailed by a narrow margin at the wire. Elizabeth (Glory of Dancer – Queenscliff) won unperturbed as expected. Running a close fourth until they turned for home, Elizabeth caught up with Ocean Wish and simply stormed past.

Ashwa Paarth and Highland Flame, who had led them homewards, simply couldn’t match up to her brilliance. Ocean Wish struggled to keep pace with the Shroff ward and ended a tame second. Elizabeth was pushed in the last part but was never once whipped. Wild imagination (Diffident – Cyclonic) charged readily to the front soon on start and set about his task at a brisk pace. Towering High was next up with Nuncio. As they straightened for home, Wild Imagination quickened further and soon was sailing further away from her rivals. Rajendra was confidently pushing her and there seemed no threat in sight. Towering High, who was chasing the winner, ended doing so finishing just ahead of Wells Fargo. Nuncio completed the frame. Set Afire (Captain Rio – Bawader) pulled off the day’s biggest upset in the day’s closest finish. Ocean Admiral and Showstopper were in front with Set Afire close behind. As they turned for home, Showstopper bowed out and Ocean Admiral looked set to dominate. He led by a couple of lengths approaching the distance post but soon Set Afire lit up and started to gain ground.

Ocean Admiral kept going, but Set Afire was not letting him get too far. Set Afire was a bit erratic too but Mulrennan just managed to get the best out of her when it mattered and in a brilliant finish, just managed to pip the favourite on the post. Grand Warrior (Tirol – Her Highness) made it to the top after a tough fight and Suraj was at his best, timing his run to a nicety. Arabian Champ came in home first and had a handy lead but lost the plot in midway up the straight. Daffodils charged ahead with a forceful run, but soon found a dual challenge coming from Grand Warrior and Marine Zone. Suraj produced Grand Warrior past Daffodils and managed to stay ahead of Marine Zone to win by a neck. It must be said that Marine Zone ran a very good race considering he was slowly off and came from a long way back to just go down narrowly. For the professionals, trainer Hormuz Antia saddled a double as did jockeys Imran Chisty and P Trevor.