Imtiaz Sait’s Yuville (Placerville – Yutai) produced a scorching stretch-run to fox her rivals and score a resounding victory to clinch the Rustomji Byramji Trophy, the feature race on Saturday’s card. Yuville showed tremendous acceleration soon on turning for home and did not give even a semblance of a chance to any of her opponents. Banana Boy led the field early on and Satyamev Jayate accompanied him for a brief while at the helm. Yuville improved quickly to be in the fourth position just behind Mountain Song. Sebastian was sluggish and was losing pace right from the outset to lag behind considerably and took no serious part in the race. 

Soon on turning for home, Yuville gathered tremendous momentum and shot ahead building up a handy lead. Rajendra was strong in his pushing but didn’t need to go for the whalebone as just one strike was enough to drive her away from the rest. Rajendra eased Yuville up in sight of the winning post after he peered over his shoulders on either side to ensure he was home and dry. Octopaul, also from Imtiaz’s yard, showed glimpses of his Pune form and surfaced from the second last position to clinch the runner-up berth. Theology ended just ahead of This Ones For You in a close finish for the minor placing.

Quid Prio Quo (Royal Kingdom – Darsiyma) shot out of the gates with alacrity and made a good start count with a sustained gallop, outpacing three fellow debutantes and two other rivals. Jockey Neeraj Rawal had little to do as Quid Prio Quo stormed ahead dictating her own terms. Dancing Dolly stayed close behind the leader until the turn but couldn’t match the speed for too long. The others followed close behind with Monsieur Strauss tailing the field by about three lengths.

Once into the straight, Quid Prio Quo quickened further and looked majestic as she drew away from the rest to pile a decisive lead approaching the distance post. Bucharest improved in the final furlong and galloped well to claim the runner up berth, getting past Dancing Dolly and Pezzonovente in the straight. Ice Gate too gained position to end third.

Rising Power (Warrshan –Miss Rising) notched up his maiden success with a strong gate-to-post effort. He took command early and held on well to return victorious. Carpi the prime fancy was right behind at the turn. She squandered a genuine opportunity to score by drifting out in the straight. Memorable was unfortunately just on her outside, so had to shift out too making her task even tougher. Centrestage, who was not at her quickest at the gates, got a wide gap to move through and did well to run second - ending just a length behind the winner.

Trainer Magan Singh Jodha picked up both, the first and last races of the day with Captain Smart (Case Law – Afshaan) and Borderline (Hymn – Romodia).Captain Smart was quick as usual at the start and zipped ahead to lead comfortably working up a two-lenth-plus lead over favourite Aleutian Zone. The pair went at a good clip and the rest were simply not in the same zone as these two. Entering the straight, Captain Smart kicked on while the onus fell on Aleutian Zone to produce a winning effort. She tried hard with an all out effort. However, Captain Smart this time didn’t throw it away as he had done in his recent runs. He sustained the tempo all the way to win with a measure of comfort. Aleutian Zone returned second best while Ocean Treasure finished a far away third.

Borderline scored a hard fought victory as he encountered stiff resistance from Viva La Diva. Lake Leader led them into the straight and worked hard at staying in contention. Viva La Diva came up with a strong effort approaching the distance post and soon Borderline joined her on the outside. While Lake Leader bowed out of contention, Borderline and Viva La Diva sped ahead dashing towards the winning post. Borderline had a definite edge but Viva La Diva didn’t let him relax. In the end, Borderline scored a half-length victory. Destined To Glory improved towards the end to got past Lake Leader to earn place money.

Faisal Abbas was the other trainer along with Magan to saddle a lucrative double. His Bonny Light (Placerville – I’m a Nine Plus), all of nine years (possibly making her dam proud), created a flutter while beating top fancy Oriental Sapphire. Bonny Light sped past Oriental Sapphire soon on start and the two were well ahead of the rest as they turned for home.

Bonny Light maintained a handy lead once into the straight and was galloping courageously. Jockey Ashhad Asbar never loosened his stranglehold and drove Bonny Light who showed commendable zest. Oriental Sapphire wilted under pressure and it showed as she ran a trifle erratically. She made up some ground towards the end but never got close to beating the winner.

Houdini (Placerville – Romantic Memories) provided Faisal with his second success of the day. Houdini too won it start-to-finish like his stable-mate. Houdini worked up a steady pace and had Ashwa Yodhaa close behind. Money Flash was next and right there Royal Crest was making his move on the inner rails. Royal Crest was cramped for room and jockey TS Jodha had to check his mount near about the 600 meter mark and this may have been a fatal clog for Royal Crest.

Houdini, meanwhile, galloped on faster in the homestretch and built up a nice cushion midway up the straight. Royal Crest came through the rails and was making headway. Money Flash worked hard but could not produce anything solid. Guernica was improving but marginally. Houdini kept going and eventually won it by a clear margin, in the process aiding Faisal to pick both divisions of the Tristar Plate. Faisal has done well to bring both the old timers to fighting fit condition and winning over 1400 m start to finish against younger opponents is never easy. He did it with both his older horses, Bonny Light and Houdini nine and seven respectively.

Golden Spurs (Mr Mellon – Lek) was another old timer (8years) to pull off an exciting victory. Mypethoney did the front-running until into the straight. Auraria soon took over but had Golden Spurs breathing down her neck. The pair surged ahead in the final furlong and fought out the issue. Golden Spurs showed a lot more spunk to get past the younger rival to score a narrow victory. Favourite Ocean of Faith let down a large number of followers who had placed faith and money on him. He simply didn’t raise a gallop when it mattered and ran an inexplicably poor race.

Besides trainers Magan and Faisal, jockey Neeraj Rawal scored twice in the day.