The Mumbai Season 2011-12 concluded after five-and-half months of exciting racing action on the famed Mahalaxmi racecourse. Some outstanding performances were recorded in this period but the one to take one’s breath away was Capt Jamshed Appoo owned filly In The Spotlight.

The last day’s races too saw horses hitting the front early emerge victorious which was the trend on the penultimate day as well. Sumo (First Samurai – Special Tapestry) too won The Bennett, Coleman-Procam Gold Cup in similar fashion. Sumo hit the front and for a seven furlong race, galloped at a decent clip. Barringo sprang to be right next to Sumo and the two led a closely huddled pack snapping at their tails.

Sumo showed no signs of relenting once into the straight while Barringo too kept up with the leader. They entered the final furlong matching stride for stride and Barringo was the first to blink. Meanwhile Snow Mountain and Amitayus started to warm up, gaining on the front pair. Amitayus had to swerve around a bit costing him dearly. Sumo however, was undeterred and kicked on to just about manage to stick his nose in front of the fast finishing Snow Mountain. Amitayus ended a good third, just ahead of Barringo.

None represented the Media house Bennett & Coleman, neither was anyone from Procam available for the trophy presentation. Mr Champaklal Zaveri did the presentation honours in their absence.

Jockey A Sandesh cornered the glory on the final day riding home an impressive hat-trick. His roll started from the 2nd race, The Jockeys Trophy with hot favourite Calypso Queen (Mr Mellon – Star Rock). The Asad Siddiqui ward had shown glimpses of winning form in her last two outings and she made this one count in a fine start-to-finish display.

Hitting the front soon on start, Calypso Queen eased long merrily into the straight. She quickened well when Sandesh urged her to surge forward. Blades of Glory tried his best to wear down the lead, but Calypso Queen had enough momentum going to speed away to an emphatic victory. Sandesh had little work to do and simply outclassed the opposition. Twittillator ran on to end a close third.

Sandesh next exploited the good early start as he drove Rule Forever (Exceed and Excel – Greytown) past Capitano to take the lead within the first furlong. He then settled to a steady pace and had Limitless Hills and Star Empire close behind him. Into the straight, Rule Forever maintained the fast momentum and Limitless Hills was finding it difficult to match the speed as they stepped up the tempo. Star Empire was not making any impact even as he was ridden all out. Cypress Point was gaining ever so slightly and was clearly finding the distance a tad too sharp. However, Limitless Hills did provide some excitement as he gathered more speed closer to the finish. All he managed was to extend Rule Forever failing to down Rule Forever despite a tremendous effort falling short by a neck. Sandesh played his cards well and managed to ward off the late challenger.

Royal Crest (China Visit – Regal Grace) provided a relatively easier ride to victory for Sandesh and all he had to do was sit and guide the SS Shah trainee.  Sandesh hit the front and controlled the pace to suit Royal Crest to perfection (the gelding was going over the nine-furlong trip for the first time), and did not exactly came in with all guns blazing.  Royal Crest leaped in fine rhythm stretching out fluently to stay ahead comfortably until the very end. Guernica tried hard to gain on the winner, but was getting nowhere near and ended chasing the winner. Cougar improved positions to earn place money.

Star Goddess was beaten by her own owner mate Mountain Regiment in the day’s opening race. The four-horse field was closely huddled as Mountain Regiment darted to the front working up a fiery pace. Star Goddess, Salt and Pepe Junior were right up close behind. Mountain Regiment shot away as Star Goddess tried to get closer and in the final furlong simply drew away to notch up a comfortable victory. Star Goddess was clearly burdened with the 62 kilos she was carrying and ended up a tame second. Salt could have done better, but could not reproduce her last performance and ended a listless last behind old timer Pepe Junior. 

Viva La Diva (Diffident – Amazing Girl) improved upon her last result and won this time convincingly. She hit the front soon after the gates flung open and worked up a fast pace apt for the scurry. Starlight Magic was left to chase the leader with Native Lady following him close behind. The trio never allowed any other contender to have a say in the race.

Viva La Diva entered the straight with a handy lead and a good momentum going. Starlight Magic was spent sooner than expected and didn’t offer any fight as Native Lady passed him midway up the straight. In the final furlong, Viva La Diva simply squashed any hope that Native Lady might have been harbouring, and sped further away to notch up an impressive victory. Native Lady ran a good second while Starlight Magic took the third keeping Fortuner at bay.

Etesian (Gaswar – Axelle) lifted his game to deny Octopaul a much expected victory with a stubborn gallop in the straight. Etesian took over from Unknown Rebel and Persian soon on turning for home and stole a march on the favourite Octopaul, surging ahead capping the advantage early. She raised a nippy gallop and built up a handy lead. Octopaul sensing the danger, moved up quickly in chase but with the top weight (61.5kgs) seemed a burden alright, as his all out attempt to get past Etesian came a cropper. Etesian preformed commendably and Octopaul’s best efforts got him the runner-up berth.

Small Treasure (Alnasr Alwasheek – Treasured) created a flutter in the Division I of the Racing Officials Trophy. The speedy gelding from trainer Mansoor Shah’s stables did well for himself and his connections picking his third victory of the season, this one at whopping odds. He was in the hunt right from the outset as he settled to be a close third behind leader Emerging Star and Fallen Angel.

Emerging Star looked on course to victory after she built a handy lead soon on turning for home. She was travelling well and dominated the first half of the straight. Fallen Angel looked beat, but Small Treasure along the rise was getting noticed as he started to gain on Emerging Star in the final furlong. Just as these two were disputing the issue with Emerging Star, Golden Spurs burst on the scene with an electrifying run. He was easily the fastest in the last 100 but made his move a shade too late. He flashed upon the fighting duo, managed to peg back Emerging Star, but failed to nail Small Treasure by half a length, clearly the winning post coming to the rescue of the winner.

The lower division of the race was picked up by Imtiaz Sait trained Crimson And Clover (Placerville – Timely One). This was a more clinical victory with Crimson And Clover working her way to the front with well-planned moves.

Herculean was at the helm as they turned for home. He was clear of the rest but failed to quicken and dropped out of contention thoroughly beaten to seventh in the final standing. Lucky Misba put up a gritty defence when he took over, but could not withstand the assault when the others made their final moves. Crimson And Clover was the pick of the lot when five horses came in a line acroos the turf approaching the distance post. She worked up a scintillating pace as she gathered momentum and simply left them all behind with a forceful finish. It was all over in a matter of strides when Crimson And Clover came to the party. She drew away from the rest in an awesome display of speed and ruthlessness. Reckless Romeo also put in a good show but paled under the brilliance of the winner to finish second. Tropical Zone ended in the money for another good performance leaving Lucky Misba to take the final spot in the frame. Crimson And Clover was a class above.

The season’s Champions were accorded honour and awards for their stupendous performances for the season 2011-12. Mr Vivek Jain, Chairman, RWITC, did the presentation honours. The winners were:

Leading Owner – Capt Jamshed Appoo
Leading Syndicate – The North Star Racing Syndicate
Dady Adenwalla Champion Trainer – Pesi Shroff
Champion Jockey – Dashrath Singh
Champion Jockey With Allowance – Akshay
Champion Apprentice – Tushar Nemane
Champion Stud Farm – Poonawalla Stud Farms
Leading Bookmaker (Mumbai) – Banarsi Das
Leading Bookmaker (Pune) – Latif Associates