In a dramatic finish to the Richie Rich Cup, the 10/1 shot Cool Cat was superbly piloted by jockey NS Parmar to a thumping victory. The Imtiaz Sait-trained filly was second last in the field of eight till the turning for home – about six lengths behind the leader and hot favourite Sergeant Pepper. That’s when Parmar spotted the narrow gap along the rails and made a bee line for it. The Imtiaz Sait-trained filly was game to her rider’s call and she squeezed through to pull away from the one-paced favourite who gave up the fight. It was left to Topkapi to issue a challenge but both age and  handicap were in favour of the winner.

It was an afternoon when both favourites and punters took a beating. Parmar had earlier ridden the top-weight Sreenidhi (Itaquere Power-Alleyesonme) to a facile start-to-finish victory in the Cheryl Handicap, well clear of the ante-post choice Iconic. The winner was available at 5/2. The jockey however had the misfortune of suffering a fall from Beethoven in the last race and will be replaced by jockey Ashish on Wednesday. He is otherwise alright but has complained of a pain on the ribcage.

The day commenced with the 15/1 outsider Mistletoe (Don Micheletto-Powerofcommitment) from Javed Khan’s yard getting the better of the favourite Vaani. Md Islam on the winner allowed Saddle Chief to call the shots till making his move in the straight. Vaani made a late bid and finished less than a length behind. Though some money came on Empress Of Persia, she failed to impress while Silver Guest was never in the hunt but on a weight reducing mission.

Don Magnifico, the 2/1 public choice, was expected to make ends meet but the Daniel David-trained youngster tired in the final 100 metres of the sharp 1100 metres scurry and was collared by Imperial Star (Chisty up) close home. The Vikash Jaiswal-trained filly by Major Impact out of Radiant was knocking at the door for some time and was more than happy to see the ‘Don’ coming back at her in the straight. The winner’s stablemate Benjamin finished a fair fourth while Arabesk drifted out to be a none too impressive third.

Chisty and Vikash combined once again to notch up a double with Do Your Best (China Visit-Allesca) . The colt (earlier called Short Radius) needs hard riding and Chisty provided just that. Apple Candy and Bavaria were the early front-runners but when it came to the crunch, Do Your Best lived up to his name. The disappointment was the favourite Fankaar who fly-jumped and raced in the rear before taking the turn wide.

Jasbir Singh-trained Girl Of Flowers (Greensmith–Vedic Chants) proved that her last win was no flash in the pan with a fluent victory over the course favourite Azorian despite going wide. Ocean Sunrise produced a remarkable run along the rails after running detached till the turn and finished a good second.

The curtain came down with Arti Doctor’s Artemisia (Major Impact-Girlion) winning the Royal Mantle Handicap in Shezad Khan’s hands fairly comfortably from Autocrat while Arabica showed early speed before fading out. It seems that trainer Manvendra Singh will have to wait a little longer for his first winner here.