A three-day suspension from Dec 30th to Jan 6th (effectively 3 race days) for careless riding astride D’Artagnan dished out to apprentice jockey A Sandesh, marred an otherwise brilliant day for the lad. Sandesh was on fire right through the day, booting home four winners. Sandesh Started the day on a high note with a sensational victory in the first race astride Gerrad (Serious Spender - Great Request). The MK Jadhav trained gelding made a mockery of the opposition to win by 15 lengths to clinch The Venus De Milo Trophy over a mile. Sandesh settled behind the early leader Femenist until the half way stage, and then moved forward working up a good momentum. Reinstate quickly moved to second as they turned for home. Gerrad came into the straight with a handy lead and soon the others were huffing and puffing to get to Gerrad. Sandesh and Gerrad moved effortlessly to go further and further away from the ones struggling behind, to notch up a facile victory by the longest margin so far this season.

Ardent Lover ran on to take the second spot. Amore Mio (Razeen - Forest Treasure) lived up to his last start promise, when he went down fighting in a close finish to stablemate Angelo. Down a class, Amore Mio showed little mercy to her rivals and won well warding off lone challenger Icon convincingly. Sandesh kept the Shroff-trainee in check behind Prince Lochinva till well into the straight. Sandesh made a forward surge passing the 400 and Amore Mio quickened nicely to dart ahead. Favourite Icon tried to mount a challenge but never looked a serious threat to the confident Amore Mio. Endearment ran on to finish third. Flying Jewel did little of note and just managed to fill the frame. The Jacqueline Trophy saw a near mishap which saw Attila being severely infringed and her jockey De Souza did well to not only stay aboard but making a valiant attempt to gain back lost ground. Attila almost pulled off a sensational victory with a re-run but failed narrowly. It was a level start and Schnell was quick to hit the front and had El Tropico and Ares with him. Forever Young was close behind this trio, with Attila a length away and Pepe Junior in the rear. Schnell bowed out early and Attila made progress from the inside.

El Tropico was trying to find his feet when Ares moved forcefully on the outside. Near about the 300 metres, Ares in his eagerness, drifted inward and his jockey Srikanth Kamble could do little to prevent the alarming inward drift. Attila was caught between the advancing Ares and the inner rails and knocked herself on the fence unbalancing the rider. De Souza did well to recover quickly but the flying finish of Pepe Junior propelled by Sandesh was far too much for Attila to get back in time. Attila, however, finished on close to the winner. It was later announced that Attila had bled during the race. Pepe Junior (Cruachan - Ganadora) gave Sandesh his third success in the first four races and he wasn’t finished yet! Following a Stewards’ Enquiry immediately after the race, Ares was disqualified and an enquiry has been initiated against the erring jockey for dangerous riding. Dancing Glances (Placerville - Dancing Greens) won most impressively with Sandesh playing his part to the boot. Sitting up with the leaders - River Gem and Flames Of Fire, Dancing Glances made his move quickly on entering the homestretch. Once in the lead, Dancing Glances, trained by Altaf Hussain, bounded forward and won easing up. Samiel ran on to finish a tame second and understandably so, as she too bled in the race. Oceanic Wisdom held on to the third spot and Gatravat finished on to end in the frame. Starlight Magic was later found to be sore. Sandesh’s dream run ended in an unfortunate manner in the next race, The Jaspal Enterprises Sprint Million, astride D’Artagnan. In the straight, Sandesh couldn’t keep a straight course and shifted out taking Weizhou along. An objection by Dashrath Singh was upheld and D’Artagnan was relegated to fourth position. Earlier, Forest Flair sped ahead in the straight and Violetta started to warm up.

Forest Flair had the advantage passing the distance post when Violetta started to mount severe pressure on his outside. The pair fought out the final furlong going stride for stride. The huge difference in weight went against Forest Flair. Violetta caught up with him and wore him down in the last couple of strides. Violetta (China Visit - Perpetual) with the relentless De Souza on top had the final say, but Forest Flair had done notably well too. It was a fiercely fought race and it was a treat to watch two seasoned jockeys give off their best. Stephane Pasquier made an instant impact setting alight Amadeus (Choisir - Anise) to appear from nowhere to pull off a sensational victory on the last stride. Word Of Honour reluctantly surrendered his lead when Salt challenged him approaching the distance post. Soon Incognito made her presence felt and started applying pressure on Salt. Amadeus was not in the picture when Salt and Incognito were going all out to nail each other. Just when the eyes were set on the imaginary wire to catch the winner’s nose accurately, Stephane Pasquier produced Amadeus on the scene with a tremendous burst of speed. The timing of his assault couldn’t have been better, as Amadeus just managed to pip the fighting duo on the post! Stephane Pasquier was cheered by the crowd and he is the one to watch out for this season.

Got To Go (Royal Kingdom - Go Go Go) had shown a lot of spunk in her previous run while finishing on well to run a notable third to Eloise and Star Warrior. With that line to show, Got To Go powered her way to the front early in the straight and galloped forward to stamp her authority long way from home. Saba, who this time changed tactics to go from the front was found wanting in the last furlong. Living The Dream finished on well to end second. Misschevious Trot covered good ground to peg back Saba to end third. Heiress was the biggest disappointment of the day. The heavily backed filly gave no indication of the shock to come as she looked well tuned for the occasion. She travelled beautifully too, chasing Constantina until the straight. Just when it looked like Heiress would quicken for home, she faltered and weakened, failing to even make a fight of it. Constantina wrested back the slender lead as Heiress started to fall back. Mia Stella (Verglas - Constantia) came with a game gallop gaining ground at a brisk pace. She finished on full of steam and won untroubled. Laserre covered a great deal and managed to beat a tiring Constantina to snatch the runner-up berth. Set Afire (Captain Rio - Bawader) kept her date with victory without encountering any problems. Chasing Red Tabasco into the straight, Set Afire showed her superiority early in the straight and dominated her rivals to canter to a facile victory. Excelltastic ran on to earn place money. For the professionals, jockey A Sandesh was the star of the day with four winners. Trainer Pesi Shroff saddled a fine treble while jockey Neeraj Rawal scored a double.