Emerald Valley (Emerald Cat – Classy Devil) pounded the turf with power to negotiate his way through the front-runners and forge ahead in the final furlong. Even as he led, he had to complete the task and to go the full monty with a bunch of rivals snapping at his tail, Emerald Valley did a great job of holding on to his lead and claim the Indo-German Oktoberfest Trophy.

Guns N Roses reared up in the starting stalls and had to be withdrawn. At the jump, Native Lady took the early initiative and set off at a good clip with Flying Star for company. Starlight Magic was a close third with Emerald Valley galloping on the rails alongside Talk of the Town. Native Lady stuck to the rails as they came into the straight while Flying Star went wide at the turn. Starlight Magic came through the gap and it appeared he would take charge. He had barely headed the field when Emerald Valley switched lanes and shot ahead. Emerald Valley looked well in command but could never afford to relax. Jockey Dashrath Singh rode out forcefully and managed to stay ahead all the way past the post. The one who caught the eye was Marine Zone. The seven-year-old mare was at the wrong end of the field at the turn and did commendably well to cover a lot of ground and stick alongside Emerald Valley beating rest of the entire bunch!

Jockey Dashrath Singh was on a roll. The day belonged to him as he rode out four winners on the day including Emerald Valley. He started off with Silk Cut (Diffident – Sensuality) to clinch the Indictment Trophy with ease. He settled Silk Cut right behind leaders Stromboli and Home Alone and as they turned for home, Dashrath pulled Silk Cut out of the rails and stormed ahead quickly working up a handy lead. Silk Cut too was up to the task and provided a sharp turn of foot to sail clear in spilt seconds. Cent Per Cent tried hard to catch up but with the kind of momentum Silk Cut was travelling at, there was no chance of getting close to the Bezan Chenoy gelding. Cent Per Cent did cut down the margin at the finish but did not bother Silk Cut in any way. Volterra disappointed and ended a tame third.

Titleist perhaps was the most difficult and thrilling conquest for Dashrath on the day and one that he really had to bring out his best efforts. The dash for victory was severe and a whole bunch of runners were spread across the turf. Royal Honour passed Crème De La Crème to grab the early initiative in the straight but was hounded by a pack. Titleist moved to the outside anticipating a thick passage and that proved a right move. Banana Boy joined the fray and made a lively bid from the wide outside. The three went for the wire at full throttle and Dashrath’s effort bore fruits as he managed to stay ahead at the wire and pull off a sensational victory.

The one who didn’t enjoy any luck was Snow Ball. He received a bad check soon on start and had to make up a constant ground. In the straight too, he never got a clear run and by the time he sought room and could gallop freely, he had lost a lot of advantage. He could make amends in his next.

Dashrath rounded off his day with another blistering ride atop Soli Deo Gloria (Tirol – Glorious Breaker). He got Soli Deo Gloria right up in the front bunch soon on settling down. Samburu yet again failed to jump out of the gates and lost considerable ground at the start.

Soli Deo Gloria took charge soon on entering the homestretch and sailed away to build a handy lead. Past the distance post, he looked solid and heading for an easy victory. He eventually did manage to win but had Fairy Empress on his neck at the winning post. Lola ended a labored fourth while Tipping Point once again came forth when all was over. He was best of the ebaten lot as he was last to enter the straight.

Dallas Todywalla trained Zoraavar (Ace – Lecce) picked up the race for two-year-olds with an impressive start to finish victory. Earlier hot favourite Street Fighter played up at the gates and was withdrawn. Bright Lady too buckled awkwardly inside the gates but was allowed to run.

Zoraavar showed he is blessed with speed and darted to the front at a lively pace and was soon a few lengths clear of Modus Vevendi and Zafirah. The rest were too far behind. Zoraavar entered with a good cushion of about three lengths and stepped it up at a good pace. He looked stead until he started drifting out in the final furlong, but he didn’t slow down even a bit and kicked on to win convincingly. Modus Vevendi will come good after this run as she did manage to stay clear of Zafirah to claim the runner up berth.

At the start of the day, Red Baron (Ad Valorem – Kon Tike) scored a thrilling victory to foil Swift memories’ start to finish bid. The field of four was abreast coming into the straight with Swift Memories being niggled to keep her lead. Rancho was the first to bow out. Cypress Point did apply pressure but failed to sustain all the way.  Red Baron loomed large and challenged Swift Memories and even passed her comfortably. Swift Memories fought back hard and went down narrowly to Red Baron who was ridden strongly by Sreekanth.  

There was a lot of talk that Arusha would fare well on her debut and there were supporters rooting for Blue Sea as well. But the next in demand Alkazi showed tremendous improvement over his last start third to score a brilliant victory over the scurry.

Habibian, who was sharing the lead with Ice Skates took off once they entered the straight. He worked up a nice pace and shaped well past the distance post. Alkazi who was chasing him into the straight, started to shift out but was covering good ground. He caught up with Habibian past the distance post and with a fiery final effort collared Habibian to notch up his first victory.  Arusha covered ground in the latter half of the homestretch to end a close third. Arusha surely needed this run and looks ready to score after this experience. Blue Sea jumped out awkwardly and made no impact on the race even though he was right with the bunch at the turn. He was also wayward taking the turn.

Aliyana (Glory of Dancer – Dam I’m Gorgeous) took full advantage of the five-kilo claim and scored a testing start to finish victory to justify the load of money that she carried. Apprentice jockey Tushar Nemane put his head down to rode out once into the straight, unmindful to the threats lurking around. Crowned Princess  was breathing down her neck early in the straight and later Aflame tested her to the fullest, but Aliyana never buckled down to the pressure and neither did Nemane. They valiantly kept to their task and were focused on the job at hand and warded off the challengers confidently. Aflame failed to grab the winner by a neck. Crrisp was the one to note with a long stretched run in the straight and did extremely well to earn place money.

Jacqueline Smile (China Visit – Raphaela) posted a facile victory and looked the winner the moment she turned for home. She dismissed leader Chasing Memories and took charge with authority and sailed far ahead of Adventurer and galloped on gamely to stay clear of competition. No one challenged her and she stretched out nicely to score a comfortable victory. Adventurer hung on the runner up slot while favourite O’Princess ended a tame third.

For the Professionals, jockey Dashrath Singh was the star of the day with four winners against his name. Trainer Narendra Lagad saddled a double.