The two trophy races slated for Thursday’s races were won on contrasting styles. The first of the two was the Shantidas Askuran Trophy a handicap for class II horses that had just four contenders, yet the winner was hard to pick with conviction. Martinique on his fairly good past performance was installed the favourite, particularly since he is known to be a fiery sprinter. So at the bottom weight, he looked the most favoured pick for the five furlong scurry. Martinique flashed ahead early in the race and had Emerging Star close behind. Borderline and Visionist followed a couple of lengths away.

At the turn, Martinique was engaged in a tussle with Emerging Star (Warrshan – Star Liner) who was looming large on her outside. Once Emerging Star got into top gear, there was no doubt that he would rule the final furlong. His strides were long and rhythm in perfect sync. He looked the winner past the distance post. Martinique had to weather another storm as Borderline finished on late. However, the favourite just managed to hold on by a head.

Caesar’s Star countered some rough ride coming into the straight and weathered it quite well to win too. All was in order as Word Of Honour settled to lead the field at a steady pace. Celestial Call chased the leader with Caesar’s Star in third, while Belmont and Mountain Force followed in single file until the turn. Word of honour showed little sign of tiring as he marched on spiritedly. Celestial call could not match up to the grind despite a hard effort. Caesar’s Star was knocked around by Mountain Force as the latter jostled with Belmont to get the best possible passage into the straight.

Fortunately for Caesar’s Star, that didn’t fade his spirits and he came with a forceful surge between horses to plunk himself next to the leader. However, Word of Honour was not finished yet. He kicked on merrily hoping the winning post would help his cause. Caesar’s Star (Sir Percy – Wishing on a Star) had to dig deep and pull out all his might to make a last ditch effort and both the colt and jockey CS Jodha were up to the challenge as they lunged forward in an all out bid to score a narrow victory. It was an admirable effort from the favourite as he won a thrilling but grueling battle.

Apprentice Jockey Kavraj Singh had earlier in the day guided Adams Vision to a shock victory, thus starting off his day on an auspicious note for the Jodhas.  Adams Vision (Hymn – Adams Light) who had remained winless all through her two years of racing, finally tasted first blood on her 20^th attempt. She charged forward soon on start and kept her leash on the race all through. Favourite Winds of Change did try to challenge her authority, but the effort was too feeble to make an impact on the determined Adams Vision. Kavraj too rode her out powerfully. Macho Uno made a serious bid and covered good ground, but he was a touch too late and fell short by half a length.

Queen’s Camp (Mull of Kintyre – Madonnaofthepinks) had asserted in her last run that she was getting ready to strike. She showed good improvement over that eye-catching run to score freely this time out. She went at it from the word go and kept improving till the very end, giving the others no chance whatsoever. Queen’s Camp entered the straight with a handy lead and then stretched out nice shooting ahead straight as an arrow towards the winning post. Favourite Wind of the Hills looked listless and was going nowhere. O’Princess raised hopes briefly but Queen’s Camp had the momentum going and she stretched further away in the final 100 meters to romp home for her first career victory in her 6^th start.

Trainer Altaf Hussain struck again after Queen’s Camp with his ward Arabian Fighter (Medecis – Lecce) in the 4^th race. Disaster struck Blue Mellon after he lost ground at the start and he simply wobbled out of the race. Reinstate and Arabian Fighter then ruled the front with favourite Walk of Life and fancied Ibis staying too far back to force any recovery. The pair in front led by a huge margin coming into the straight and for all practical purposes, Walk of Life and Ibis were shut out completely rather too early in the race. Arabian Fighter got past Reinstate with ease and galloped on to post a facile victory. The top two fancies Walk of Life and Ibis could not dig themselves out of trouble that they themselves got into, letting the no-hopers a much longer rein in the initial part of the race.  Both paid a heavy price for this folly.

Twilight (Noverre – Crystal Flight) was the favourite at the most cramped odds in the day. The half-money favourite won start to finish, but she did cause a touch of anxiety in the final few strides. Leading jockey Sandesh did well to jump out of gate 11 in the big field of 16. He raced to the front and held a slender lead for most of the early part of the race. Following Twilight closely were Stormyday, Always Smile and Neptune. On entering the straight, Twilight was travelling well in hand and as Always Smile and Stormyday faded out, Ice Skates and Neptune started to improve. Twilight galloped on gamely while Ice Skates gained in momentum. Twilight never looked in danger but Ice Skates did manage to pump the heartbeats of those who backed the favourite. Neptune did well to finish third ahead of Mahiki, who too gained positions late in the straight.

Owner Haresh Mehta had a double with Katrak saddling his filly Shadows of Time and Mansoor Shah providing a victory with Apocalypse. Shadows of Time (Noverre – Hay Hill) produced a commendable effort in the homestretch to not only wipe off a heavy deficit, but also surge ahead to dictate the terms in the final furlong.

El Wonder had done everything right early on and led the field at a steady pace. Desert Eagle was right on his heels right through with Gottawearshades and Danse Debonaire a couple of lengths away with Shadows of Time in fifth until the turn. El Wonder did well to stay in the lead until the distance post. Desert Eagle then took over and when Shadows of Time came to the scene, it was all over. Shadows of Time raced ahead and pulled away to register her first win in her 6^th outing. Desert Eagle hung on to finish runner up. Gottawearshades warded off Danse Debonaire for place money. El Wonder will be better off over a furlong shorter.

The last race saw another long-shot in Apocalypse (Royal Kingdom – Al Asifah) rule at the post. Mable, the favourite, tried hard to peg the surprise winner, but found the going too tough and had to be content with the second spot. It was a fight to the finish when Mable and Apocalypse went for broke leaving a listless Ice Empire behind. The duo bolted to the front in the final 300 and after a hard battle, apprentice jockey Mosin’s lively urging ensured that Apocalypse stayed ahead and thwarted a genuine effort from Suraj Narredu astride Mable to settle the issue.  Free Verse looked to threaten briefly but found the sizzling finish too hot to handle.

For the professionals, trainer Altaf Hussain saddled a double and jockeys Suraj Narredu and Kavraj Singh scored a double each.