For trainer Shyam Habbu, today was a landmark day as he registered his first victory on the Mahalaxmi track. For any budding professional, his first victory is the sweetest and Shyam is no different. Dante Rossetti (Royal Kingdom - Pharellia) notched up a sensational victory rising from a seemingly impossible position to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The handsome dark bay colt blazed in the last fifty metres to shock the fighting pair of Ocean Emperor and Tzigane. Ocean Emperor led the field of13 into the straight and kicked on ahead. Tzigane started to quicken well and was steadily gaining on the leader. Dante Rossetti looked in trouble as he was packed between horses.

Prakash had been working hard on the colt right from the start and had given Dante Rossetti a couple of cracks soon after the start as well. Past the distance post, it seemed a Herculean task for Dante Rossetti as he had some ground to cover and neither Ocean Emperor nor Tzigane were relenting. The duo went for broke for the winning post and with less than 50 to go, Dante Rossetti quickened with giant strides to surge past just a couple of strides from the wire. The crowd was ferociously vocal when Dante Rossetti zipped past to score a dramatic win. “I have indeed been fortunate to have learnt the ropes in training horses from the best source. My mentor, Mr Pesi Shroff, has been instrumental in moulding me. There is something about Pesi Sir, once he knows you are serious about work, he is always ready to extend a helping hand.

I owe my success to him largely and to my owners who have placed their faith in me. I had a successful start to my career with Tintoretto, the first to represent my stable in Kolkata and this gave me a terrific boost. I was keen to start in similar fashion in Mumbai and Dante Rossetti provided me a dream start. I am thankful to the Almighty for everything.

This is most satisfying,” said a jubilant Shyam Habbu, trainer of Dante Rossetti. Maria Teresa (Captain Rio - Brief Adventure) scored an eye-catching win and literally ran away with The Morellato By Gitanjali Lifestyle Trophy. Hitting the front from the start, Maria Teresa romped home without confronting any resistance. Echoes Rock, her main rival, didn’t help his cause by getting slowly off the blocks. With the manner Maria Teresa was travelling, Echoes Rock only made it more difficult for himself with his sloppy jump.

Maria Teresa settled beautifully and Malcom Kharadi let her carry herself at her steady pace well into the final furlong and a half. Ocean Trail who was chasing her, found it hard to measure up the blistering momentum of the favourite. Maria Teresa won pulling up and sailed away to her maiden win in great style. An encore cannot be ruled out. Echoes Rock ended third more than three lengths off Ocean Trail. Pesi Shroff had earlier scored in The Sir Rahimtoola Chinoy Trophy in a Mallya Vs Mallya finish. Angelo and Amore Mio both garnered massive support in the betting.

As both were coming from the same stable, this was a welcome trend. The finish consolidated the fact when both fancied runners from the stable were fighting hard undeterred by the market trends. Angelo was on his usual start-to-finish mission. He settled down nicely at a comfortable pace and the small field of four was running in close together. Coming into the straight, jockey CD Hayes did not rush and kept a steady hold on Angelo even inside the last 400. Oh Calcutta was the first to blink and started to make the effort of challenging Angelo. Doi Moi was racing on rails and never got the opening he might have hoped for. Amore Mio was slightly detached from the bunched up trio and Zervan may have/been a touch too late to press on the pedal. Hayes started to alert Angelo and the gelding responded well managing to thwart the threat coming from Oh Calcutta.

Doi Moi was forced to follow Angelo and was never a threat. Amore Mio started to devour ground and finished on strongly but Hayes did all the things right and managed to hold on by a head. Star Of Venus (Placerville - Free Radical) won The Director General of Police Trophy easily from Batista. Aliyana went straight into the lead but the rest were following close behind. Star Of Venus made her move in the straight and Aliyana reluctantly surrendered the lead. Khursaniyah tried to make a fight of it but couldn’t measure up.

Batista was late to warm up and in the final furlong Star Of Venus sailed ahead to win with a measure of comfort. Aflatoon (Warrshan - Pas De L’Argent) lived up to his last Pune run expectations when he finished on strongly to nearly shock the money-back favourite Aliyana on that occasion. Aflatoon was right behind Perpetuation and Peregrine Falcon coming into the straight. While Perpetuation tried to stretch ahead, Peregrine Falcon was found wanting and dropped out of contention. Sea Bucaneer was hugging the inner rails and could not force his way out and ended his effort without troubling anyone. Perpetuation was finding it tough to sustain as the pressure was mounting with Aflatoon making a strong bid just on the outside.

Soon Great White and Royal Gesture were making progress too. In the scramble for the finish, Aflatoon showed the zip needed and prevailed by a length from Great White who ended a notable second. Royal Gesture just managed to peg back Perpetuation. Thunder Strike (Inhabitant - Leading Prospect) provided both trainer Ivor Fernandes and jockey McCullagh their first success of the season. The race picked up momentum in the straight as McCullagh drove Thunder Strike past the leader Monk’s Ferrari. Equality was making his presence felt when suddenly after joining Thunder Strike he was found wanting. It was later announced that Equality broke a blood vessel. Thunder Strike marched on ahead and won convincingly.

The last race of the day turned out to be the most interesting for more reasons than one. Nine of the fifteen runners came from one stable, five owned by the trainer HJ Antia himself! The most fancied of the lot, Pharoah ran true to form and was resolute on his focus to win. In the process, Pharoah, while passing Brave Gypsy, crossed the latter’s path causing a slight check. However, Brave Gypsy gathered momentum and mounted a renewed challenge to hit the wire alongside Pharoah. A Dead heat was the verdict as the judge couldn’t separate the two. As the jockeys returned, Zervan lodged an objection against Amyn Merchant and the stewards after prolonged deliberations saw reason and keeping the verdict in mind, upheld Zervan’s objection. Brave Gypsy was awarded the race and Pharoah relegated to the second spot. Pesi Shroff was the lone professional to score a double.