The fanfare of the wonderful Christmas Sunday was contagious. Most of the near-10000 crowd was enjoying the great hospitality of the IGCC. Their Christmas Fest is here to stay, and this was evident by the over-crowded marquee right through the afternoon, and stretching well after sundown. The exciting action rubbed off on the horses as well, as the day saw some close finishes. In fact the day began on an exciting note with impressive youngster A Sandesh snatching the verdict on the post after a gripping last furlong.

Apprentice jockey Sandesh astride Saba (Glory Of Dancer - Fast Trick) and top-notch veteran B Prakash astride Belligerent were in their elements in the stretch run. Saba was racing towards the wrong end of the field with Tromos tailing the field, owing to a tardy start. Prince Lochinva brought the bunch homeward and faded out. Absolute Reality was quick to take charge but could not sustain. Belligerent lit up the moment he got a clear run and soon was nosing ahead. Saba, meanwhile, was brought from the outside and past the 400, was gathering momentum at a brisk rate. She charged forward and took little time to be abreast with Belligerent.

The front-bunch was not getting anywhere and that included Solor. Belligerent and Saba then fought tooth and nail and neither Rehan’s Saba nor his apprentice seemed to mind the pressure. Prakash tried his best to thwart Saba’s assault. The gritty mare and her determined jockey were relentless and Saba eventually prevailed in the exciting finish. Belligerent was a trifle unlucky to have encountered Saba in her devastating mood. Trainer Rehanullah Khan had done wonderfully well with Saba in her return last Pune where she came from a long lay-off yet won with a load of money falling on her.

This was an encore of sorts and the gamble paid off yet again. This speaks volumes of the shrewd trainer in both his ability and his confidence. With a limited string under his charge, Rehan has done remarkably well in this highly competitive sport. Strelitzia (Razeen - Hablitzia) won The Bayer Trophy but clocked one of the slowest timings for a long time for horses in class one! The initial pace set by White Knight was a crawl and the momentum only picked up just before the final turn. Strelitzia was quick to step on it just passing the 800 with White Knight too increasing his speed to stay alongside.

Hugo was a spent force even before turning for home. Mystic Quest was always under pressure once the heat was on and never made an impact. White Knight put up a brave fight but Strelitzia simply surged ahead in the final furlong to win comfortably. Pesi struck again with his two-year-old colt Picasso (Black Cash - Allies Serenade). Picasso, who had a lung opener at Pune, put his lessons to good use and showed remarkable improvement to register his maiden win over debutante Capriole. Looking much sharper on the day, Picasso was up with the early pace just behind Sherman Flail. On turning for home, Capriole slipped into the lead through the rails and before he could storm away, Picasso put his best foot forward and stretched out brilliantly implying that he is cut for longer distances. He got stronger towards the end and completely outpaced Capriole who didn’t do too badly considering this was his first appearance. Arabica too had a learning outing and was seen bridging the gap towards the finish.

Trainer Cooji Katrak scored twice in the day with Flaming Arrow and Star Treasure. Flaming Arrow (Black Cash - Carla Wyller) had been knocking on the door for far too long and finally broke open into the winner’s enclosure. Flaming Arrow did creditably well considering that he was hampered at the start and had to race in the rear for most part. Highland Flame brought the field homeward with Wild Torronaado, Superior Quest and Lago Medio not too far behind. Flaming Arrow shot through the inner rails taking every available opportunity to hit the front nearing the distance post. Once in the lead, Flaming Arrow showed tremendous acceleration and was out of bounds for his rivals. Superior Quest salvaged some respectability ending a decent second. Lago Medio did well to run into place money pipping Wild Torronaado for the third. Star Treasure (Placerville - Mitzva) produced a scintillating gallop to shoot ahead early in the straight and sustained all through. Frost Fairy appeared to make a serious bid in the final furlong, but shifted out under pressure and this momentary lapse proved costly.

She worked a nice pace to get alongside Star Treasure and they had still over 100 to go. At this point, Frost Fairy got erratic and lost valuable ground. Star Treasure galloped on to post a fluent victory. Rigel once again bled yet managed to end third just ahead of Eye Of The Storm. The latter was hindered for passage all through and is worth watching. Stardom Bound (Alnasr Alwasheek - Premier Collection) had shown promise in her last outing when she finished just two behind Moon Star and Camacho. She lived up to that in no uncertain terms. Stardom Bound chased the leader Satyamev Jayate until they straightened up, then charged ahead in the able hands of jockey Rajendra.

Twin Spice started to chase Stardom Bound but the latter maintained an upper hand all through. Lionwoods got hemmed up on the rails and by the time he switched out it was too late. Stardom Bound stretched out strongly and registered a comfortable victory with Twin Spice finishing second. Lionwoods did well to reduce the deficit somewhat and showed enough to note him the next time out. Floods Of Fortune disappointed a large following going down to a spirited Sea Shower (Ikhtyar - Maman Zimbie). Settled into the third behind Tell Me More and Born Special, Sea Shower announced his arrival with a bang in the straight. He stormed ahead past the 400 and accelerated brilliantly to snuff out any fight from any quarter. Floods Of Fortune tried hard to catch up but failed to make any impression. Starry Glow too was off-colour and ended a tame third. The First Lady (Diffident - Ampula) improved upon her last start third and prevailed after an engaging battle with Wild Imagination.

The pair was stuck together right from the start and the battle came to a boiling point in the straight. Wild imagination never really wrested the issue and always had The First Lady tagging alongside. Rajendra was vigorous in his finishing effort and Dashrath Singh showed why he was crowned the Pune Champion. The duo fought stride for stride all through the stretch. Dashrath just about managed to get that extra bit from The First Lady to win narrowly. Crescendo ended in the money coming from behind and he is slowly getting into the groove. Hi Dolly (Warrshan - Shirley Valentine) overcame a slow start and produced a blinder towards the finish to shock popular fancy Prince Cyrus at the wire. Prince Cyrus brought the field home and went smoothly ahead.

He was looking good even as they galloped past the distance post. Top Action, who was in the vicinity, could not measure up to Prince Cyrus just as Wings Of Angels. Hi Dolly, who was making gradual progress all the time, came alive with a terrific turn of foot to challenge Prince Cyrus in the last 200. The pair fought it out and in the end the in-form apprentice Sandesh proved an asset as he dashed the hopes of the Prince Cyrus camp to get the nod right. Arzaan covered a lot of ground and did well to end in the money. For the professionals, trainers Pesi Shroff and Cooji Katrak saddled a brace each, while jockeys C Rajendra, David Allan and A Sandesh scored a double apiece.