Jockey Zervan Suratia, whose first love seems to be professional riding, for the moment at least, got fitting returns when he won the Valentine’s Day Trophy astride Clinton (Razeen – Veena’s Pet). Clinton, who hitherto had scored all his victories over a mile and above, was going over the shorter, seven-furlong distance for the first time. Perhaps that was one reason why the odds drifted to 4/1 at race time. Lake Paradise saw a lot of money come her way and closed at 17/10.

As they jumped out, Illustrious shot into the lead and worked up a nippy pace. Snow Blaze set about in chase with Dictator close behind, while both the fancied horses Clinton and Lake Paradise at the tail end of the field. Illustrious came into the straight with a handy lead. Dictator was the first to challenge the leader and was travelling smoothly in doing so. Incognito had the chance with a clear run ahead, but she just could get into any rhythm and faded out to finish last.

Clinton surfaced to the vicinity of the front runners with less than 300 meters to go and at the same time, Lake Paradise too made his move from the wider outside. Clinton surged ahead past the distance post and Lake Paradise too accelerated well to challenge him. Clinton finished on powerfully and all efforts of Dashrath Singh to get Lake Paradise past Clinton were futile. Zervan had Clinton galloping fluently to stay ahead at the wire and never looked vulnerable even when seriously challenged by Lake Paradise.

Lake Paradise did reasonably in the end, but appeared in take his time at the jump. Dashrath had to give her a crack or two to focus on the task. However, Clinton beat her fair and square as they both traveled together all the way. Clinton certainly is in sublime form and with Zervan in great touch the pair could win again. Lake Paradise too should come into her own before long. Dictator too didn’t do too badly and can take some pluses from this race.

Jockey S Zervan is making a habit of scoring at least a double a day over the last couple of months and today was no different. He had earlier ridden hot favourite Hamlet to victory over 2000 m.

Hamlet (Motivator – Rubyanne) had won on this track very well before embarking to Calcutta for a crack at the Derby there. He returned empty handed, but had clearly put the Clacutta failure behind him. On Paper, it seemed a two-horse race with neither Cypress Point, nor Living the Dream in winning form. The race panned out on expected lines, as both the no-hopers were well beaten.

Hurricane Wind made the running and traveled at a comfortable pace. Hamlet set about in chase of the leader with the other two in tow. Hurricane Wind entered the homestretch and didn’t look like one who would give up easily. He marched on ahead even as Hamlet was gaining ground. Zervan had to make an all out effort to get past a stubborn Hurricane Wind. Hamlet finally made the inevitable happen inside the final furlong to gallop away in the closing stages and win by a little more than a length. Hurricane Wind gave Hamlet a run for his money alright.

Rewarding Desire (Ace – Astana) showed tremendous improvement over his debut run and with that educative run behind him scored his maiden victory in good fashion, without causing any anxiety to his backers. The odds however drifted on Rewarding Desire as Porto Banus received considerable support at starting time.

Rewarding Desire shot out of the gates and led from the outset. Neeraj Rawal eased him into a free flowing gallop and Rewarding Desire soon established a handy lead. The ones in chase were Alejor and Porto Banus but they were a good four lengths away. Neither got any closer.

Into the straight, Rewarding Desire continued to kick on merrily and soon was out of bounds to his rivals. Ghanghorr ran a bit erratically, but did enough to take the runner-up slot. Alejor was ridden out to earn place money.

Stormy Wind (Razeen – Starry Scene) pulverized her opponents winning the Division I of the Blue Horizon Plate with ridiculous ease. He took with a fiery gallop to grab the early initiative. Heading a tightly packed bunch close behind, Stormy Wind increased the momentum gradually and soon the ones behind found it hard to match his speed. The race was as good as over with a furlong more to go, as Stormy Wind living up to her name, blew the opposition away with a devastating turn of foot. She won easing up beating runner-up Menage A Trois out of sight by a whopping 7 1/2 lengths. Quando Quando ran on well to finish ahead of Colours Flying for the place money. Ice Empire ended one off the frame, just ahead of Siriska. Stormy Wind looked very impressive and is the candidate for an encore.

Romantic Beauty just failed to hold on to her lead and was beaten close home by Narendra Lagad trained Heartthrob (Mr Mellon – Chloe’s Delight) over the mile and quarter Emperado Plate. Romantic Beauty did all the hard work initially and when it came to serious business, she failed to thwart the strong challenge from Hearthrob.

Hearthrob was always within striking distance and only when Romantic Beauty surged ahead at the turn to lead by a little over three lengths, Hearthrob fell back a wee bit. Past the distance post, Romantic Beauty looked comfortably ahead and on course to victory. Blue Knight was in second, but not making any impact on the leader. Hearthrob gathered momentum inside the final furlong and collared Romantic Beauty in the final few strides to win by half a length.

National Ikon (Warrshan – Tempering) with apprentice jockey Shammi Khan astride scored a fluent victory in the Mosiac Plate run over six-furlongs. At the turn, Nanina was in the lead with a cluster of horses scrambling for vantage positions. Soon Nanina was passed by Mumbai King with Tropical Zone too making a serious bid. National Ikon switched lanes to make his final finish from the outside. Tropical Zone and Mumbai King were disputing the turf when National Ikon came in with a lively gallop to zip past the fighting duo and romp home with a measure of comfort. Mumbai King wrested the runner up berth by the tip of his nose from Tropical Zone on the post. Desert Eagle was never prominent, but managed to find the last slot in the frame.

Oriental Masti (Glory of Dancer - Shaduf) produced an electrifying finish that shocked Vaile Rouge on the post after the latter had shaped like a winner. Vaile Rouge started to cover ground soon on turning for home. He easily got past the front bunch comprising leader Ice Skater, Strategy, Ice Skates as well as Oriental Masti who was between horses on the inner rails.

Vaile rouge went past these with ease, only taking a wee bit longer to break free of Strategy, who seemed the final hurdle. Past the distance post, Vaile Rouge galloped past Strategy and established what looked like a winning lead.  Vaile Rouge however, had to stay ahead for another couple of seconds to earn his victory when Oriental Masti in a sudden surge picked up speed just enough to fling the knockout punch, to floor Vaile Rouge on the last stride. Strategy hung on to end a decent third.

Highway Express (Diffident – Impazzata) won the opening race of the day and returned rich dividends to her followers. She was one of the prime fancies at a lucrative 9/2 in the betting ring.

Towering High brought the field homewards with Minute To Win It in chase, along with Arabian Flight and Highway Express tucked in close to the rails. Minute To Win It soon took over and that’s the exact time when Highway Express moved out and made a strong bid. Minute To Win It gave a tough fight to Highway Express for a brief while, before Highway Express quickened further to settle the issue. Highway Express ran away in the final fifty to notch up a comfortable victory, her first in 13 outings. Minute To Win It was gallant in defeat and will leave to fight another day. Towering High persisted right until the finish and was rewarded for her start to finish mission with the third place.

Jockey S Zarvan was the lone pro to notch a double on the day.