Do horses have a good memory? Hachiko seems to do so. He had provided the Shirke camp the privilege to lead in a Poonawalla Breeders’ Multi-Million (PBMM) winner this day last year, when he beat a good set of juveniles to claim the honour. Probably recollecting his moment in the Sun, Hachiko once again sped away as if to celebrate that success, by not only winning the Rusi Patel Trophy for top class horses on the PBMM day, but also crowning it by etching out a new record held by Cabriolet, also owned by the Shirkes.

Spirit of Mercy darted into the lead and went at a nippy pace. Silver Birch was up next along with Hachiko in third. The rest followed closely with Deja vu and Vittoria occupying the last two berths. As they turned for home, Spirit of Mercy surrendered the lead quicker than expected as Hachiko lit the turf and galloped away at sizzling speed. Just in a couple of strides Hachiko was away and out of bounds for his hapless rivals. He gathered admirable momentum and completely outclassed his illustrious opponents carving out a new course record, clocking a classy 1:21:70 for the 1400 distance, erasing Cabriolet’s 1:22:52. Hachiko won effortlessly and looked supreme over the seven-furlong distance. Deja Vu and Vittoria came from behind to grab the minor placing.

Borderline (Hymn – Romodia) galloped to a hard fought victory in the Serum Institute of India Trophy in a thrilling three-horse finish. Emerging Star shot ahead soon on start with Hawk of the Wind and Winter Wind tagging alongside. Borderline galloped on the fence in fourth and had Jimbo and the top weight Stringsofmyheart close behind.

As they turned for home, Emerging Star was joined by Hawk of the Wind and as the duo matched strides, Borderline switched on the outside to make her bid. Jimbo too was making headway and making his presence felt. Hawk of the Wind could not sustain and fell back. Emerging Star renewed his bid and surged ahead of Hawk of the Wind when Borderline started to gallop powerfully. Jimbo too got involved in the fight to the finish. Borderline stepped up the pace and timed his finish to perfection to pip Emerging Star on the post. Jimbo missed the bus and was a stride too late.

Papakura (Senure – Autocop) avenged his defeat to Winston, but had to work hard to topple Winston as they fought all the way to the winning post, a battle which began 300 from earlier. Que Sera Sera had led them into the straight with Winston close behind. Papakura moved up alongside Winston and two got past Que Sera Sera with ease. Winston along the rails and Papakura on his outside matched stride for stride from there on. Papakura got the measure of Winston in the final fifty, but could not shake off Winston altogether. They hit the wire together with Papakura craning his long neck ahead to get the race in a thrilling finish.

Dynamo (Bahamian Bounty – Zellers) ridden by Richard Hughes lived up to his name by exploding in the final few strides to blast past the winning post to nose out Silver Streak in a breathtaking finish. Silver Streak had taken charge from Zaagros soon on straightening for home and shaped like a winner. He had a good lead coming into the final furlong and was galloping well too. Dynamo surfaced from the mid-bunch to begin his chase. He had some ground to cover and Silver Streak was galloping on well too. Dynamo started to bridge the gap and gathered momentum and with a sudden surge of superlative acceleration finished on full of running to pip Silver Streak precisely on the wire. Dynamo was simply splendid in the last couple of strides. To get the verdict with such little ground needed an electrifying run in the last few meters and Dynamo did just that to score a fantastic victory on debut.

Sophisticated (Oath – Mayfair) glided to victory with a smooth stretch run to look the winner as soon as he came alongside the front runners. Razeenaa and Dance Debonaire had brought the field home with Roswald and Dancing Splendour in tow, when Sophisticated made her move from the outside. She surged forward on a tight rein and was unchallenged as she grabbed the lead and then built on it.  She sailed away easily to leave the rest flat footed. Sophisticated won drawing away and posted her second victory on the trot with absolute ease, implying that a third in a row is not beyond her over the distance. Razeenaa ran on to end runner-up ahead of Dancing Splendour. Roswald once again disappointed and raised no hope at any stage.

Grande Dame (Mull of Kintyre – Grand Natalie Rose) was the most fashionable winner of the day and jockey Zervan doesn’t hassle his horse when not required. Here, he didn’t move a muscle right through and Grande Dame won start to finish as he would in a mock race.

Zervan eased him into the lead and it was all over. As easy as that! At no point did Zervan gather the horse, or push or urge Grande Dame. He entered the straight with a handy lead with Mable in chase. Home Factor and Zidaan too were right alongside. Zervan seemed to be in a comfort zone and kept the Mansoor Shah trained filly on a tight rein right through. Grande Dame travelled smoothly all the way to register the most facile victory of the day. Mable kicked on to take the runner up berth ahead of Zidaan. Arctic Minstrel came from the rear to finish a noteworthy fourth.

Tropical Zone (literally flew in the last part to clinch an interesting victory close home. Settling into the fifth position early on, Tropical Zone improved a notch as they turned for home. Star Blessings was the first in view and was hotly chased by Arabian Lord. Athos too was right behind them. Past the distance post, Arabian Lord moved ahead of Star Blessings and soon Tropical Zone looked good, coming in with a fiery final burst. He collared Arabian Lord meters from the winning post and zipped ahead to post a convincing victory. Athos did well to earn place money.

For the professionals, jockeys B Sreekanth and A Sandesh scored a double each.