The 31^st day of the Mumbai Meeting saw two new champions crowned in the juvenile category. It was the fillies that lined up first for the Forbes Breeders’ Juvenile Fillies Championship (Gr3). Starry Eyes (Multidimensional – Pricewise) had the best credentials and the form to match, which she duly displayed on the track. The CD Katrak trained filly, jointly owned by Dr YK Hamied, Mr Atul N Amersey & Kamil Hamied, was the hot favourite at half-money. Her performance was praiseworthy as she won easing up despite drifting out considerably in the final furlong. That perhaps was the only flaw Starry Eyes could be held guilty for. Nevertheless, Starry Eyes dominated the homestretch and looked a winner from the moment jockey David Allan gave her the go.

Seductress made the early pace as she moved freely in front. Starry Eyes settled in fourth behind Circle Of Life and Indian Touch on the rails. Seductress faded away when Circle Of Life came to snatch the lead away from her. Soon Starry Eyes appeared, she galloped full of steam and David Allan just had to niggle her on to storm ahead. She easily sailed past Circle Of Life, the latter working hard to remain in contention. Here’s where Starry Eyes failed to keep a straight course and started drifting out. However, she had a lot left in the tank when Allan gave her a strike or two trying to correct her drift. Starry Eyes thereafter rocketed ahead and won easing up. She last few strides were in cruise mode and implied that she has the right mix of speed and stamina. She could easily get the longer trips too.

Janis Jay ran a good second coming from the rear peg back Circle Of Life to take the runner-up berth. She too made her bid from the wider outside and covered a lot of ground to finish well. Circle Of Life’s was a good effort, as she always ran up with the pace and had enough left to pick up the place money. Indian Touch too was well up right through, but did not make much progress in the final stages. 

Falcon (Razeen – Tarnished Lady) ridden ably by DK Ashish seemed to have sported a pair of wings as he flew in the latter half of the homestretch to speed past Scenic Warrior and score a surprisingly facile victory to clinch the Shapoorji Pallonji Breeders’ Juvenile Colts Championship (Gr3) in good style.

Falcon and Celtic King were the market fancies and both were quoted just under 3/1 in the betting ring. It was Mars who set the pace at a decent clip, a trifle slower than the fillies’ a race earlier. The ones behind him were closely bunched with Falcon occupying a spot in the clustered mid-bunch. Celtic King was badly positioned towards the rear and hopelessly stuck on the rails.

Mars guided the field home and marched on for a few strides more. Scenic Warrior came up showing some spirit and grabbed the lead from his owner-mate. Soon Falcon warmed up and came at the new leader working up tremendous acceleration and shot past Scenic Warrior with dominant strides. Once into the lead, Falcon consolidated and sped away to bring about an impressive victory for his owner Mr Jaydev Mody. Mr Mody had a share in the ones that finished third and fourth as well namely Bombardier and Celtic King. Both Bombardier and Celtic King came from a long way back and through rough passage to do well to find a place in the frame.

It was a double delight for the Usha Stud Farm as both Starry Eyes and Falcon were bred at the Usha Stud Farm. Starry Eyes surely was more impressive than Falcon, however, Falcon had encountered a tougher set of opponents and run a rougher race.