Thursday’s races saw a 50:50 result between favourites and non favourites. Four of the day’s eight races were won by prime fancies. The trend setter was jockey A Sandesh who scored a well fought victory atop Gararo (The Lady’s Groom – Cucina Cucina), shaking off a determined Captain Smart and the fast finishing Arabian Glory.

Captain Smart led soon on start and Gararo was quick to get into good position alongside Walking Tall with Star Blessings and Arabian Glory tracking them a length behind. 

Captain Smart quickened well and moved further ahead on turning for home. Sandesh got to work on Gararo and with a fair bit of coxing, moved to challenge the leader at the distance post. A brief tussle ensued but Gararo was looming large and it was a matter of time before he surged forward and dash away. Arabian Glory finished on fast, but the effort went in vain as he was too late on the scene and failed to even nail Captain Smart. Had he made his charge a bit early and sustained the same speed, the story may have been different.

Sandesh next partnered hot favourite Mon Ami (Burden of Proof – Wild Rezonution) and rode his heart out to win in a close call. Sandesh proved that if you have a horse under you, on this Mumbai straight, you could come from any position and yet make it to the winning post.  Mon Ami had jumped out awkwardly and Sandesh eased him into a rhythm and let him settle down calmly. He was second last early on and quite a distance from the real action.

Tell Me More led them into the straight and was kicking on. Oriental Sapphire improved to be second and soon took charge past the final furlong mark. Mon Ami was gradually improving and in the last 100 meters, Sandesh went all out in chase of the leader. Mon Ami responded with a terrific turn of foot and just managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The Rehanullah Khan trainee thrilled his large number of backers as he flew in the final few trides to get the nod right. Arabian Fighter was impressive too. He came with a late bid after weaving through traffic and did extremely well to end a good third. Watch him in his next outing.

Bizarro (Noverre – The phenomenon) was Sandesh’s third success and he beat a good set of opponents to land the spoils. Here again his riding mattered as he timed his finish to good result. Chemin De Fer led them into the straight and but for Lake Paradise the rest were closely huddled. Chemin De Fer was reluctant to give his lead away when Papakura challenged him. Sumo poked through and took a rough passage between the two, while Sandesh lit up Bizarro from the outside. It looked a battle between Sumo and Bizarro with the latter having a thin upper hand. Neath rushed in with a late charge and the finish was exciting. Bizarro, firing on all cylinders just got home with Neath and Sumo breathing down his neck.

Distant Promise (Mr Mellon – Over The Ocean) too won in a close finish involving three other rivals in a thriller. Miracle of Mercy brought the field home and led them well into the straight. Victoire and Ptolemy were quick to pounce on the leader at the distance post. Distant Promise was making gradual progress and inching his way closer to the front. He had still some ground to cover when Victoire, Ptolemy and Reinstate were disputing the lead. Distant Promise, ridden ably by Trevor, gathered good speed in the last 100 meters to collar the trio in front and score a brilliant victory. Victoire, Reinstate and Ptolemy finished closely in an exciting four-horse finish.

The RJ Khola Trophy was an erratically run race as most of the maiden three year old were running green. The worst effected in the melee in the homestretch was Gitano. Alejor, the start to finish winner too was guilty of drifting outwards despite being in charge all the way. Veena’s Star too was drifting in and out. Gitano, at a crucial stage, got caught in a jam and had to wait, jockey Ashhad Asbar was undecided for crucial moment before swinging his mount to the inner rails. Alejor  kept up his good work and had a good tempo going and ensure that he lasted out the full course.

Gitano was unlucky and should take a few pluses from this race and should rue his luck in getting entangled in traffic at a crucial stage and not enough ground to make amends. Ace Connection would have had a good educative run and will perform better next time out. He still has some way to go, but this run will nevertheless bring him on. Veena’s Star had all the chance to topple Alejor, but she failed to quicken and didn’t keep a straight course.

Blessed (Hymn – Solid Selection) finally came good and scored her maiden victory after 17 previous attempts. Celsius showed good speed to improve from the fifth or sixth spot to challenge long time leader Rein In Spain at the distance post. Celsius surged past the leader and appeared to have enough in hand to see him through. Blessed made a terrific forward dash in the last 100 meters to nose the wire just in time to peg back Celsius a stride from the winning post. Rein In Spain ended earning place money.

Pumba (Ikhtyar – Cape Africa) finally broke the shackles and made it to the winners’ enclosure. His victory was hard earned. The race came to a boil when the small field of six entered the homestretch with Money For Nothing leading them in and then falling back as Jocelyn took over. Jocelyn shaped well for her final run and sped away. Pumba came with a solid run to challenge Jocelyn. The duo fought out the latter half of the straight, both going neck and neck. Nina Lalvani trained Pumba with Amyn Merchant astride was relentless and in the final moments and just got that little extra out to beat Jocelyn by the shortest of margins.

Sherlock Holmes (Warrshan – Associate) won the last race of the day in a convincing manner. He got to the front soon on straightening up and rocketed past early leader Wind of the Hills. Krypton tried hard for a brief moment but was no match to the new leader. Dancing Splendour warmed up and made a genuine bid to topple the Dallas Todywalla trainee, but Sherlock Holmes had a good momentum going and the bid from Dancing Splendour came far too late. Sherlock Holmes held on by half a length. Moon Raker was looking to make a lively bid, but could not sustain as required.

Jockey A Sandesh returned with a splendid treble. He was the only professional to score more than once in the day.