The four-four race match between the Singapore and Indian Apprentice Jockeys culminated with honours shared as each team won two races, however, in the overall points aggregate, Team India emerged clear winners logging 90 points against 74 by Team Singapore. Saddam Hussain, the young apprentice jockey from Bangalore, was the most consistent accumulating 36 out of the 90 points that India scored. He deservedly won the ‘Silver Whip’ that was awarded to the highest scorer.

“I am extremely happy and this is a big landmark in my short career. Winning races is a thrill in itself however winning representing the country is another high altogether.  Holding this Indian tri-colour is a pride in itself and I shall cherish this moment all my life. I also thank RWITC, the BTC and the Singapore Turf Club for making this possible. Our team was highly motivated and we all were keen to do well. I was feeling right on top. The Mumbai crowd was so sportive and highly vocal and their loud cheering really got me going. That was another happy feeling. This was my first trip to Mumbai and believe me I am taking the best memories back with me,” said an emotionally charged Saddam.

Saddam scored his first victory on the Mumbai track and in the contest atop Holiday Dancer (Ontario – Speckled Band, owned by M/s Haresh and Manav Mehta and trained by Mansoor Shah. He rode a patient race over the sprint, as he kept his cool when Laurus Pride and Ceasarina were up in front in the homestretch. His wait rewarded him with a wide opening and he simply had to take the generous gap to come right alongside Laurus Pride past the distance post. Some hard pushing and a couple of cracks had Holiday Dancer sprinting ahead in the final 100 to sail clear thereafter and win convincingly. Saddam proudly held the Indian Flag high as he waited for the connections for the lead-in.

Hachiko (Noverre – Indira) galloped to his 7th win from 13 starts and made it three-in-a-row with this victory in the Maharaja Sir Rajendrasinghji Trophy (Gr3). The Vijay Shirke owned four-year-old dark bay gelding trained by MK Jadhav, was at his scintillating best winning over the mile trip for the first time in his career. Not in the betting in the morning odds, Hachiko was backed with solid confidence and closed a 7/2 at race time. That made him the first favourite!

Blue Ace made the early running with Hemisphere changing tactics to be up in front in second. Hachiko settled in third with Amadeus on the outside. Manyatta was in the rear with Star of Gibraltar who too planned his run differently, settling in the rear.

Hemisphere galloped past Blue Ace soon on turning for home but had Hachiko and Manyatta ready to pounce on him. He delayed the inevitable until the final furlong. By then, Hachiko had picked up momentum and was progressing well. Manyatta too was closing in and making a fight of it. Hachiko looked more in command and carried on his good work to dish out another commendable victory by edging out the fighting Manyatta. Hemisphere ended close behind these two and Star of Gibraltar came from the last position to end in the frame.

Singapore apprentice WL Tan partnered Sherlock Holmes (Warrshan – Associate), owned by Dr Tarita Shankar & Mr Chetan Wakalkar. The Dallas Todywalla ward scored his second successive victory Tan leading them all right from the start and winning the significant Indi-Singapore Apprentice Champions Trophy.

Sherlock Holmes led them in but was soon challenged by Mountain Warrior. Under Pressure, he started drifting out considerably. Sherlock Holmes and Mountain Warrior fought on grimly but the shift left a wide gap. Quando Quando was last to turn, but he found his rhythm and started covering a lot of ground. Tan was working hard to come to grip and halt the away drift and he just managed to get Sherlock Holmes on even kneel just in time. Once in control, he got Sherlock to produce his sizzling best and romped home with a terrific last burst. Quando Quando ended a good second and Glorious Opinion ran on to finish a close third.

Jockey A Sandesh who rode Hachiko to win, was in top form and returned with an alarming four winners in the day. He started his roll in the day’s first race itself, when he rode hot favourite Snow Flake (Black Cash – Deeleecious) victory over the seven-furlong race.  Snow Flake settled back in the field led by Prince Arius. Following Prince Arius close were Laurus Tikati, Star Builder, Glowing Mist and Polar Zone was making his run on the inner rails. Hot As Ice was dead last at the turn.

Laurus Tikati easily got the measure of the leader and just when he started think about capitalizing on his lead, Snow Flake flashed on the scene to take it away from him. Snow Flake was fast and furious as he stormed ahead coming into the final furlong. Laurus Tikati fought on but found the winner too good. Hot As Ice picked up speed in the latter half of the straight and made a bold bid to topple the front runners. That effort came far too late but he did gain a lot of ground and managed to finish alongside the runner-up Laurus Tikati. There was no touching Snow Flake with the kind of run he produced early in the straight and sustained it all the way to notch his maiden victory in his 11^th start.

The Dallas-Sandesh combination struck again in the very next race with Sharaarat (Ace – Shamaal). The speedy bottom weight did not rush this time and let Wings of Glory do the initial running with Albuurz and Saints N Sinners close behind the leader. Sharaarat was running on the rails with only Mable behind her.

Sharaarat slipped in through the rails to tackle Wings of Glory and get to the front. Saints N Sinners was moving up from the outside.   Wings of Glory started to drift outside to took Saints N Sinners along. Mable got a wide opening but failed to quicken. Sharaarat was scorching the field and tore away from the rest. Sharaarat won authoritatively and coasted to a superlative victory. Wings of Glory beat Saints N Sinners for the second, but an objection by the rider of Saints N Sinners for taking his ground was upheld by the stewards and Saints N Sinners was awarded the second spot.

Sandesh polished off the day with guiding home Negredo (Noverre – Darsiyma) to an easy victory. Sandesh had little do Negredo surfaced from the mid-bunch to collar leader Blue Casper approaching the distance post. Negredo came up with gigantic strides to outpace and outclass her hapless rivals and showed that she was far superior to her opponents. He drew away adding turf between her and the others to post a easiest victory of the day. Domain Anna ran on to beat Blue Casper for the second slot while Run Like The Wind emerged from the rear to grab the fourth spot.

Colossus, who taken to win in the small field of three, lost out to Hidden Goodness in a surprisingly thrilling race, considering only three horses were in the fray. The on-money favourite got past Honest Pleasure to lead the field all the way into the straight. Soon thereafter, Honest Pleasure challenged Colossus and as the two were engaged in a long drawn battle, Hidden Goodness a ten to one shot, snatched the lead. Honest Pleasure was under pressure as was Colossus. A bit of jostle occurred but Hidden Goodness pulled off a fair victory.  

The fact that Colossus never looked out of the hunt and that he re ran to recover lost ground to Hidden Goodness prompted Zervan to lodge an objection. The stewards went through the formalities and soon overruled the objection.

Trainer SS Shah picked up his second winner in the very next race with Anahi (Black Cash – Le Reve) in the top class Hyderabad Race Club Trophy, beating favourite Monza to second. Settling into second after taking a quick jump, jockey P Trevor eased Anahi past leader Weizhou soon on turning for home. Déjà vu was giving too much weight around and just could not even make a fight of it. Monza improved along the rails but by then, Anahi had stretched out to a handy lead. Anahi, without being pressed too much, notched her second successive victory in style sparing over a length to Monza. Visionist did well to run a close third.    

Debutant Highraz (Razeen – Altitude) rose to dizzy heights with a power-packed finish that was enough to floor favourite Bright Lady close home and claim the JD & Peggy Banatwalla Trophy. Zoraavar shot into the lead early in the mile long race and set a decent pace. Bright Lady settled in third alongside Cyclopes while Highraz was at the tail end of the field, along with Muntasir.

Bright Lady reduced Zoraavar’s sizable lead past the 400 and went smoothly ahead. Just when it appeared that she would carry on her good work, Bright Lady drifted out badly. At that very juncture, Highraz got into top gear and gathered top speed to come at Bright Lady in a flash. Cyclopes tried to go through the generous gap he had found, but failed to accelerate the way he would have liked to. Highraz was on fire in the last few strides and he zipped ahead to impress on debut. The blaze that the Imtiaz Sait trainee showed in her final run is an indication that she is something special and worth watching in Pune.  The outward drift did Bright Lady in else she too ran a good race.

For the professionals, Sandesh was the pick with his quadruple and jockey P Trevor scored a brace. Trainer Dallas Todywalla saddled three winners while SS Shah and Mansoor Shah returned with two winners each.