Mariinsky’s Classic Conquest, a couple of new kids on the block, and a record-breaking sprint was how the Deltin Casinos Indian 1000 Guineas day panned out on Sunday. Such kind of filling would certainly inspire any racing enthusiast and take the sport of horseracing to the zenith of excitement.

Way Out (Exceed And Excel – Farrfesheena) scorched the turf at the Mahalaxmi racecourse and smashed the course record (57.78) set by Bullseye in February this year. Way Out went out at a cracking pace and Victorious March did commendably well too to stick close to the winner right through.

Entering the straight, Way Out was travelling easily with Victorious March on her tail. She was showing good acceleration and jockey Sandesh wasn’t exactly vigorous in his handling the CD Katrak filly. Showing alarming maturity and dazzling speed, Way Out stayed ahead warding off Victorious March who went all out to topple the winner. At the end, Way Out steered clear sparing a length at the wire, looking totally in command all the way. Victorious March was gallant in defeat in this record breaking run and returned a worthy runner-up. Port Blair labored his way to take the third spot with Deep Diver covering ground late to fill the frame.

Needless to say, Way Out is extremely talented and will stretch her streak of wins. She has already compiled an impressive hat-trick between Pune and Mumbai. The effortless win on the long Mahalaxmi straight pitches Way Out high among the current lot of juveniles, and when she matures with more experience, she will surely develop into a top class sprinter.

Amazing Grace (Hurricane Run – Efrhina) owned by Dr Vijay Mallya, was given the grueling mile-and-quarter trip to showcase her talent on the turf the first time out. This is not an uncommon practice, especially with trainer Pesi Shroff, as he applies his own shrewd mind as he has done in the past with Colossus and Hamlet when they were rookies. Amazing Grace was sent out the first favourite (18/10) and boy, did she justify that faith!

Dreams of You led the field early on and galloped at a steady pace. Amazing Grace ambled along in the mid-bunch with jockey Trevor choosing to stay on the outside and taking caution not to get into any traffic problems. Trevor began to improve positions after the half way mark and when Dreams of You turned the final curve, he had Amazing Grace in good position from where to make final run. Dreams of You galloped on, but was tiring towards the end. Amazing Grace opened up approaching the 400 started to gather momentum and devoured ground at a brisk rate. She looked the winner as she stormed past Dreams of You and stretched out nicely to post a confident and effortless victory. The manner of victory was highly impressive and it may not come as a surprise if the connections decide to place her in the Indian Oaks as Amazing Grace has shown immense depth in her staying abilities and a dash of class to go with it.

War Command (Ace – Sure Future) is always one with a future, his erratic ways in the final furlong notwithstanding. Both War Command and Kazuri were joint favourites garnering the maximum waging in the ring. True to the trend, the duo stood out in the race as well.

Kazuri was out quickly from the gates and led them into the straight. War Command moved past Himalayan Dancer with ease and set about in chase of Kazuri. Just when it looked like it was curtains for the long time leader, War Command ran green and started to drift outward. Zervan saw a chance here and egged Kazuri back into the lead. He went all out and was heading to the winning post, when jockey Franco Dasilva gathered War Command and renewed his attack. War Command then flew past Kazuri to score a thundering victory on debut.

Kazuri would benefit from this educative outing and will be a force to reckon with in a maiden set. War Command certainly showed that he has some class factor in him and his next run will spell a lot out. I for one, felt he may have found the scurry a touch sharp and will do better over the middle distance for now.

Manyatta (Rebuttal – Picture Show) won the Ranjit V Bhat Memorial Gold Cup with a sizzling final-furlong run. The 7/4 favourite did faced tense moments at a crucial juncture when he was blocked for space coming into the last 200 meters.  Myla Rose led them well into the straight with Papakura on the outside and Mayatta sticking to the inner rails. Just as Papakura started to wobble, Zervan pounced on the chance and sped ahead to tail Myla Rose. Manyatta who was looking for room found the passage shut when Scarlet Pimpernel progressed to challenge Myla Rose. Jockey Suraj Narredu literally pulled out Manyatta and set about dishing out her final fury.

Myla Rose kicked on, egged by jockey Akash Agarwal and Scarlet Pimpernel was tagging along. Suraj lit up Manyatta the M Narredu ward galloped resolutely, as if coming at them with a vengeance. Once he unleashed his final run freely, Manyatta gobbled the pair in front to score a raging victory getting them close home.

Incentio (Diffident – Orient Dance) made ample amends in the hands of jockey Satish Nayak, who put everything into it and staved off a serious challenge from Fortune-ridden Ultrasonic Incentio, on a start to finish mission, showed good speed to hit the front. Favourite Trisara was in trouble right from the start after she was passed by most of the runners cornering her to the rails. Incentio carried on his good work and stormed into the straight with a slender lead that looked tricky to hold to right through.

Past the distance post, Incentio was hard at work with Ultrasonic threateningly close on the outside. Que Sera Sera too was a live threat looming right behind and the others too gaining ground. Satish Nayak held his nerve and pushed with vigour saving the day for Incentio. Ultrasonic finished breathing down the winner’s neck, with the others finishing in a cluster. Gloria was the pick of the lot. She finished on fastest and rose from the dead last position to fling herself for the third place. Victoria Falls too ended fast and it would be worthy to keep her in mind over a slightly longer distance.

Song of Africa (Sussex – Arabian Shuffle) was another one on the day to make every post a winning one. He took off in a trice and led them into the straight with Victorious Cause and New Star on his tail. Once into the straight, Song of Africa accelerated further away from Victorious Cause but New Star was gearing up to challenge. Jockey Kavraj Singh put in a determined effort to thwart the challenge and in the last few strides stayed ahead to notch up a deserving win.

Ashwa Yodhaa (Razeen – Allosaki) finally got the sweet taste of victory on her 30^th attempt over three years! He had to give it his all though as Laurus Tikati took charge and galloped further away in the straight to work up a handy lead. Ashwa Yodhaa however, replied with a game gallop and arrived with all guns blazing in the final 100 to snatch victory close home.

Zoe (European – Sacred Dreams) was another one who pulled off victory after a long wait. She took half the number of outings as Ashwa Yodhaa and scored her maiden victory on her 15^th outing. Follow Me did all the initial running and looked set to make her presence felt all the way. She was well ahead approaching the distance post when Zoe wriggled out from the rails. Once she got a clear run, Zoe gathered momentum and produced a strong finish to overwhelm Follow Me close home. Arabian Queen came up with a spirited run to finish ahead of Follow Me to take the runner up spot. Lucky Red ended fourth without making any serious impact on the top three.    

For the professionals, Pesi Shroff was the lone trainer to saddle a double. Jockeys A Sandesh and P Trevor scored a double each.