After the huge success of the McDowell Signature Indian Derby last Sunday, the Jains along with Mr Byramjee Jeejeebhoy showcased another scintillating day at the Mahalaxmi racecourse. Celebs such as Kangana Ranawat and Diana Hayden punctuated the afternoon that had some lilting music and dapper dancing entertaining the racing patrons. An art exhibition-cum-sale, proceeds of which went to the Pink Filly initiative taken up by the NGO Passages, a dedicated unit that extends help to breast cancer patients, added immense value to the day.

Pesi Shroff trained Amelia (Multidimensional – Adamile) who had superbly readjusted to the shorter sprint, yet again emerged victorious over western India’s premier sprint race – The Dr SC Jain Sprinters’ Championship (Gr2).

Dancing Phoenix set off at a lively pace and was travelling extremely well into the straight. Weizhou and Ishpingo were right behind him with Amelia playing it safe on the outside. Rosie Sunshine was tucked in on the inner railings and the others followed close behind with Mariinsky at the tail end of the field.

Dancing Phoenix marched on as Amelia gathered momentum with 400 to go. Rosie Sunshine was not picking up as she usually does and was found wanting approaching the distance post. Mariinsky had to weave her way between horses and that hampered her smooth progress. She had to be checked a couple of times before she found ground clearance. However, Amelia was at her best. She was in full flight in the final furlong as jockey Zervan got her going and Amelia in her finishing gallop proved adequately equipped with raw speed. She zipped past Dancing Phoenix to stretch out impressively to lunge at the winning post to earn the best sprinter title on the western India circuit. Mariinsky had to be content with the runner-up slot. The two Shroff-schooled fillies may lock horns again in both the Sprinters’ and the Super Mile during the Invitation Cup weekend on 1^st and 2^nd March at Hyderabad.

Rosie Sunshine failed to make the frame, but only just. She had the chance to prove her class, but she failed to live up to the expectations. She was racing on the rails all the way and in the final furlong was highly fortunate to get a lovely opening in front when Dancing Phoenix shifted out. Rosie Sunshine squandered the chance as she didn’t quicken well enough to shoot through. Dancing Phoenix on the other hand, ran a commendable third, while Ishpingo too ended a good fourth, scraping through to finish ahead of Rosie Sunshine in a cluster-finish.

The Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Eclipse Stakes of India (Gr2), one of the oldest and prestigious races on the turf also saw an exciting finish. After dictating the pace all through, Montezuma retired after guiding them all into the straight. Master Shifu soon took over and tried to steal a march. To The Manor Born did not let him get too far away as Neeraj shifted into top gear and went after the leader. Toroloco too flexed his muscles as he mounted his challenge. Toroloco was taking his time in going for the final kill, but on the long Mahalaxmi straight, one had all the time to do so, provided he had it in him to stage a recovery in the latter half. Toroloco (Rebuttal – Miss beautiful) certainly did!

Meanwhile, up ahead, To The Manor Born had got alongside Master Shifu and even nosed ahead with a furlong to go. Both were hard at work and fighting stride for stride. Toroloco was lurking behind and made his final surge just in time. He gathered momentum and in the final 100 meters, ambushed the two in front to race ahead in the nick of time! Toroloco had done his master proud and his ecstatic trainer Irfan Ghatala was a picture of pure joy, leading in his first winner at the Mahalaxmi racecourse.

“I have waited for this moment for a really long while. The joy is boundless. I don’t think he took time to acclimatize here in Mumbai. He was up against top opposition and I was not too disappointed by his two earlier runs. Although he was giving weight all around, I was confident he would do well on the day. He is a genuine horse and has been consistent as well. I am delighted with this victory and I hope he has earned his nomination for the Invitation Cup,” said trainer Irfan Ghatala.

Montreal (Phoenix Tower – Anmol) stretched his winning streak to five on the trot and this one was a well compile hat-trick for the season. The Cooji Katrak trainee who was backed down to 6/4 at race time, won stylishly and in the most emphatic manner.

Montreal was well behind leader Negotiator, Hidden Goodness and the anti post favourite Trance until the turn. Negotiator led them into the straight with his long lead cut down considerably. Trance tried hard to get past, but failed to quicken and speed off. Negotiator held Trance alright, but had no answer when Montreal came at them pounding hard on the turf. Sandesh only had to guide Montreal and in the final furlong they drew away to score a facile victory.

Sandesh followed this up with another victory astride Locarno (Footstepsinthesand – Penthouse Serenade) guiding the Mansoor Shah ward to his maiden win. It all looked easy for Locarno as he sailed into the lead through the rails after leader Peppercorn went wide at the turn.

Once into the lead, Locarno started to build on it. There She Goes ran green and was not progressing in the straight. Locarno looked set for a runaway victory as he had a substantial lead coming into the final furlong. However, Simply Divine and Draco started to gain considerable ground in the latter stages and the long lead came in handy for Locarno to keep the pair at bay.

Simply Divine is the one to watch out for in her next outing. Draco too is one for the notebook. Both have had a good educational run and should come out of the maiden ranks before long.

Zurich (Alnasr Alwasheek-Cilldara), schooled by Mallesh Narredu justified the favouritism in the Y.M.Choudhry Memorial Trophy, a seven furlongs race for 3 year old maiden horses. Royal Passion got to the front of the seven runners early in the race and tried to hold the advantage till the end. Discourse was in hot chase throughout the straight but the effort was just not enough to collar the leader. Zurich in the meanwhile was alighted to the task from the outside and the chestnut colt began to veer out under pressure. Jockey Y.S.Srinath pulled out the stick from the left to give a couple of stern backhanders to correct the drift and with a sustained gallop Zurich flew past Royal Passion to spare a length at the finish. Discourse finished third.

Trisara (Verglas - Tapioca) carved out a hard-fought victory to win the Hello! Classic, warding off a stiff challenge from Victoria Falls. The top-two fancied horses were going hammer and tongs in an engaging battle through the final furlong. Trisara was in the lead with Victoria Falls gaining on her. Oriental Rocky too was in the reckoning at that stage, but he fell back after receiving a check at that crucial stage.

Zervan was at his best and so was Trevor atop Victoria Falls. In a gripping finish, Trisara held her nerves and wrested the final verdict warding off the challenger by the proverbial skin of the teeth. Oriental Rocky had reasons to lodge an objection against Victoria Falls, which Kavraj did, but the Stewards ruled to disallow the protest.

Hudson Hawk (Black Cash – Wikhed Idea) lived up to the promise he had shown in his first start. He justified the top billing he received and capitalized on a good start leading them all the way. In the straight, Lancelot was the only challenger as Himalayan Dancer could not sustain after being close to the two all the way until the final 300 meters. Hudson Hawk and Lancelot pulled away with the former always enjoying the upper hand. Lancelot tried hard to make a race of it, but Hudson Hawk was superior and held his ground at the wire.  

Just By Chance (Placerville – Age of Fable) recorded his first win bagging the Kika-Koko Trophy with a measure of comfort. The tote favourite settled in the fifth spot behind leader Dream Yuga, Indispensable, Highway Express and Argyle Pink at the turn.

Argyle Pink poked through the front runners to lead briefly. Just By Chance then started to surge ahead and had a good momentum going. He put in a strong gallop to sail away approaching the distance post. Balinga warmed up and started to look prominent, but Just By chance kicked on gamely to deny him any chance of toppling him. Just by Chance sustained her rein all the way to pull of a comfortable victory. Balinga had to be content with the next best slot, while Argyle Pink finished in the money. Feast of Love ran on to snatch a place in the frame, and considering she had lost some ground at the start, this was a reasonably good finish.

Shygirl (Mr Mellon – Hygirl) surfaced from the rear to pull off a sensational victory to land the Dr Jagjit Singh Owners’ Tribute Million in a dramatic finish. It all happened with the blink of an eye in the final furlong and the cavalry charge at the finish was incredible.

Antartica Zone set the tone with at blistering pace and led the long field into the straight. Shygirl was not sighted at this stage. Antartica Zone was truly ahead with Four Star General in chase. Cosmic Dancer, The Magician, Wiki Wiki and Angel In The Sky were all looking prominent and ready to pounce on the leader approaching the distance post. Yet there was no sign of either Shygirl or Phelps. This duo was at the wrong end of the field all the way into the straight.

Once into the final furlong, with Antartica Zone stubbornly trying to hold on to the lead, Shygirl with YS Srinath astride came swooping down with a scintillating burst. She covered a lot of ground in the last 100 meters and shocked the field to land the spoils. Phelps’ commendable finish almost went unnoticed. Phelps too made a superb dash to finish on extremely well, but narrowly failed to match Shygirl’s brilliance.

S.N.Joshi trained Ucheshrawa (Ikhtyar-Dam I’M Gorgeous), winless from fourteen starts finally made it to the winner’s enclosure under P.S.Chouhan in the Sprungli Plate, the opening race of the day. The filly was lethargic as the gates opened and Chouhan did not hurry with her. Heading straight to the fence, Ucheshrawa settled off the pace. As the field started to straighten up, Ucheshrawa was gradually pulled out and with a remarkable turn of foot downed Malkia close to the winning post. Fleetwod Mac ended up a close third after a valiant effort.

For the professionals, trainers Pesi Shroff and SK Sunderji saddled a double each. A Sandesh led the jockeys with three winners, while jockeys YS Srinath and S Zervan scored a double each.