The bumper ten-race card saw mixed fortunes for followers of favourites as four prime fancies obliged during the day. The biggest disappointment was Beforememoryfades who went out like a bulb at the business end. The Radha Sigtia Trophy panned out on expected lines and the finish was one of high voltage. Among the youngsters, Lancelot was the pick of the lot and he ensured a memorable day with a maiden victory that came after a powerful thrust in the final furlong saw him stretch past the front runners with awesome ease. Trainer senior man Janardhan with two well-backed winners and H J Antia, who sent out two winners at higher odds, were the only professionals to return with a dazzling double.  

Zervan clearly did a great job astride Reynolds (Glory of Dancer – Highland Ghillie) and appeared to have ‘outthought’ his counterpart NS Parmar who partnered chief rival Wentworth. The battle of wits began when they started closing in on the front-runners Mountain Force and Invictus with 800 to go. Zervan moved out as saw Wentworth on his outside. This move was just nearing the turn and by the time they straightened up for the final run, Reynolds had gained a slight upper hand over Wentworth.

Invictus by then, had sailed ahead and was shaping up nicely too. He had built a handy lead with Reynolds working his way from the second spot to inch closer. Wentworth too had progressed to be alongside Reynolds. New World, who was the last to turn for home was warming up as well. Invictus came into the final furlong with his good lead diminishing quickly as Reynolds, Wentworth and New World gaining on him at a fast clip. Somewhere at this juncture, NS Parmar made the worst mistake – dropping his whip. Zervan went for the kill and guided Reynolds home etching out a narrow win from Wentworth. Invictus ran a good race as well ending alongside the top two with New World close on their heels. Zervan did exceptionally well astride the Janardhan trained gelding.

Janardhan had earlier sent out Caruso (Juniper – Bongusto) to a similar fighting victory a race earlier where Beforememoryfades sent her strong set of supporters ruing over their wager. All was well for Beforememoryfades as  she improved to second at the turn with Caruso jammed between horses closer to the rear end of the field as they straightened up for home.

Beforememoryfades appeared to be cruising as she rose to tackle Zidaan the one to lead them all the way into the straight. However, she even found it hard to get past Zidaan, who eventually beat her back in the final run. Stormy Princess, and a couple of strides later Quest For Love both managed to overhaul surged to the front giving it all leaping towards the winning post. Caruso saved his best aptly for the last and arrived with a scorching finish. Jockey Imran Chisty was patient and stuck close to the rails and he switched lanes effectively once they straightened for home. With the clear turf ahead, Caruso gathered momentum quickly and came at them all full of steam. He surged past the scrambling lot under the shadow of the winning post thus posting his second successive victory with a flourish.  

 Lancelot (Ace – Scenic Royale) who made Hudson Hawk sweat for his maiden victory last time out, earned his first win with a devastating final run to outpace his rivals convincingly. He rose from the rear of the front bunch, from the sixth or seventh position to catch up with those in front approaching the final furlong. Debutant Assurances, who had garnered strong support at race time, improved quickly to be second behind Peppercorn in the homestretch. But before Assurances could capitalize on her handy position, Pepito and Lancelot came hard at her. Lancelot was a lot more powerful in his finish and he drew away without encountering any worthwhile challenge. However, Pepito was also peppy in his finish and deserves another chance. Assurances ended a faraway third, but this educational run may hold her in good stead for her future assignments. Faisal Abbas trained Lancelot was clearly superior on the day and was gutsy in his finish, jockey CS Jodha lighting him up just at the right juncture to return triumphant.

Wild Waves (Arabian Gulf – Nightlife) defied the one whole class penalty and romped home to his second victory on the trot with as much authority as he showed in his previous win. He justified the status of being the overwhelming favourite and notched up a facile victory, totally regardless to the cluster for the minor placing behind him. Nirbhaya showed a quick burst to lead the field coming in from the outer-most stall and led the field of twenty homewards. Wild Waves was close behind with Katniss, Umarkot, Midnight Run, Samay Balwan and Concorde in a bunch. Mateus Rose headed the second bunch trailing by a couple of lengths.

Nirbhaya guided the field homewards and soon jockey P Trevor and Wild Waves started to dominate. Umarkot, who was in the third spot, could make no progress. Wild Waves surged effortlessly past Nirbhaya to take charge and then went sailing clear to win untroubled. Wild Waves looked the clear winner long way from home. The rest were scrambling for the minor placing. Earth Orbit kicked on well to take the runner-up spot from Mateus Rose and Saturday Affair. Debutante La Tonnarella finished on impressively ending one off the frame. Considering she was slowly off and the fact this was her first run, La Tonnarella did exceptionally well in the homestretch to finish in the bunch. Last of 20 and a rough passage all through, yet she managed to get noticed at the wire. She surely is one to watch for in her next.

Glorious Opinion (Glory of Dancer – Ippodamia) carved out a narrow win to the thrill of his numerous supporters. The hot favourite was given a real scare in the final 100 meters as Queen made a strong bid to steal the spoils away.

Wish Upon a Star led them into the straight and galloped on well. Glorious Opinion had to give it his all to catch up with the leader. As he was doing so, Queen produced on the outside, started to accelerate and got alongside Glorious Opinion with less than a 100 to go. Jockey A Sandesh rode out powerfully and just managed to thwart the lively bid posted by Queen and earn his maiden winning bracket after a really long wait. This was his 20^th attempt and success finally came his way.

Trainer Hormuz Antia saddled a high-return double starting off with the day’s first race itself. Both won their respective races with the ‘take-jump-hit-front’ command. Antia’s ward Armel (Diffident – Sensuality) shot out of the gates and soon established a comfortable lead all the way into the straight.

Once in the homestretch, jockey Hanumant Singh kept working on Armel and with constantly use of whip stayed ahead of the rest to register a comfortable whip. Jockey Hanumant Singh has been riding winners now and then this season and it’s nice to see him back into winning form after several seasons. He seems to have found his touch back in Antia’s stables and the trainer too has had no hesitation in providing opportune mounts to this once top jockey who found the going hard after a serious fall some years back.

Antia’s Star Prince (Noverre – Ring of Kerry) did not have it as easy as he had to fight hard to keep owner-mate Aromatica at bay. To Star Prince’s credit, he picked himself up after Aromatica seemed to have had the measure and headed him. But jockey Ranjane who also has been striking now and then, persisted with Star Prince and managed to wrest back the initiative on the wire.

Star Prince and Aromatica were up in front with Ghanghorr tagging behind. Once in the straight, Star Prince held a slight advantage over Aromatica looming large on his outside. Ghanghorr was stuck on the inner rails and just could not get the opportunity to wriggle free. Meanwhile, Aromatica went ahead of Star Prince who was fighting hard to stay in contention. Jen’s Glory was improving and getting closer to the fighting pair. Star Prince lunged forward in the final fifty and managed to raise her game to effectively snatch victory on the last couple of strides to win with a slender margin. Jen’s Glory and Ghanghorr followed them close behind with Walk of Life improving towards the end to be one off the frame, emerging from the tail end of the field.

Rubens (Glory of Dancer – Kalahari) made ample amends for his last start failure and was another one to compile a start to finish victory. Getting off the blocks in a flash, Rubens dictated the terms right from the beginning and was well clear of his rivals all through. Once in the straight, he was even stronger and favourite Asahi who improved to second for a brief moment made no impact on Rubens. The Narendra Lagad ward slipped further away working up a nice finishing action to draw away and compile a very comfortable victory. Arusha ran on from way behind and did notably well to finish second ahead of Establish Predator.

Thunder Star (Ace – Dreaming) was another one who notched up his maiden victory and this was his 13^th start. Trained by veteran trainer Ivor Fernandes, Thunder star was ably ridden by jockey Ashhad Asbar to sneak through and land the spoils late in the straight.

Settling down in the third spot behind Capilano and Mt Tianmen Thunder Star had some distance to cover once they entered the homestretch. Capilano managed to shake off Mt Tianmen and went sailing out in front, establishing a handy lead midway in the straight. Thunder Star was still about four lengths adrift approaching the distance post. In a spirited final surge, jockey Ashhad Asbar brought Thunder Star alive in the final fifty and caught Capilano a stride or two from the winning post. Thunder Star came like a bolt from the blue to forge his head in front at the wire. Mambo Magic kicked on to pip Mt Tianmen for the place money.  

Mansoor Shah trained Hidden Asset (Footstepsinthesand – Thorns of Life) shrugged off a late scare from Grand Duke and allowance claiming jockey GS Prasad did his bit to ensure there were no last moment shock.  Hitting the front soon on settling down, Hidden Asset dictated the terms all the way into the straight.

With 400 to go, Hidden Asset was well clear of the rest with Flying Eagle not quickening at all to make any impact. Grand Duke who was a bit too far behind started to poke through horses and surfaced alongside Flying Eagle gaining ground with every stride. Hidden Asset still had ample in the kitty and looked in the safe zone. Grand Duke accelerated tremendously in the last 100 and covered considerable ground, but fell short by an inch to topple Hidden Asset. Apprentice lad SG Prasad played a safe hand and did well to go all out all the way. This lad is surely showing good temperament and plenty of riding talent and his progress is to be closely watched. Hidden Asset nosed the wire just in time to triumph in a awfully close call.