D S Daman, from the new batch of apprentice riders who were let loose last week, became the the first youngster to taste the heady wine of success when steered Magansingh P Jodha-trained Sword Of Honour, owned by Her Majesty Racing Syndicate, to a superb victory in the opening race of Saturday's ten-race card. Settling Sword Of Honour well, Daman took off from the midpoint of the homestretch to assume command, and rode like a seasoned rider to sail away for his first victory. Blue Swallow with Sandesh in saddle, who received the most support to go to post as first favourite at 3/1, could just manage to finish second, nearly 3-3/4 L behind the winner.

Sandesh however immediately made amends in the next race, the Lucky Pair Plate, when he was quick to take out favourite Peppercorn and made every post along the way a winning one in a race that was reserved for unplaced three-year-old maiden horses. Trained by Faisal Abbas and owned by Ms Monisha Advani, Peppercorn accelerated well with two furlongs to go, just when National Gold and Midnight Dancer who stalked her all along had started flexing their muscles. In the final furlong, it ceased to be a race though Peppercorn did waver from straight course for a couple of strides.

The next race on the card, Sweet Dream Plate for 3y old maidens, was won in identical style by Legend Of The Seas, albeit over a mile trip. Pesi Shroff-trained Scent Of A Woman cornered most of the betting money despite the drifting odds even as Jager Bomb came in for some support to be installed a clear second favourite. By contrast, the Dallas Todywalla-trained Legend Of The Seas who had let down a large following as favourite when he raced over this same trip last time, was easily available at 5/1. D K Ashish doing duty on the Todywalla charge hit the front from the word go, and pulled away in from his rivals midway in the home stretch, with only Scent Of A Woman (Trevor up) covering some ground to finish inside a length of the winner.

Soon after, veteran trainer S S Shah led in two back to back winners to saddle a lucratively priced double. Dancing Splendour, carrying the trainer's silks, came in for sustained support to close at 11/2, and in the hands of T S Jodha, moved up from mid-bunch with a spirited gallop to sweep past the front runners in the lower division of the Racing Officials Trophy for 5y & older horses in class IV. Half an hour later, the most senior professional on the circuit sent out another winner in Concorde who, despite Trevor Patel being in saddle, ran almost friendless at 8/1 in the Bejan Bharucha Plate for bottom class horses. Trevor positioned Concorde close to the pace of the race, but had to work hard on the four-year-old colt to pass front runner Shockalot (Prasad up) who was pegged back at the finish line to third spot as J H Christopher astride Star Benevolent moved up late to grab the runner up berth.

Trevor later rode two more winners on the card--Adam and Ice Age--to emerge star professional for the day. Of the two, Adam was easily the most impressive winner of the day in the Night Crown for class III horses. Despite the Dr Vijay Mallya property trained by Pesi Shroff staying immobile in the gates for nearly one full second, Trevor was not unduly perturbed and was content to race in second last position until the turn, when he angled the Multidimensional - Adesina gelding out for a clear run. Within no time, Adam started devouring ground and swept past the field to post a comfortable victory, being eased up in the final 100 meters. The handicapper is bound to take serious note of this superlative effort.

Trevor's third win of the day came in the last race when he drove Antia-trained Ice Age carrying the Wadhawan silks to a decisive victory over favourite Capilano (C S Jodha up) in the class III, Corniche Plate over the shortest sprint. Antia had also led in another winner just a race before, in the upper division of the Racing Officials Trophy, when rank outsider from his yard, the 33/1 Burn ridden by rookie Sandeep Jadhav, hit the front and refused to relent despite a serious onslaught by Imtiaz Sait-trained National Pride on whom J H Christopher tried his level best. Ironically, as has happened many times in the past, the most backed horse in the race was another Antia-trained animal, Mountain Queen (C S Joadh up).

Another class III race, the Alvida Plate over nine furlongs, was won by Rehanullah Khan-traiend Presence whom Sandesh steered to a neck victory over Cactus Cash (B Nikhil up). There was some drama after the race as B Nikhil lodged a protest against the winner for coming in onto him at 150 meters due to which he had to come out and make a re-run. Though the verdict was a mere neck, the fact that Presence and Sandesh had clearly passed Cactus Cash at the time of the alleged interference weighed in favour of the winner who managed to retain his place on the track by a majority vote.

The Trainers' Trophy, the feature event of the card, was won by favourite La Femme Fleur trained by Janardhan, but not before her odds nearly doubled up from the ante post 65/100 to 13/10 at race time. Ridden in a copy book fashion by Neeraj Rawal, La Feeme Fleur proved too good for her rivals and posted the second victory of her career from as many starts.