"Its like Mumbai has returned to normal" screamed a regular at the Mahalaxmi. "I felt a sense of relief" said another as the horses returned to the track after what seemed an eternal sojourn. "The arrangements a re adequate, and kudos to the Club for doing so much in so little time" said a prominent member. The horses, as expected felt completely at home and ran true to form. Seven clear first favorites obliged as a result of which all the pools was long queues for collection of winnings. The punters had a lucrative day and the tote machines were clinking throughout the day. The RWITC Committee had, in a thoughtful and touching gesture, had coined a special race – The Mumbai Martyrs' Memorial Trophy in honour of the brave souls who laid their lives during the November terror attacks. Major General RK Hooda, AVSM, General Officer Commanding, MG & G Area, graced the race course and presented the said trophy. Angels Glory (Warrshan – Slide By) did her reputation no harm when she galloped resolutely to win the Sir Charles Forbes Trophy Div I effortlessly. Settling in the third, after Appreciate led the way and behind Flames of Fire, Angels Glory (Srinath) collared the front runners soon after the final turn. Srinath had little to do for much of the homestretch, however, past the distance post, the filly started to drift out. Srinath gave her a couple of corrective cracks while maintaining a safe distance form the chasers. Arkhos ran a good second while Generalissimo came in from the last to pip more fancied Feet of Flames for the third. Angels Glory won comfortably without being stretched and is shaping into a fiery sprinter. The winner was bred at the Ruia Stud and bred by Madras Stud & Agricultural Farms. Aurora Aurealis (Indictment – Indescrition) bred at the Nanoli Stud, however, didn't have it as easy in the Div II of the race. Adopting her usual start-to-finish style, Aurora Aurealis was comfortably ahead till the final 100 m and looked an easy winner. However, Spica who was last at the start, had been weaving her way through the field but was still a good three lengths behind Aurora Aurealis with just half a furlong to go. Spica warmed up late and came with a sustained final gallop anf failed to get to the winning post by a whisker. "I felt the filly tiring towards the finish. Had I used the whip she might have not liked it so I cracked only when needed. I had to alert her to the challenge and she held on grimly. There is not much to worry and she will get better after this run" said jockey Malesh who admitted it was a close call. The Div I of the Mumbai Martyrs' Memorial Trophy was won by Royal Crown who was the hot on money favorite. Crespo led a tightly packed front bunch with Expensive Affair, Absolute, Royal Crown and Polariser in hot pursuit. In the straight, Crespo kept the pressure on and Polariser and Royal Crown began to accelerate. Royal Crown (King Charlemagne – Crown Brief) went into the lead past the 400m and Polariser waas a live threat. However, jockey Kishore Kadam was found wanting at this crucial juncture and Rajendra pressed home that slight advantage to finish on strongly. Crespo stubbornly held on to encash the place money holding off Absolut in a tight finish. Absolut had to look for passage and switch course at crucial junctures. The over weight he carried (1.5 kg) did not help matters either. Absolute was eventually a good fourth. Royal Crown was bred at he Poonawalla Stud and bred by Nilagiri Stud Farm. Narendra Lagad's Queen's Court (Burden of Proof – Sober Mind) owned by the Gokuldas family won the Div II with a measure of comfort. Settling into the third behind Destined Prince and Marmaris, jockey SA De Sousa brought Queen's Court to the fore with about 300m to go. Legal Eye who was right with the filly could not match up and finished a tame second. Lovely Feelings traveled on the outside and covered a lot of ground to be a prominent third. Sudden Impact who was in the betting, had problems jumping out and the jockey later reported that the blinkers came off and the horse couldn't run a true race. Marmaris and Destined Prince led till well into the straight had both had a good lung opener. Queen's Court was bred at Broadacres and bred by United Racing & Bloodstock Breeders Ltd. The Day's and Season's opening race was won by Zarzaitine (Diffident – Sensuality). Zarzaitine, bred at Greenfield Farms came up with a strong run past the distance post to sail past Blue Daffodils who at one staged looked like kicking away. Imran Chisty did well to control Zarzaitine who threatened to go a bit wayward near the finish and managed to keep her going. Palme Dor warmed up late and finished on well to peg back Blue Daffodils to claim the runner's up berth. On money favorite Thundering Hooves put up no show and just managed to beat a tiring lot to find a place in the frame. Zarzaitine's trainer Faisal Abbas added another winner later in the day to score a fine double. While Zarzaitine, though offered a t nourishing odds had a share of supporters, Ekhabinskya was heavily backed. Cherokee too had an equal share of supporters and the betting trend showed no third horse in the fray. Ekhabinskya (Placerville – Moving Image) bred at Exhilaration Stud, got straight down to business and won unthreatened end-to-end. She traveled well and jockey Sunny Chinoy urge her a bit only in the last furlong. Cherokee tried all she could but had to be content with the 'next best' tag.