A devastating turn of foot unleashed in the final furlong by Vijay Singh-trained Multitude dashed all hopes that the fancied pair of Glamorously and Soviet Dancer would have entertained of lifting the prestigious Hong Kong Jockey Club Trophy in the straight, as they were the first past the distance post and engaged in a serious duel for supremacy thereafter. Jockey Shailesh Shinde on the triumphant bay colt by Multidimensional out of Haedi (Usha Stud), turned on the heat just when it seemed that front-running stablemate Glamorously, with Christopher Alford in the saddle,  would stave off the challenge of the even-money favourite Soviet Dancer and be the first to cross the wire. The winner is the property of seasoned campaigner and vastly experienced breeder Ms Ameeta Mehra of Usha Stud. The colt happens to be a half-brother to Frankanella who picked up two races in Pune this year. The dam is a British broodmare by King’s Best out of Star Express.

The aficionados were of the opinion that Vijay Singh served his ‘steaks’ rare on this occasion and later in the season, when they are ‘well done’, they will be far more ‘tasty and appetising’ for the big bettors in the game. So be it! The local champion trainer displayed in no uncertain terms that he has umpteen options at his disposal and the ‘new  kids on the block’ have a long uphill journey ahead of them before they can hope to get the better of the veteran schooler at his home centre, in any major event.

The afternoon saw three runners at high odds grace the winner’s enclosure but followers of Trevor Patel had a gala time as the popular visiting rider notched up a well-backed treble with Legendofthephoenix, El Cid and Miraculix. The first named, by Win Legend out of Fairytaleending (Dashmesh Stud), carried top-weight over 2000 metres without too much fuss and easily kept at bay his nearest rival Auberon, who raised a gallop in the straight.

Trevor then piloted home Vikash Jaiswal-trained El Cid (Noverre-Darsiyma/Sohna Stud) in the Red Chieftan Handicap. The close second favourite Iron Lady (2/1) surprisingly had a tardy beginning as she is known to be a good jumper. She was about three lengths behind the front-runners (El Cid among them) along the rails and then took the longest route home to end up a fairly good second. Whether she would have won is a hypothetical question but she was definitely not handled with the dexterity that one associates with a rider of Dashrath’s potential. El Cid was maintained in a handy second position behind front-running In The Twilight and won as he liked. Iron Lady’s late bid was basically showmanship for the cameras. Of late, Dashrath’s riding has raised many an eyebrow in western India and this will only blot his copybook further.

Trevor completed his treble with Miraculix in the last race of the day. Sired by Kingda Ka out of Esoteric (Nanoli Stud) Miraculix came with a late run on the railing side to get the better of  Jacqualine Postill. Dashrath once again gave Land Of Glory too much to do after a somewhat lethargic start and ended up a none too impressive fourth. The odds of Miraculix shortened to 10-to-7-on while Land Of Glory expanded to 6/1. He is definitely one rider who needs to pull up his socks and ride to his potential.

Dashrath however rode a good race astride Torero in the Star Contender Handicap and it was touch and go with the eventual winner Aptness (Steinbeck-Aptiana/ Usha Stud) till about 50 metres from home where the latter pulled away under C.Alford’s strong handling.

After a forward run in The Hilliard Cup, Javed Khan-trained Serjeant Major (Hurricane State-Razpazazz/ Hargobind Stud) was given a thorough preparation before entering him over his pet distance of a mile in The Amberetta Handicap. In the hands of B. Mahesh, the forward miler did not disappoint. The joint favourites Cohiba and Archie were virtually also-rans while Lantana Lady lived up to her rating and ended up runner-up.

The other runner to leave most punters high and dry was Patrick Quinn’s Amandus (Carnival Dancer-Elusive Trust/ Dashmesh Stud)   who shrugged off his long lay-off after being apparently rejuvenated by running a mock race with two-year-olds few days ago. The withdrawal of Wonder Of You at the starting gates may have helped his cause. Jockey Ashish rode him off the pace and moved with a fluent run down the centre of the track as heavily backed front-runner Praise Her Gaze drifted to the outer rails.