Mogadishu (Phoenix Tower – Leeward Passage, Manjri Stud) recorded his maiden win with a powerful gallop in the final furlong, drawing away from his rivals. He had shown a flash of his dash in his last run and that sparkle did not go unnoticed by the ever vigilant bookmakers. At half-money, there were few takers, and that sort of liability any bookmaker worth his salt is ever willing to stake out.

Mogadishu was up quick and sat alongside Victorio to lead the field all the way homeward. Spring Loaded was not too far and Heather raced at the tail end of the field.

On turning for home, Mogadishu easily surged past Victorio and soon unleashed a scorching gallop. He was away from the rest within strides and held his own in the final furlong. He romped home in style well clear of Spring Loaded who found the winner too good. Heather covered good ground, but she made her run on the centre of the track and finished third. This was a good educative outing for Heather. She looked good in the paddock and with the experience of this outing, it should come as no surprise if she finds her maiden success early.   

The KN Dhunjibhoy camp enjoyed a successful day with a grand treble with La Femme Fleur, Critics Choice and then Eduardo emerging victorious, each in spurting in with a gritty finish. The trend was set by La Femme Fleur (Ikhtyar – Dawalisha, Nanoli Stud) fighting off her challengers grimly to last out the mile trip gate to post.

La Femme Fleur rushed to the front on the jump and led comfortably right through, staying clearly ahead coming into the straight. Jockey Zervan was composed and rode confidently keeping tabs on the ones approaching to challenge him. With 200 to go, La Femme Fleur maintained a handy lead and was ready to accelerate further when the heat was on.

Hail The King charged ahead with a good effort and for a moment he looked good enough to catch up with La Femme Fleur. Fortune Favours too started to look threatening briefly, but he was clearly short of a run and could not sustain his bid. In the final 100 meters, Zervan pushed La Femme Fleur ably to stay safely ahead and guide La Femme Fleur to her second successive victory this season. Hail The King’s challenge petered out as quickly as it had built up and he ended on the winner’s tail. Fortune Favours didn’t do too badly while ending a further half length behind third, a neck ahead of Sailor. Vixen ran below par and was never in the hunt.

Critics Choice (Tariq – Berkeley Lodge, Pratap Stud) rose from the rear to make a solid impact to pull off a dramatic last stride victory on her debut. She missed out on her intended debut in December due to a bout of fever and boy had she recovered well!

The favourite Niobrara had done all the hard work and seemed heading to bear the fruits approaching the final few meters. Dashrath Singh had stepped on it soon on turning for home and built a comfortable lead too. He was well ahead approaching the distance post, looking good to get it right, as both Critics Choice and Abigail seemed lagging too far back. However, Critics Choice obviously had a lot to offer when jockey Malcolm Kharadi gave him the go. The Hoshidar Daji trained filly arrived with a scintillating burst to dash past Niobrara in the nick of time to snatch victory close home. One felt for Niobrara’s effort. Abigail, a good looker, will benefit from this run and his day may not be too far away.

Eduardo (Excellent Art – Pickwick Papers, Nanoli Stud) came into his own after a couple of second spots and brought about his victory with a determined finish. Sitting in the mid-bunch until the turn, Eduardo sprung into action past the 400, getting past Summer Express, Natalian Express and Cactus Cash with ease.   

Once in the lead, Eduardo worked up good pace and was bolting towards the winning post. Fast Lady warmed up late but covered ground briskly. Soon Moussaeif too tried to turn the heat, but Eduardo had them well covered as he kept his momentum going all the way to bring about his first win with a length to spare.

Schiehaillon (Aussie Rules – Miss Serendipity, Manjri Stud) provided Shapoor Mistry his second success after Mogadishu. The Faisal Abbas trained gelding was heavily backed at race time and he justified the support converting a good start into a winning one.

Sitting right behind leader Agneya from the start, Schiehaillon took charge past the 400 and galloped at a good clip. He was soon clearly ahead approaching the distance post. Annie inched forward, taking her time to find her rhythm. Sabotage made his run from the wide outside and he too was improving with each stride. Schiehaillon however, held his stranglehold firmly to stay ahead at the winning post with Annie and Sabotage finishing on close behind.

Flash Drive (Sedgefield – Fabulous Fiorella, Jai Govind Stud) was the most stylish winner of the day. He moved up through the mid-field to bound forward with 300 to go and galloped away at top speed to trounce the opposition with utter disdain. Favourite Savannah Sound was in a hopeless position right through and ended a dismal ‘also ran’ as did the other fancied duo Alectar and mambo Magic. Danse Debonaire did very well to surge behind the winner to finish runner up. Ventura too progressed well to rake in place money.

Marcos (Glory of Dancer – Felicitad, Nanoli Stud) huffed and puffed to victory, doing hard labour to beat unfancied Striking Story on the last stride. Striking Story had built on the handy lead coming into the straight and had galloped on relentlessly all through the homestretch. Marcos rose with a sudden and timely burst to wear down the leader and managed to stretch his neck to hit the wire in the nick of time.

Impressionist was shocked by a late resurgence from Tempest who came through a rough passage and made steady progress to be in the fighting line coming into the final furlong. Until Tempest appeared, the supporters of Impressionist were considering it a safe haul and many may have been counting chickens before they hatched. Tempest (Noverre – Analonarose, Sohna Stud) charged in with a Herculean effort to spoil Impressionist’s party under the shadow of the winning post. Desert Rage squeezed through the rails to make his mark by taking the third spot.

For the professionals, trainer Janardhan and jockey S Zervan scored a double each.