Niobrara yet again suffered a shock defeat towards the closing stages of the race after looking good to score coming into the final furlong. Niobrara did everything right most of the way as he led them into the straight enjoying a handy lead. With 400 to go, Niobrara looked well in command with Magnum Opus, the closest to him showing little signs of posing a threat. The rest were some lengths away. Even as they entered the final furlong, few would have given the others a chance as Niobrara and Sandesh looked like pulling it off comfortably.

Way behind, Brahmachari (Chevalier – Avec Plaisir, Ruia Stud) started to improve positions, coming from a long way back and progressing nicely on entering the homestretch. Darren Williams first had to contain his mount from drifting out and that took some effort. He then lit up Brahmachari who responded with a lively gallop in the last 100 meters and ended with a flourish to storm past Niobrara a stride before the winning post. That burst of speed that Brahmachari showed was a burst of brilliance, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Niobrara could not be blamed as he did most things right, but was floored by this unexpected late charge.

The Onassis Trophy Div I saw rank outsider Hidden Asset (Footstepsinthesand – Thorns of Life, Sohna Stud) shock a more fancied lot with a determined gallop. Hidden Asset was up with the front running pair of Ashrafie and Alecto at the turn. Once into the straight, Hidden Asset produced a nippy gallop to surge past the pair alongside and soon was in charge and also going at a good clip. Pepito, who was galloping right behind Hidden Asset until the turn, took a while to warm up and that cost him in the end. Free Speech too failed to gather momentum and improved slightly and only managed to beat a listless Joshua for a place in the frame. Hidden Asset held on with a lot of gumption and fought off the late finishing Pepito. Ashrafie too put in a gritty run and did well to finish in the money.

In the lower division, Himalayan Queen (Captain Rio – Maid of Artois, Hazara Stud) justified the support she got and was one of the favourites who obliged on the day. Himalayan Queen was quick to improve at the jump and galloped in front with Nirbhaya as Soothsayer passed them all to lead them into the straight.

Himalayan Queen soon gathered speed to get past Nirbhaya and Soothsayer with ease and streaked ahead to look good to last it out all the way. Ramesses took a while before warming up and finished just well enough to finish one behind Himalayan Queen. Soothsayer fought off Nirbhaya for the third place.

President (Stephen Got Even – Lost Perfection, Jai Govind Stud) took off with a speedy start and hit the front to keep it going. Millenium Falcon was quick to take the second spot on settling down with the others closely bunched up until the straight.

Into the straight, President surged ahead briskly and Millenium Falcon could not measure up to that pace. Grand March looked like posing a challenge but failed to sustain. My Freedom moved up places and started to close in on the pair in front. However, President never let his guard down and carried on all the way without encountering any serious threat. My Freedom stepped up speed but did not have the ground to catch President on the post, ending a close second ahead of Grand March.

Laurus Pride (Royal Gladiator – Coco Beach, Pratap Stud) warded off a persistent challenge that Mumbai King posed right through the straight to clinch the verdict close home. The battle started as soon as they turned for home with Laurus Pride enjoying a slight advantage over Mumbai King. The pair battled it out stride for stride with Laurus Pride maintaining about a half length lead. Both were all out and in the end jockey P Trevor’s touch helped Laurus Pride hold on to win narrowly. Zarar came from way behind to pip Rock The Turf for the third place.

Star was another well-backed favorite to fail close home after shaping up well until the final few strides. Dashrath Singh had Star going well right from the start and lead comfortably turning for home. Star was chased by Scarlet of Hope with Ancient World making steady progress along the rails. While Flynn never raised a quality gallop, Peppercorn showed a bit of spark towards the end.

Star looked good approaching the distance post, but it all changed once Ancient World (Placerville – Serengeti Bride, Exhilaration Stud) started to warm up under some hard riding by SG Prasad. Ancient World rallied extremely well to down Star a few meters from the winning post. Peppercorn ran on to finish third with Stormy Day covering a lot of ground and doing a good job to find a place in the frame.

Maalik (Glory of Dancer – Phoenix Rising, Nanoli Stud) brought up his second successive victory with a good effort in the straight winning the first race of the day in style. Cartel was sent on a start to finish mission, but he led them all only until into the straight. His lead was cut down rapidly midway down the straight as Maalik arrived under Ashhad Asbar with a charging run. Cartel offered no resistance allowing Maalik to post a comfortable victory. Balchandra surfaced from the last position and he too managed to beat Cartel for the runner-up slot.

For the professionals, trainer Sangramsinh Joshi and jockey Darren William scored a double each.