Personified (Razeen Magical Moments) set the Pune track alight and won the Idar Gold Cup in a record time eclipsing the previous record of Alameda by 3 seconds, and he was barely stretched! Settling well up with the pace, Personified was never too far from the Nitrous the leader and Angelique, Personified took charge early in the straight and looked good from much earlier on. Past the distance post Personified stretched out well and posted a clinical victory without any toil. Angelique who was always second throughout ended so. Karthik later admitted that he had expected Personified to win comfortable, but was a little apprehensive, nevertheless, because of the week he had to extend owing to the postponement of the Idar Gold Cup. "I had fine tuned him for the race last week, and the unexpected putting off of the race had somewhat worried me. However, Personified only got better and I am pleased with the outcome. He was always a game horse and I am sure he would have picked up bigger races in Mumbai had been completely fit all through. He is a brave fighter with a big heart" concluded Karthik Ganapathy. Two jockeys will never forget this day. Zervan and Lisa Jones, Both scored their first winner on the day. Lisa got her first winner on the Pune circuit. For Zervan though, this was his first career victory, a significant personal landmark he will fondly recall even to his grandchildren! And the victory had to be earned – that would have made it even sweeter for the lad. Partnering a horse aptly called Swept Away (Royal Kingdom – Stylish Beauty) in the penultimate race of the day, Zervan had to jostle for position soon after start. He did well to wriggle out of a possible tight jam and settled behind the front runners, never too far away from the leader. He improved to be in striking position at the turn but had to wait a while before he switched to the outside to challenge long time leader – Artistical, ridden by another rookie Parmar seeking his first victory as well! In the straight, Swept Away had only Artistical ahead of him and Zervan pounced upon the leader at the distance post. Artistical resisted and fought on, but in the final few strides gave in to the sustained assault of Swept Away and Zervan, to end a fighting second. Swept Away justified the favouritism and won well. For Lisa Jones the victory on Jolteon (Razeen – Wayward Lady) came at the right time. She was pretty familiar now with the Pune track and had to establish her credentials in this male dominated profession ventured into by very few ladies. Lisa nevertheless, showed her mettle on one of the difficult horses in a difficult race. Jolteon, kept well off the initial pace, burst on to the scene in the final furlong and breezed past the front runners to corner glory close home. Lisa Jones had beaten the men at their own game and deserves all the accolades for this exhibition of a powerful finish. It was a three pronged photo finish involving Jolteon, Adjustment and Landlord. Adjustment, who led for most of the early part, shied awkwardly and dropped slightly back at the turn as Musical Rhythm overtook him. He however, bravely recovered and fought it out till the end. Landlord was almost there and found the winning post coming a wee bit too late. Adjustment is the one to remember. The day's first race was one by Above All (Diffident – Ampula) at lucrative odds. Acceptance was heavily supported and Chief Warrior had his share followers. Above All was pushed to take over the running after the first furlong or so and the Antia ward galloped ahead to work up a sizable lead. In the straight, he was well clear and the others set about the task of narrowing the margin. Acceptance was clearly under pressure and even shifted in sharply at the distance post almost guilty of being erratic, though for a brief moment. With no other threat in sight, Above All returned an easy winner. Chief Warrior managed to get past Acceptance to claim the runner up berth. Acceptance did reasonably well for a first start this season and should not be neglected. Eagle Mountain had smart money coming in and didn't cause any anxiety to his backers. Sitting well up with the pace, Eagle Mountain tailed Equality all the way till the straight. Brezhnev who made all the early running, faded into oblivion even before the turn. Once into the straight, Eagle Mountain (Flitch – Priceless Art) bounded forward. Polar Glow started to give chase and Tromos too was warming up. At the distance post it appeared that the 'Eagle' had flown away and was elusive. However, Tromos and Polar Glow decided to make a fight of it and got to the haunches of Eagle Mountain covering nearly three lengths in the last 50 or so. The winning post had arrived, just in time for Eagle Mountain. Tromos originally ended second, but an objection by the rider of Polar Glow had the stewards reverse the placing in the latter's favour. Tromos is the one to watch out for over a 'trip'. Tromos who has let his followers down twice now, could well be 'third time lucky'. Notable Runner's victory was indeed a bolt from the blue. The Jodha trainee readily hit the front and matched strides with Sail Thru till the turn. In the straight, Notable Runner (Case Law – Nobel Ballerina) started to accelerate better and Sail Thru was panting to keep up. Gypsy Queen, who was always close to the duo in third, made the mistake of taking the rail route and may have missed out on a chance to cause an upset. She was certainly cramped for space and still managed to wriggle past Sail Thru in the end and even managed to restrict the verdict to just a length behind the winner. Mercedes, like the car, was a very comfortable fourth. He is my "Notable Runner" and watch out for him in his next couple of runs. If the followers of money were facing a hard time early in the day, what followed in the latter half of the day must have surely taken them 'cheers zone' (notice the Dam of Palme Dor below). Naren trained Palme Dor set a powerful trend and all the well backed favourites from the 5th race onwards obliged and how. Palme Dor (Buden Of Proof – Cheers Zone), at 12/10 against won without any apprehension. The 'take jump, hit front' ploy worked exceptionally well and jockey Sunny Chinoy who is having a good season, never let anyone pass him at any stage. Tattenhoe tried hard but couldn't measure up to the winner. Blades Of Glory was up next but never made any impression on the front runners. Chieftain never really raised any hope and this run must have been educative. This well bred colt should be watched and his progress will only be clearer after a couple of runs. To me, Palme Dor was the most impressive and can repeat in a similar set. After hot favourite Personified formally re-wrote the record timing, it was Feet Of Flames' turn to thrill the punters. A confident Rajendra was unperturbed as 'next in demand' Native Strategy went past the front runners in a hurry and built up a fairly good lead till the turn. In mid bunch for most of the early half of the race, Rajendra bravely went along the rails with half a dozen horses on his outside. Rajendra was quick to improve when they came to the business end of the race. On turning from home, Feet Of Flames (Modigliani - E Sharp) was prominent early and breezed past Native Strategy in a trice. Once in charge, Feet Of Flames 'scorched' the turf and romped home to a facile victory. Native Strategy ended a good second, Fantastic Fury and Wild Vegas finished alongside. Nuncio (Sir Bruce – Northern Love), provided a fitting finale to Hormuz Antia who had started the day with a winner and ended doing so as well. Hitting the front soon on start Nuncio entered the straight with a pack of horses in hot pursuit. They were all hounding him and jockey Ranjane was up to the task and got Nuncio to go all out. The race got even hotter towards the finish and Nuncio stuck it out and held on very well to ward off a stiff challenge from Fiery Future. The Right Man ended up well to grab the place money despite getting slowly off the blocks. Zuetina had every chance to place, but only managed the bottom place in the frame. Trainer Hormuz Antia and jockey SP Ranjane combined to score a brace each.