The opening day’s races had all the excitement that the glorious sport of horseracing offers. Photo-finishes, objections, dominance, close calls and long-shots welcomed the enthusiastic racing fans. The day began on a cracking note with Gyahana (Oath – Romantic Notes, Pratap Stud) unseating favourite Moroccan on the post with a fiery late run. Moroccan looked on course to oblige as he hit the front on turning for home. With a furlong to go, Moroccan had a handy lead and the second in demand Zafira falling hopelessly back.  Gyahana surged in from the outside in the last 150 meters and challenged the leader. The pair fought it out and Gyahana just managed to peg back Moroccan to carve out a narrow win with rookie Vishal in the saddle. Trainer Don Surti pumped fists all the way having saddled the season’s first winner. Don had to wait a while as apprentice Ajinkya lodged an objection against Vishal, which however, didn’t hold any water with the Stewards.

The very next race had Phoenix Tiger (Phoenix Tower – Tigresse Noire, Manjri Stud) grab the eyeballs as he is one of the better ‘boys’ on the circuit. Being a Classic hopeful from trainer Dallas Todywalla’s yard, the MIstry owned good looking dark bay colt, walked majestically in the paddock. At a cramped 35/100, the bookmakers were giving nothing at all.

Apache made it to the front and led them all the way into the straight. Jockey Colm O’Donoghue settled in second, content to let the leader enjoy his moment. Simply Sweet had Okavango for company until they straightened up for business.

Apache was fighting hard all the way as Phoenix Tiger started to close in. Colm got past Apache without fuss and strode away to compile a clinical victory taking Phoenix’s win tally to five from six starts and three on the trot, one each at Bangalore, Pune and the latest at Mumbai. Phoenix Tiger clocked a nippy 1:22:48 for the seven furlong race and looked in good touch, galloping smoothly and indicating that he is on target for the 2000 Guineas mission.

Nifty (Multidimensional – Artwork, Usha Stud) also had the pundits going for their binoculars. Having won her debut race in Pune, she had attracted a following.  The Shroff trained filly shrugged of the penalty incurred for her debut win and beat a more seasoned set comprehensively, although she had to labour a trifle more than Phoenix Tiger had.

Settling into second soon on settling down, Nifty surged to take over the running soon on turning for home. Awesome Knight tried hard to make a fight of it while he was there, but failed to live up to it. Oreius was galloping on with making much impact on the leader and was soon pushed back when Top Bracket started to accelerate. Rapid girl had to switch lanes and she too made a late dash. Nifty meanwhile was ridden out past the distance post and Trevor went for the whip a couple of times to ensure Nifty was safely home. In the end, Nifty won well keeping the chasing trio at a safe distance. Top Bracket ended a good second with Oreius and Rapid Girl on his haunches.

With the late withdrawal of Jeannine, Angelic Aria opened at evens or less. She too had won on debut in Pune and that was a dramatic come-from-behind victory. Most felt that the long Mumbai straight and the extra furlong would suit her even better and she received tremendous support in the ring.

Angelic Aria however, raised little hope as she was stuck along the rails for most part of the journey and then when she did have the chance to gallop, she didn’t quite get going despite an all out effort from jockey Trevor. Malesh Narredu trained Perfectionist (Ace – Pride, Villoo’s Greenfield Farm) showed plenty of fitness and a touch of class while galloping away to a surprisingly facile victory. He jumped out smartly and jockey Yash held him in second as Wind Craft did the early running. On turning for home, perfectionist seized his chance to go for the lead and worked up a nice rhythm to pile up a handy lead midway up the straight. Iridescence and Fearless Nadia were the closest rivals distance wise but Perfectionist tightened the screws with a resolute gallop to romp home easing up. It is under three months now that Perfectionist came under Malesh’s tutelage and he certainly looks capable to scale greater heights. As for Angelic Aria, her first outing in Mumbai has not been up to the mark, but keeping in mind her incredible victory in Pune, she deserves another chance.

Victoria Harbour got her first taste of defeat after compiling a fine run of three wins. She was confronting a much stronger bunch than she ever had and this was only her fourth start. However, her past fluent wins had the punters rooting for her. Victoria Harbour though, never got a clear run and it got even worse on turning for home. Colm could never get to ride her freely and had to constantly look for room. By the time he was forced to switch lanes as far as to be the widest of all, the race was over.

Mine Forever led them into the straight with Spiderman waiting to sting. Strategic Move too was prominently poised but was taking his time to find the top gear. Classic Moment struck form at the right moment. After a series of disappointing runs in Pune, Classic Moment (Razeen – Anagram, Usha Stud) found his winning touch back again. He covered a lot of ground midway in the straight and came at Mine Forever with an impressive dash. Jockey R Vaibhav rode out exceptionally well to get the Sunderji ward past Mine Forever just in time.

Harvey had a strong backing and his backers were crestfallen when he failed to deliver the killer blow. Arizona Sun (Phoenix Tower –Romantic Heights, Manjri Stud) grabbed the lead soon on turning for home and then galloped away to boot home the early advantage. This plan worked to the hilt as the end margin was too close for comfort. Arizona Sun built a handy lead once into the straight, while Harvey had to improve positions in getting down chasing the winner. He moved to second at the distance post and then started gaining on Arizona Sun who had jockey Zervan going all out. Arizona Sun drifted out from the rails more than he should have, yet, he held sway all the way home. Harvey was finishing faster of the two but was left to rue the fact that the winning post had arrived a stride too soon.

Trevor caught on to the fact that the winner had shifted out and his horse had shied away as he held that Arizona Sun had moved out far too close to Harvey. The verdict being a short-head, he chanced an objection on that technical point. The stewards saw it otherwise and ruled to disallow the objection.

If the followers of favourites were looking for some solace in the last race of the day, they were in for more disappointment as 10 to 1 shot Sentosa Cove (Teofilo – Future Flight, Nanoli Stud) arrived with a nippy run to score his maiden success.

The joint favorites ice Cube Baby and Captain Courageous were never too prominent and this left the race wide open. Pearl Secret looked good coming into the straight well and truly ahead and going at a good clip. Even inside the final furlong her appeared to be heading for his first win. However, Sentosa Cove picked up momentum past the distance post and covered considerable ground at a brisk pace to catch Pearl Secret on the wire. Jockey PS Chouhan timed his finish to perfection and the B Prakash trainee, after a tame fourth in his only run in Pune, showed an electrifying finish to score. Ice Cube Baby arrived with a notable run to take the minor placing.