Dancing Prances (Ace – Dancing Greens, Poonawalla Stud) powered his way to his 12th career victory (21 starts) to stamp his superiority over the six-furlong sprint, beating close rival Gold Bag to third as Zander showed plenty of mettle to take the runner-up spot.

It was just another day at office for Dancing Prances as he settled behind in fourth initially with only Assiduous behind him. Zander was off to a quick start and led them into the straight with Gold Bag and Ageless right up with him. Gold Bag tried to charge ahead once into the straight and drew level with Zander, but the latter held the mare off with a gritty performance. However, when Dancing Prances arrived with Sandesh barely moving his elbows, it was all over. Dancing Prances is naturally blessed with huge strides and Sandesh did not even have to torch him fully. He got past Zander easily approaching the distance post and from there simply cantered away leaving them all lagging behind. Without being hard-pressed Dancing Prances lined up a facile victory to outclass his rivals effortlessly. Zander proved a tough cookie too holding off Gold Bag for the second spot.

Costa Del Sol (Phoenix Tower – Shining Glory, Manjri Stud) who had given Phoenix Tiger a run for money in the Indian 2000 Guineas recently, was sent out at half money, which was no surprise. Only Bullrun was in the betting at threes with the rest at 25/1 or above.

Costa Del Sol showed tremendous improvement and for a first essay over the mile and quarter trip, the Shroff trainee excelled. Bullrun had no trouble going into the lead past Spirit of Mercy in the straight, but it was short-lived as Costa Del Sol with Trevor in the saddle, simply trounced Bullrun in the business end of the straight. Costa Del Sol showed immense staying talent in his finish and what was even more impressive was that he smashed the course record at 2:00:66 beating Be Safe’s 2:01:08. That takes him notches higher and he is progressing beautifully for the important races ahead.

Bullrun, one has to understand, was on his first outing since his victory in the Nanoli Pune Derby. It is well known that after the win, Bullrun suffered a heart attack and he bravely fought it out to bounce back to his feet, responding well to the club’s team of vets’ efforts in reviving him. Taking all this into consideration, Bullrun has done well and will not be too disappointed finishing behind Costa del Sol. There is time to improve and he should be going forward after this run.

Intelligence (Rip Van Winkle – Aurora Aurealis, Nanoli Stud) was handled aptly by Trevor and he carved a well-thought out victory, a closely fought one at that. Intelligence opened his Mumbai campaign on an aggressive note jumping out of the gates and darting into the lead smoothly. Trevor dictated the early pace as he liked with the others in close chase.

Trevor started riding out soon on entering the straight and had to nurse Intelligence to last out the long straight, and with a cluster of horses breathing down his neck, Trevor had his task cut out alright. Brahmachari, Zana, Melinda, Alderley Edge were all within sniffing distance and each one was going all out to get Intelligence. However, Trevor got the Vishal Gaikwad galloping on and guided her to victory with the others snapping at her tail. Alderley Edge, Melinda and Brahmachari all ended close together with the winner.

Schiehaillon met with disaster while almost winning his race as he broke down strides before the winning post. Advance to Contact led them into the straight and soon Alectar came after him. Schiehaillon with Zervan up started to move up strongly and after a very brief tussle, shot past the duo and even established a sort of winning lead. Just before he could drive it home, Schiehaillon went lame on the track and limped off. Advance to Contact who was on the inside, found himself in front again, Alectar skirted around the injured Schiehaillon and tried hard to get Advance to Contact (Burden of Proof – Agassiz, Kunigal Stud) but jockey SG Prasad pushed hard to grab victory with Alectar falling short by half a length. Advance to Contact and jockey Prasad did well not to be shaken by the incident and kicked on to score a win.

The Magician (Placerville – One Magic Moment, Poonawalla Astonish Stud) scored a prolific victory with Zervan guiding the fortunes for trainer Nazak Chenoy’s ward. The Magician was in striking position coming into the straight as Joy of Life led them in. The Magician needed neither wand nor whip as he opened throttle past the 400m mark. There after he accelerated attractively to amass a huge lead and he won easing up rendering Queen of Venus a faraway second. Joy of Life held on to earn place money. The Magician certainly is in good touch and is most likely to add to this victory.

Trainer C Rajendra sent out Cavalia (Chevalier – Zarzuela, Ruia Stud) to a thumping start to finish win without encountering any bother. Dashrath Singh moved up quickly on start to go into the lead with Diablo close behind, favourite Sanam was towards the rear of the field, never in the position to make any impact in the race.

Cavalia led them in with Diablo on her haunches; the others too were closing in with Coley making his bid along the rails. Dashrath had Cavalia going steadily and even Coley, closest to him never looked like troubling him. Cavalia held on gamely to post her maiden win on her fifth start and carrying a heavy 61.5 kilos, her effort was praiseworthy. Olly Boy caught the eye while finishing with a flourish and had he warmed a trifle earlier, he could have run Cavalia closer. Olly Boy too is one for your notebooks.

Personify (Placerville – Lady Moura, Exhilaration Stud) picked up the concluding race of the day with a powerful burst at the finish. Not in the best of positions for most of the mile long journey, Personify improved positions in the straight and made a telling effect at the business end. Angelic Aria was in full flow as she took charge early in the straight. Soon Excelonce came around and challenged the new leader. As they were battling and Excelonce gained the upper hand, Personify with Sandesh in the saddle arrived with a strong gallop. Angelic Aria was beaten past the distance post, but Excelonce was toiling hard to stay in the lead. Sandesh’s persistent efforts got that extra bit out of the Karthik ward and Personify zipped head meters from the winning post to notch up his maiden win on his fifth start.

For the professionals, jockeys A Sandesh and Trevor rode out a double each.