It appears that the fever that touched the horses before the start of the summer season brought luck.  Commonwealth down with it and forced to compete in a classic with only a mock race won the Fillies Championship Stakes and the champion colt Serjeant At Arms too emerged the best of his age and sex winning the Colts Stakes. The mock race which Be Safe won produced two classic winners but Be Safe himself lost and that is racing.

With his two victories in the winter season, Serjeant At Arms had confirmed that he is in the classic mould. The bout of fever he had suffered from and that the Mumbai challenger Whomakestherules produced an astounding effort in his maiden appearance sent a shiver down the spine in the ‘Serjeant’s” camp but the owners Khusroo Dhunjibhoy and Vispi Patel with tons of experience and the cool and composed Suleiman did not panic. They provided the champion the required time to fully recover from the setback before they tested him in the mock race and the thumbs up Sandesh put up after easily finishing behind Be Safe only confirmed that all was well with the top colt and in the classic event Serjeant At Arms proved that he simply is the best. And the blue riband of the season, the Ultra Derby is now at his mercy next month.

After Chouhan astride Supreme General streaked ahead at the top of the straight and Suraj guiding the fortunes of Whomakestherules quickly chased the leader, Sandesh piloting the champion provided the winner the time to get into the stride and the moment the Suleiman ward got into his act it was like sweeping autumn leaves from the garden path. Supreme General did well to finish second ahead of Whomakestherules while Star Cracker provided his connections a reason to smile taking the fourth sport.

Khusroo Dhunjibhoy disclosed that what impressed him most was the genuine good classic temperament of the top gun. “He travelled nice and easy all through and the moment he was asked to quicken he did it without a fuss and that’s what separates the winners from losers,” said Khusroo.

Delighted with the performance of his star performer, Suleiman said:  “I always knew I had a good horse and he proved that he is the best. Hopefully he will do it again in the Derby and that will provide the icing on the cake.”  

Well this year the colts are much superior to the fillies and taking into account that Serjeant At Arms is head and shoulders above the colts the Suleiman ward is set to record a classic double before his connections chart a course for the winter.

Among the other winners on the classic day, the Neil Darashah schooled  Namid impressed most   chalking out his second straight success easily beating Captain Morgan in the Camino Plate run over   a distance nine furlongs. The winner is in rousing form and is set to complete a hat-trick of wins when saddled next. Captain Morgan is not half as good as his brother Admirality was and is best left ignored in good company.

Another brother of the famed sister In The Spotlight won the opening event in fine fashion. The Padmanabhan ward Into The Spotlight proved too good for his 11 rivals including the heavily wagered Amazing Love from Prasanna Kumar’s yard. Into The Spotlight has good scope for improvement and his progress this season is certain to evoke interest.

 It looks like Lord Darlington is just not interested in breaking the ice. He has failed to justify favouritism on more than a couple of occasions at Mumbai and Guindy and today when he was all set to enter the winners circle he sat in the gates and was withdrawn providing the Lokanath ward Queen’s  Ace a chance to score and he did just that winning in the hands of Arshad Alam.

The eight to one shot Tea Wid Me won the whipless Bergamo Plate in the hands of Amyn Merchant edging out Feet On Fire close home before another lesser fancied Expert scored a facile victory in the upper division of the M Ali Asker Memorial Trophy run over a sprint. The lower division of the event  was claimed by the Arjun Manglorkar schooled Millrose, another from Iris Racing who shot to fame after Commonwealth’s success in the first classic.

Trainer Ganapathy opened his account through the ten to one shot Amber Crown in the upper division of the Fantabulous King Plate. The winner who had a stint at Ooty was ignored in the betting ring, most railbirds choosing not to pin their hopes on the French saddle artiste David Breux but the Frenchman produced a neat effort packing punch on the Ganapathy ward to romp home in convincing fashion. Cape Cross impressed most finishing a game second on debut while Side Winder another from Prasanna’s stable who was backed down heavily failed to make the frame.

The friendless Coldstream dropped a bombshell in the Elusive Pimpernel Trophy. The rankoutsider piloted by Mudassar edged out the favourite Russian Link much to the chagrin of the railbirds who lost out only three favourites coming through in the nine-event card.