The ‘experience’ filly God’s Own (Diffident – Winged Light, Yeravada Stud from trainer Narendra Lagad’s yard, scored her maiden victory galloping fluent from start to finish. The race was however, marred by a tragic flow of event at the gates. As almost all the juveniles were stalled into the gates, Dirty Perty squatted in the gates awkwardly and all the horses had to be taken out of the gates. Dirty Perty’s distress was fatal as the gelding collapsed and died on the spot. A chain reaction followed as three other horses, Gallant Knight, Rincon and Arc Shine were all withdrawn at the gates. The race was delayed by about 20 minutes.

As the five left in the fray jumped out, God’s Own jumped out smartly and shot into the lead and stayed well ahead all through. God’s Own was well prepared for the assignment and showed a clean pair of heels all through. After leading them into the straight, God’s Own with Dashrath in the saddle, quickened well to stay clear of the rest. Dance of Fire, who was in second was getting nowhere in trying to catch up with the leader. It was Lord Commander who got closer with a fine show of acceleration, but that came a tad too late. However, Lord Commander finished on sweetly promising a better performance in his next.

God’s Own was the second win for Dashrath Singh who had earlier partnered Volantis (Multidimensional – Silver Print, Usha Stud) to a sensational victory, covering a lot of ground in the final 100 meters to shock Sensex and snatch victory in a dramatic fashion. Sensex seemed to have had the race well sewn up as he had a good lead with as little as 100 meters to go. Volantis arrived with a scorching gallop and made an all-out bid which was so fiery that it stunned to leader and many who watched from the stands. Sensex had bounded ahead soon on straightening up and looked good to win galloping away past the distance post well ahead of the rest. Just as he was being hailed the winner, Volantis, as if just ignited for a blast-off and rocketed ahead like a trace of bullet to score the most astounding win of the day!

It’s not often that one gets to back jockey P Trevor’s mounts at 5/1 or over and a double at such odds is most surprising. Trevor did score a lucrative double on the day partnering Sir Desmond (6/1) and Be Bold (7/1) to thrill his followers.    

Sir Desmond had shown a lot of spark in his previous start as he had darted into the lead and galloped at a good pace in a mile race. He essayed this 1400m race in similar fashion and with a furlong less to go he found his winning form scoring his first career victory without causing too much anxiety to his connections.

Sir Desmond got into a fine rhythm and galloped away from the rest once into the straight. None could match strides with the Sunderji-trained gelding as he marched on ahead to compile a facile victory. Resilient improved well towards the end and managed to pip Super Bolt for the second spot.

Be Bold (Kingda Ka – Ramatni, Nanoli Stud) got going in the final furlong and pulled away from a bunch of horse scrambling towards the finish to win with a measure of comfort. Settling in third behind Knight At Arms and favourite Highland Princess, Be Bold opened out in the final furlong. Highland Princess shaped well as he got past Knight At Arms, but Be Bold was quick to surge ahead and score by a healthy three lengths. Rich and Race finished on well to cover a lot of ground at the closing stages and ended alongside the favourite to end a close third.

Jockey Yash Narredu booted home a popular double, striking first with Sabiq (Kingda Ka – Elementto Angel, Manju Meadows Stud) who was well-backed at race time. Nutcracker lost considerable ground at the start and hurried off to catch up with the bunch, while Sabiq was ridden off the pace and was at the rear.

Warlock sprinted ahead to set a good crisp pace with Trombone in second until the straight. Into the straight, Warlock started to fade away and Sabiq made an early move to get past the front runners and take charge. Sabiq galloped full of steam and without being extended eased ahead building a huge gap over the others to sail away and win handsomely by a huge margin. Kitty Hawk kicked on take the runner u berth warding off Sanam who was improving in the final furlong. Sabiq is trained by C Rajendra.

Yash next partnered another favourite Jetaway (Rebuttal – Eye Dazzler, Hazara Stud) and showed patience and maturity to work his way to be prominent at the business end. While Mastermarksman, Isinit and Armando were close to one another turning for home, Jetaway looked too far back, at the wrong end of the big field. Yash stuck to the rails, possible with prayer on his lips for a clear passage. He inched his way to the front and finished on with a crispy gallop to spear ahead in the last 100 m to score a clinical victory.  Jetaway can score again if placed judicially for her next assignment.

Mt Tianmen (Sedgefield – Totally Stormin, Jai govind Stud) did exceptionally well to beat a good set of horses. Neglected in the betting, Mt Tianmen arrived with a big finishing run to catch them all and win by a narrow margin alongside a crowd of horses scrambling for the finish. Charming faded away after leading them into the straight sooner than one expected. Minstrel Heights showed a wee bit of spark but didn’t sustain that long enough. Free Speech too was in the hunt but they were all stumped with apprentice jockey SA Amit riding with a lot of vigor in the final stages.

 SA Amit achieved a back-to-back double guiding Ivor Frenandes ward Wonder Story to a well-fought victory in the last race of the day to floor the second jackpot pool hunters.

Almost Magical was out in a start-to-finish mission and led them into the straight with a narrow lead. Soon Speed of Sound got past and he had barely taken charge when Wonder Story (Sharp Attack – Ankle Bracelet, Gee Stud) arrived with a big gallop. Wonder Story managed to surge ahead but had Speed of Sound tagging along all the way. Wonder Story shook off Speed of Sound in the last few strides to carve out a narrow win. Almost Magical hung on to finish in the money.

For the professionals, trainer Narendra Lagad saddled a double, while jockeys P Trevor, Dashrath Singh, Yash Narredu and apprentice SA Amit all scored a double each.  

Top Wizard (Chevalier – Alhuda, Ruia Stud) achieved commendable win in a higher set, scoring his sending win on the trot. He was nicely poised on the outside as Name of the Game led a posse of horses into the straight.  The cavalry like charge began soon after as Super Icon, The Big Revival, Ame, Top Wizard, D’Accord and Alien were all gearing up to outpace one another. Top Wizard picked up speed with a furlong to go but had to keep the momentum going as both D’Accord and Alien were right on his tail. Jockey TS Jodha rode out strongly and Top Wizard too put in his everything to come up trumps and carved out a narrow win. D’Accord ended a game second and may need a little more ground as he was steaming in at the finish. Alien probably lost out due to too much lead in his saddle. While Super Icon finished fourth, old timer Monza showed some zip to end just off the frame.