Sunday’s races started as expected with Mathaiyus (Multidimensional – Yana, Usha Stud) romping home in a common canter to formally cross the winning post and claim the Mannapuram Finance Ltd Trophy without dropping sweat. He led from the start to win the race looking the winner as early as the half way stage of the 2000m race. Caesars Star was hapless in his chase and ended too far back to even get jockey Trevor atop the winner to nudge Mathaiyus. The crowd cheered Mathaiyus on light-heartedly and the Pesi Shroff trained classy gelding ended Caesars Star’s misery in a little over two minutes.

The Shorff-Trevor duo struck again in the very next race with another hot favourite Zenon (Champs Elysees – Questa Nova, Nanoli Stud), this time thought, Trevor was needed to give it his all. Zenon was quickly out of the gates and settled in second behind Gdansk who led all the way into the straight and fell back thereafter.

Zenon had barely taken charge when Pure Zinc arrived with a spirited challenge. The pair fought out through the straight and both showed gritty stubbornness as they battled hard all the way. Zenon pushed a tad harder close home and prevailed by a narrow margin. For a first timer, Pure Zinc did fairly well and will be enriched by this fighting run.

Bottega Louie (Excellent Art – Amazing Queen, Poonawalla Exhilaration Stud) scored an eye-popping win on debut with a scintillating finish, coming from the dead last position to win handsomely. Entrusted to jockey CS Jodha for her first start, Bottega Louie languished in the rear all through until they straightened for home.

Goldie’s Pet had worked hard to lead right from the start and was galloping merrily bounding towards the winning post and she looked good to last it out especially as none of the fancied lot close behind looked threatening enough to topple her. However, Bottega Louie sprang from the rear and worked up express pace to zip past Goldie’s Pet and win the Vivono Million in a sensational manner.

House of Common (Thewayyouare – El Gran Love, Nanoli Stud) had let down his followers more than once early in his career and this time round came good to thrill them all with a devastating finishing run that gained him his maiden win on his fifth start.

Name of the Game charged ahead on settling down while House of Commons lay at the rear of the front bunch. Name of the Game galloped on gamely shaking off the early challengers Royal Sapphire and Petronius. House of Commons arrived with Trevor in the saddle and once he quickened, it was all over.  The Faisal Abbas ward produced a scorching gallop and when he caught up with the bunch in front, they all looked pedestrian. Such was his acceleration and one wondered how with this ability did House of Commons not achieve his maiden success mush earlier! House of Commons dished out a splendid finish which was electrifying to put it mildly. Name of the Game did well to stay in second at the wire, while Royal Sapphire did well to nose out Philadelphia for the third spot.

Streetjammer (Arabian Gulf – La Premier, Amanali Stud) was another one to produce a fiery gallop just when required to shock the well-backed Batman at the business end. Streetjammer shot ahead soon on turning for home and had Batman challenging him with a furlong plus to go. The pair matched strides for about a furlong, both engaged in a grim battle, however, jockey J Chinoy confidently rode out the Dallas Todywalla ward to draw away in the final few strides and score a comfortable win in the end. Eiger’s Tiger ran on to end third ahead of Vice Admiral.

Danse Debonaire (Royal Gladiator – Danseuse, Pratap Stud) had been showing a bit of his old spark in his recent runs and he improved on those while pulling off a start to finish win over 2000m. He had a comfortable lead coming into the straight and was heading for glory when Koal arrived with a game challenge. Danse Debonaire, strongly ridden by Dashrath Singh galloped on all the way. The Narendra Lagad trained eight-year-old was persistent right through to ward off Koal and win with a narrow margin.   

Glorious Eyes (Multidimensional – Glorieuse, Usha Stud) has had a checkered career and seems to gallop only when she is in the mood. Having lost a couple of times when fancied, Glorious Eyes this time showed what she is capable of as she arrived with a sustained gallop in the homestretch to score a fluent win at nourishing odds. The Imtiaz Sait trainee had last one on her debut more than a year back and had drawn a blank since having run several times. She chose the day to add to her solo win and she was gallant in her victory. Hunting Pleasure did try to offer a fight, but Glorious Eyes was galloping in a smooth flow and was too fast for the rest.

Almost Magical (Noverre – Ordoneyah, Sohna Stud) pulled off a neat start to finish victory without causing any anxious moments to his large number of supporters. He was off quickly out of the gates and apprentice jockey G Amit rode in a copy book manner. He entered the straight with a handy lead and soon was stretching out nicely to keep those in chase at a safe distance. This was trainer Faisal Abbas’ second winner on the day and Almost Magical sealed the issue some distance from the winning post. El Tycoon and Alfredo followed the winner home.

For the professionals, trainers Pesi Shroff and Faisal Abbas saddled a double each, while jockey P Trevor scored a treble and CS Jodha a double.