The Indo German Chamber of Commerce Christmas Fest was hugely popular and a well-organized event at the Mahalaxmi Race Course on Sunday. The Carnival enclosure was filled with a homely crowd, and a huge number of children were seen enjoying good time with Santa et al. The crowd swelled as the day progressed and by dusk the venue was filled to capacity. When I left the venue at 9 pm, the show was just warming up to the crooning of Gary Lawyer and his group. On the track, Lovely Feelings set the tone for the day. The BASF Trophy had only four in the fray and Vijayi Bhava (Akash Agarwal) led early with Eternal Spirit (Kishore Kadam) matching strides all the way up to the straight. Love Forty and Lovely Feelings (SN Chavhan) followed close behind. At the distance post, the front-running pair was joined by Lovely feelings who just sped past a listless Vijayi Bhava and the toiling Eternal Spirit. Love Forty was never in contention. Lovely feelings won comfortably. Vijayi Bhava is inconsistent and is best left alone for some time. Personified loomed large as the piping hot favourite and looked a winner a long way from home. Chasing Amadomio (Anil Bandaal), jockey B. Prakash never really had to ride out Personified. He sailed ahead effortlessly early in the straight and never gave even a semblance of a hope to Chardin (C. Rajendra) who was ridden out. Personified impressed while flying away with the Lufthansa Trophy. Chardin is shaping up and should have his day sometime during the season. The Audi Trophy was perhaps the most hotly contested race of the day. It was a shoddy start for Sea Storm (Daniel Grant) at the gates as he lost 3-4 lengths but it was Pride (Tony Farina) who suffered an even worse fate. Pride buckled soon after the start and never took an active part in the race. No hopers Native Strategy and Strathendrick were in front with Nanjing (Nadeem Alam) alongside; Hazelhead (YS Srinath) was next with Alvida (M.Narredu) on the rails, a position that proved costly on this occasion, Deeleecious (Neeraj Rawal) was up with them and Pepe Junior (PS Chouhan) in the rear - discounting Pride. As the heads turned for home, they were in a huddle and the lead was changing fast. Nanjing was the first to show out, Sea Storm showed urgency on the rails, Hazelhead put her head in the fray and Pepe Junior made his presence felt on the wider outside. All the while Alvida was hopelessly struggling to find clear passage. M. Narredu should have known better than to get stuck in a traffic jam. At the distance post, Hazelhead, Nanjing and Pepe Junior were engaged in a frantic battle and the Rehanullah Khan ward returned triumphant in a close finish. Credit must go to trainer Rehanullah khan for keeping Pepe Junior battle-ready, suggested in the manner in which the gelding overhauled his more illustrious rivals accounting for each one of them – his challenge coming from the last position, barely 500 m from the winning post. Chouhan too deserves kudos for his grit. Nanjing should be an early winner; Hazelhead too will do well. However, Alvida is the one to note, next time out, particularly over an extended trip. The De International Cup saw the favourite Red Romeo (Steinbeck USA– Allspice) make an impressive debut. Kiara (C. Rajendra) attempted a start to finish strategy and was chased all the way by Red Romeo (Daniel Grant). With 400 m to go, Red Romeo responded to the call of his rider and sped past Kiara in a trice. There was no other threat in sight and Red Romeo was a clear winner. Shiven Surendranath, the jubilant owner, couldn’t hide his delight as he rushed to lead-in his triumphant colt. “All credit to Cooji (Katrak) and Daniel (Grant). Red Romeo was working very well and we were confident he‘d do well, but his manner of victory has thrilled us. It goes to show an excellent prep work by my trainer. I am sure Red Romeo will only improve form here on,” Shiven said. Mention must be made of the late run of Ikaria (M. Narredu) who covered a lot of ground to peg back Juventus (YS Srinath) on the post. The IGCC Christmas Trophy saw Nimble Feet (Daniel Grant) garner tremendous support in the betting ring. The firm favourite was settled in the rear bunch and Grant improved his position to fifth at the turn with Spiritual Hymn (Belose) at dead last. In the straight, Fantastic Fury, who led them in, began to fade; Touch The Sky and Pine Crest were fighting for the lead when Nimble feet started to apply pressure. The trio seemed to fight for a couple of strides before Touch The Sky weakened, Spiritual Hymn made a late dash but Nibble Feet finished on strongly to clinch the issue a 100 m from the post. Spiritual Hymn was a good second beating Pine Crest to third, and Stunning Star was fourth. The ERGO Insurance Group Trophy was well fought for by War Of Attrition (YS Srinath) and Siroco (Vikram Walkar). In the end, the race was won by the superior riding of Srinath. Lightening Bolt (M. Narredu), the popular choice, showed only a glimpse of his last start blaze and was lightening quick in disappearing when the heat was turned on. Starynessy put in a good run at the distance post but had Siroco breathing down her neck when War Of Attrition with some strong handling from Srinath swooped upon the leading Siroco in the last couple of strides. Cabinda (KPG Appu) came out of a hindered passage to finish on well to run into place money. Cabinda could have done better but for the lack of clear passage. The weight told on Starynessy who surrendered a place in the frame to the fast finishing Casual Look. Six runners faced the starter for The Panalpina Cup. Gaea (M. Narredu) led the field with Desert Dust, Perfect Attraction, Fiery Fortune and Totalitarian in that order which more or less remained so till the turn. On straightening up, Gaea gave way to Royal Flash first but soon Perfect Attraction collared them and all the while a confident Samuel Fargeat was waiting to make his move. It was at the final 200 metres, that Samuel gave the signal to Totalitarian to cut loose and the Shroff ward surged ahead and trounced the opposition to register a facile victory. Perfect Attraction (YS Srinath) was a game second followed by Fiery Fortune and Gaea. Royal Flash was found to have bled during the race. Totalitarian was very impressive and a repeat is not beyond him. Legal Eye won the Auto Expo 2008 Trophy, but not without apprehension. Solid Black (YS Srinath) and Catalyst (Tony Farina) were considered a safe ‘jodi’ or pair to rely upon. The latter was running after a 8 month lay-off. Solid Black was right up with the pace and looked good till the last furlong. This was when he was getting past Encouragement (Shailesh Shinde), but when he found it hard to break free from Encouragement, a new and strong challenge came from Legal Eye (Riyaz Shaikh) who pounced on the leaders in a decisive finish to surprise the favourite close home. This despite Legal Eye having to wait a while before getting a clear run and Shaikh having to check his mount and manoeuvre around the front runners. Marco Polo finished on to run ahead of Catalyst who clearly needed the run. Among the professionals, trainer Mansoor Shah and jockey Daniel Grant scored a double each.