Schnell (Samuel Fargeat) cleaned up the opposition, posting an authoritative victory in the Municipal Commissioner’s Trophy at the Mahalaxmi Race Course on the mid-week racing at Mumbai. Schnell – meaning ‘Fast’ in German -- lived up to his name. The Altaf Hussain-trained 3 year-old was piloted ably by Fargeat, who cajoled the gelding in the initial stages of the race to move in from an outside draw to be in good position as the field of 16 settled down. Once in the straight, Schnell eagerly bounded forward but Samuel Fargeat had to ride him out forcefully to ward off a fair degree of challenge from Carlos and Cotswold Arms. Both Carlos and Cotswold Arms ran a good race as well. Artillery carried the public purse and jockey KPG Appu did his best to do justice. Latest News (Nadeem Alam) led the bunch with Artillery for company and the duo entered the straight together. Artillery seemed to be travelling well and only flattered to deceive. On the contrary, Alaskan Zone (A. Merchant) looked under pressure from as far back as the 800-metre mark. At 400, Latest News was in no mood to surrender and Artillery, who went all out, just couldn’t quicken. Alaskan Zone joined the pair past the distance post and sped away in the end almost making it look like an easy victory. Artillery has to improve a lot to garner any more support in the near future. If champion jockey C. Rajendra had hoped for a successful first appearance on the track this season, it was crashed in less than one minute! Literally so, as Angels Glory took 59.29 seconds to demolish the others in the fray. Crown Princess was never in the hunt and did not improve dramatically towards the finish. Angels Glory would rate as the most impressive winner of the day. She settled well in second, was well in hand till the 400 and once jockey Harish alerted her, the Warshan–Pas de L’argent filly accelerated tremendously to win convincingly. Angels Glory’s progress must be closely watched! Jockey Y.S. Srinath was reportedly injured and could not fulfil his riding engagements for the day. Effectively, M. Narredu was declared to ride Misschevious Trot. Narredu made most of this opportunity. He rode a good race to ward off a stiff challenge from the favourite, Eagle Mountain. Maverick led the field home and soon M. Narredu wrested the initiative and sped ahead. Eagle Mountain came on the outside and was within touching distance of the leader near the 300 m. Then began a hot contest from which the Narredu ridden Imtiaz Sait ward came out trumps. Mention must be made of Wahy. Now Wahy can consider herself very unlucky in her first outing. At the jump she had to cope with the outer drawn horses closing in on the rails for vantage positions in front of her. That forced her to hang on to the rails all through. As the field straightened up, she again found herself badly pocketed in a bunch with nowhere to go for a considerable distance. She took her chance when she got one, but by then Misschevious Trot and Eagle Mountain were in full flight and there was some distance to cover. Wahy closed in considerably fast towards the dying moments of the race and showed enough quality to command attention in her next outing. Wahy is for your notebook - in bold letters! Major Roberts provided some compensation to his connections after the failure of the Eagle Mountain. Racing right behind the leader Blazing Speed, who was carrying a huge amount of last minute smart money, Major Roberts took command at the 300-metre mark and bravely fought the opposition to submission like a true Major. Blazing Speed saved the place money while the well-supported Take On just couldn’t measure up to the Major’s onslaught. Nectar Jewel was seen covering some ground to end a good fourth. Keep an eye on Generalissimo, he was running on the wide outside, shifted in, in the last 100 m and was not totally away from the scene. The weight told on Flames Of Fire. As for the sixth race, Peaches And Cream (SN Chavhan) was the first choice but at good odds. Settling second, the Manglorkar ward surged past a tiring Phi and won unchallenged. Mid way up the straight it was clear that the only contest on, was for the minor places. Mubarras and Arabian Sword were in close proximity of the leaders right through the start and their finishing up second and third was nothing notable. However, Arabian Guest (CS Jodha) caught my eye. He was languishing in the rear till the home turn and was even passed by Uruj who was slowly off! In the straight though, Arabian Guest covered a lot of ground to be just a neck and short-head away from the runner’s up berth. This run was indeed suggestive and it would pay to store Arabian Guest’s run in the memory. Johnny Bravo (Tograllu) did not get a clear passage and was seen looking for room for a major part of the final 2 furlongs. The others failed to impress. The last race saw some heavy betting on Roman Beauty (Daniel Grant). Few other horses in the 12 horse race (Crespo was withdrawn at stalling time) attracted any major bets. Roman Beauty caused no anxious moments to her supporters, was tucked in nicely in thrd place behind The Dreamer (Vikram Jodha) and Nazeebdar (Kishore Kadam). In the straight, Naseebdar galloped ahead but Roman Beauty was ready and responding. The duo fought for a couple of strides before Roman Beauty put the issue beyond doubt. Just a couple of timely reminders were all she needed. Naseebdar ran a good race and should be watched over a 5-furlong trip The Right Man (Harish) also needs a mention as the SN Joshi ward came from a long way back covering a lot of ground in the last 300 m to end a notable third.