The Pune Bookmakers’ Association Turf Club Trophy (Gr3) lived up to the thrill it promised and it was the astute Pesi Shroff trained Accolade (Burden of Proof – Alnasreya, Kunigal Stud) that showed out with a brilliant run in the homestretch. Equally skillful was champion jockey P Trevor who nursed the winner with swift maneuvers at just the right junctures to produce the best out of the top notch colt to edge out Your Royal Majesty at the business end.

Accolade was not in the best position at the start and Trevor confidently held him back for the first half of the seven furlong race. The speedy Brynhill hit the front with Holy Smoke close behind, St Andrews and Celtic Prince kept one another company, with the rest not too far away, Accolade and Silver Beauty at the rear end.

Holy Smoke took over from the tiring leader but was soon challenged by Celtic Prince and your Royal Majesty too was progressing well. Dancing Prances made his bid approaching the distance post. Meanwhile, Accolade started to switch lanes, Trevor switching lanes adeptly. Your Royal Majesty had the early run for the line and shot ahead. Accolade waited patiently until he got the clear run and once he did, Accolade showed a burst of speed to blaze past them all and collar Your Royal Majesty a couple of strides from the winning post to post a short head victory. He would have won with a better margin had he not have to wait for the clear run. Accolade was simply too good and Trevor proved an ideal foil.

Trevor had a good day riding out two other winners starting his day on a winning note astride Dallas Todywalla trained Star Scholar (Ace – Scholastic Giant, Exhilaration Stud). Trevor settled Star Scholar, the prime fancy, in fourth but not too far away from leader Paradise. Silver Edge was a handy second with Wizard of Odds racing on the outside of Star Scholar, Sir Song in the rear.

Silver Edge eased into the lead and shaped well for her finish. Star Scholar moved to second and started to inch closer to the new leader. Silver Edge fought on bravely but in the end Star Scholar managed to get past and register a well-fought victory.

Trevor then delighted the masses with a well-timed run atop House of Commons (Thewayyouare – El Gran Love, Nanoli Stud) from trainer Faisal Abbas’ yard. Owner-mates House of Commons and Wise Child were joint favourites and that is indeed a rare thing.

Art Deco and Charming were up in front at the turn with Wise Child and Flamboyant Flame ready to strike. House of Commons improved positions around the bend but still had some ground to cover. Wise Child shot ahead and shaped well approaching the distance post which is when House of Commons arrived showing terrific acceleration. He caught up with Wise Child and zipped past with ease. Charging Tigress made a late bid only to end an eye-catching second, doing well to beat Wise Child to third. Flamboyant Flme failed to capitalize on a clear rail run and ended a tame fourth.

Trainer Malesh Narredu sent out a double scoring first with long shot Daughterofthesun (Doctor Dino – La-Sayida, Hazara Stud) thwarting off a stiff challenge from Zanara. Ridden resolutely by jockey CS Jodha, Daughterofthesun forged ahead to build a handy lead in the straight and going all guns blazing. Zanara came up to challenge and the pair raged a ding dong battle. It looked like Zanara would get past but Daughterofthesun   fought hard and put in a sustained gallop to nose out Zanara in a thrilling finish.

Mygrator (Excellent Art – Haunting Memories, Poonawalla Exhilaration Stud) picked up his maiden win going through an acid test both on and off the track. He looked in control entering the straight but when Tower Bridge closed in Mygrator shifted out under pressure thereby coming in front of Tower Bridge. Gallant Knight too had a skirmish but managed to finish at good clip and take the runner up berth. Mygrator stretched away to win by a decent margin and that held him in good stead later in the stewards’ room as both Sandesh astride Gallant Knight and Dhebe atop Tower Bridge lodged an objection against Yash Narredu. Both objections were overruled and Mygrator earned his maiden win the hard way.

My Blessings (Sedgefield – Feona, Jai Govind Stud) also brought her maiden victory with a good turn of foot in the straight. Slam Dunk was threatening to pull away when My Blessings, who was heavily backed in the ring, came charging in with a fluent gallop. The moment My Blessings got going she looked the winner. She arrived with a big run and blazed ahead in front of the stands to score a facile win. Slam Dunk caught one better. Gloriana kicked on to finish a decent third. Philadelphia, who finished fourth, looked a touch gross in the paddock and may have needed this run.

Harmony of the Sea (Multidimensional – Sea Value, Usha Stud) showed a clean pair of heels while notching up a clinical victory encountering no challenge. Rincon took charge early in the race and was galloping well in the straight as well. Xoxo, and company were making no impact on Rincon who was kicking on. Harmony of the Sea surfaced from the rear to gather momentum after turning for home and she easily past half a dozen horses in quick time and went after Rincon. She caught up with Rincon in the final furlong and sailed ahead to score a comfortable victory with minimum effort. Goofy Eyes flashed in too late but did well to take the place money.

For the professionals, trainer Malesh Narredu saddled a double, while Trevor was the top pro scoring a fine treble.