Sulaiman Attaollahi-trained Captain Morgan produced an astounding gallop after gracing the wrong end of the field for most part of the gruelling 2400M journey to come up tops in the Governor’s Cup, convincingly snuffing out the challenge of the favourite Mathaiyus in the final furlong. The result though shocked the followers of form particularly the handicapping group. `Captain’ in fact had lost out to Mathaiyus at level weights in his last essay and this time round the `Captain’ despite conceding weight beat the Pesi Shroff ward and this did not go well with the punters who made no secret of their opinion that the stipes and stewards at this centre lack the guts to question the professionals regarding the improved performance of the horses which time and again has floored the railbirds.

Imtiaz Khan-trained Saladin looked a picture of fitness at the parade ring. The fact that Saladin this season produced a couple of blow hot, blow-cold performances didn’t inspire the necessary confidence and as a result most punters chose to stay away from this tricky race while a small number trusted China One to provide an encore in the Leading Stud Cup.

The Prithviraj schooled  Regal Music in line for a hat-trick showed a clean pair of heels till the final before she retired and at this juncture China One looked set to land the spoils before Jagadeesh brough Saladin into contention and the Imtiaz ward stormed through to score in resounding fashion. China One finished second ahead of Regal Music while Lord Darlington who led for most part of the sprint trip eventually finished in the ruck.

Sharat Kumar schooled Shining Magic was in with a good chance in the Leading Owner Cup but it appears that the connections had other ideas. Shining Magic was shining bright in front soon after the start but it was clear that the light would go out soon and it did, the Sharath Kumar ward finishing last in a race. This performance of Shining Magic was too bad to be true and it is time the men in charge crack the whip on the pros who revel in in and out running. The 30 to one long shot Mantara from the stables of Warren Singh won the event from Majestic Style.

Happy Dancing was strongly fancied by the right connections to win the Champion Jockey Cup while the Nagarjuna think-tank was very bullish that the Pradeep ward would sail home comfortably. Happy Dancing waged a ding-dong battle with Nagarjuna before prevailing in the end. Ravishing Snow edged out Arziki for the third place. Favourite Star Line was slowly off and was never in the hunt.

Regal Realm and Sudha were the two top fancies in the concluding event, the Champion Trainer Cup before the Arvind Ganapathy ward closed firm favourite, big money pouring in Regal Realm minutes before the start. The public choice failed to get a favourable position early on in the race and faded out of the scene even before the race came on a boil resulting in a lot of good money going down the drain.

Pradeep Annaiah-trained Sudha who failed to break level and lost more than five lengths at the start made up the lost ground in the straight and romped home in style. Depth Charge finished a game second ahead of Paradiso while stablemate Lady Majestic took the fourth spot.

On the strength of his good showing in his last start, Automatic from the stables of Irfan Ghatala was quoted at miserly odds to win the Totalizator Cup and he did that pegging back the effort of Majuro. The latter could have pulled it off if she had not gone very wide when making her run.
 
Prasanna Kumar pulled off a good gamble on Beyond Reach who proved too good in the Leading Tipster Cup. Export Quality too had a fair share of supporters but the Inayathullah ward found Beyond Reach too hot to handle.