Thirteen of the fourteen contenders for the Kingfisher Ultra Pune Derby (Gr1) were left gasping on the track while thousands in the stands were struck with admiration for a wonderful performance that Lady In Lace dished out on the D day at Pune. Lady In Lace is the daughter of Chinese Whisper and Sea Spray, bred at the Tohana Stud and owned by Mr S Prasad Raju. The Hyderabad based filly rose to the occasion in a grand fashion and decimated the opposition to clinch the coveted Derby trophy with a rich purse of over Rs three million in stake-money.

They were off to a nippy start and the leaders changing quickly as well with Lord of the Sea, then Sweet Music and even Pure Zinc taking turns at leading the field time to time at the early stages. Lady In Lace with Suraj Narredu in the saddle, was ridden off the pace and made gradual progress past the half way stage.  Somewhere around here jockey Akshay Kumar fell off Timeless, fortunately escaping unhurt.

Perfect Star then made headway to get past Pure Zinc and led them into the straight. Perfect Star shaped well as he had a handy lead in the straight and with Pure Zinc not finding much and Rochester off the bridle, Perfect Star’s supporters were screaming him on. However, within a couple of strides, Lady In Lace unleashed a powerful thrust and she arrived with her famous scorching turn of foot then left them all panting. She tore away from the field and had amassed a huge lead in a matter of split-seconds. Suraj made his trademark triumphant gesture as he whizzed past the Grand Stands and Lady In Lace thrilled them all with her big-hearted performance. She won the Kingfisher Ultra Derby by more than eight lengths and a smart timing of 2:03:331 without having to actually having fire on all cylinders. Lady in Lace was comprehensive in her showcasing her galloping talents and with her unquestionable superiority in the Pune Derby she is certainly be one of the top contenders for the Indian Classics in Mumbai. Caprisca ended close behind runner-up Rochester while Perfect Star completed the frame.

Dallas Todywalla trained veteran sprinter Dancing Phoenix (Phoenix Tower – All Dancing, Manjri Stud) produced a big-hearted performance and stood out in holding his own and clinch the Noshir & Dolly Dhunjibhoy Sprint Million (Gr3) with a clinical start to finish performance. Dancing Prances however, was off to a slightly tardy start and found himself at the rear end of the field, a rare sight in his illustrious career.

Inside the homestretch, Dancing Phoenix continued to dominate and surged ahead zestfully to give himself a cover of two-lengths or so. Holy Smoke quickened approaching the distance post and was bridging the gap. Harvey along the inner rails was not making much impression and Dancing Prances started to get closer but had too much to do in the final furlong. In the end, Dancing Phoenix, ably ridden by CS Jodha, held his ground and carved a narrow victory with Holy Smoke, Dancing Prances and Harvey taking the minor positions.

New England perhaps will blame himself for having his winning streak broken   He lost the race at the gates when he jumped out late and lost a lot of ground at the start. However, jockey Srinath nursed him patiently to get into the mix of things and he had recovered somewhat when they turned for home.

Makino hit the front taking advantage of the feather weight on his back and had Charging Tigress close behind. Mygrator (Excellent Art – Haunting Memories, Poonawalla Exhilaration Stud) stuck along the rails biding his time with the rest not too far away.

Makino led them into the straight and was going well when Mygrator stepped up and challenged the leader. New England meanwhile started to improve positions and even his supporters moved to the edge of their seats hoping he would finish with his known flourish. He did, to an extent, but the winning post arrived a couple of strides too early for the favourite. Mygrator booted home the advantage and galloped on to win by a length from Makino. New England almost got the runner-up slot, losing out by a whisker. The way he staged his recovery, the slow start was fatal for New England.   

Texas Gold (Chinese Whisper – Oceanic Wisdom, Tohana Stud) churned out another gallant performance and galloped to his third career win in his eighth start. The Hosidar Daji ward had to go hard at Nelsons Blood who was reluctant to surrender his lead that he had all through from the start. The duo fought out until into the final furlong. However, Texas Gold moved assertively thereafter and drew away from Nelsons Blood in the final few strides to post a well-deserved win. Spiridon kicked on to save the place money.

MP Jodha’s Baby Face (Sedgefield – Sweet Essence, Jai Govind Stud) improved upon her last couple of noteworthy runs and dished out a smart win over the 2400 m IGCC Trophy. Baby Face, partnered by the champion-in-waiting Dashrath Singh, galloped gamely in the homestretch to achieve her maiden success brushing aside the competition in the final 100 meters.

Fantasy Star gave up soon at the turn as King of Killen took over with Its a Deal and Baby Face joining up on the outside. This trio entered the straight almost abreast. They fought out for a few strides with Othello also gaining on the front runners. Baby Face however, had a lot left in the tank and surged ahead and full of running. Othello tried hard to make a race of it, but the heavy weight he had to carry made the task that much more difficult. Baby Face stayed ahead to win by a little over a length to score a memorable win.

In The Stars (Phoenix Tower – Little Treasure, Manjri Stud) made an impressive debut and showed a lot of talent, temperament and maturity while winning the Division II of the Jimmy Umrigar Trophy. She jumped level and settled quickly in the fourth position as another debutante Tenerife set off to a cracking pace. Arc Shine and Fine Tune raced behind the leader and In The Stars was not too far away.

Suraj Narredu pounced on the front runners as soon as they turned for home and In The Stars accelerated fluently and motored past them all to smash the opposition and win with a good margin, clocking under 1:10 – a terrific performance on debut. There is no doubt that the filly is blessed with speed, however, she did show a touch of class too and is one to watch closely in the future. Although early to comment, she does possess star qualities and I personally feel she has a bright future.

Sereno (Pinson – Serenity, Nakul Stud) made ample amends this time and scored a facile win to claim the upper division of the Jimmy Umrigar Trophy. The Shiraz Sunderji trainee slipped into the lead at the turn taking the opportunity of the gap along the inner rails and then quickened so well that he had a good early advantage in the straight. Sereno galloped on resolutely and stayed well ahead of the others to win with a measure of comfort. Sassy Lass arrived a tad too late but improved to run a decent second ahead of Chaplin, who would benefit from this educative run on his debut.

Shiraz may well have got another had Turning Point not been clumsy at the start, considering the narrow margin with which proved the deciding factor eventually.

Orion’s Belt (Western Aristocrat – Bretton Woods, Nanoli Stud) was quick to go for the lead and led them into the straight. Turning Point was always on the move improving positions all along and he had got close enough to the pack in front coming into the straight.

Orion’s Belt ran erratically all through the straight with a wild drift both ways twice in the straight. She veered outward first and then swayed inwards towards the business end, yet managed to hold on to her lead. She did come across Turning Point at the closing stages and that prompted jockey Imran Khan to lodge an objection which was duly overruled.

Pilatus (Roderic O’Connor – Kirov, Nanoli Stud) showed marked improvement over his last couple of runs to notch up his maiden win in the opening race on Derby day.  Knight’s Quest led them into the straight and soon Pilatus moved up from the fourth spot to come with a sustained gallop and shoot away from Knight’s Quest in the final furlong. He galloped resolutely all the way to score a comfortable win. Eiger’s Tiger was way too far behind in the field in the early stages to make any impact on the winner, but he beat the rest to claim the second spot ahead of Royal Éclair.

For the professionals, jockeys Suraj Narredu and Neeraj Rawal scored a double each.