Game galloper Maseeha yet again showed a never-say-die attitude and added another Trophy to his owner, Mrs Tina K Dhanani’s collection by literally snatching the Cup from rival Highland Glory’s clasp. The Byculla Club Trophy, though small in quantity with regard to number of runners, made up amply in terms of quality as two determined contenders, Maseeha and Highland Crown, old rivals by now, provided a scintillating finish, fighting every inch of the entire journey of 2,800 metres. With the only other runner Thanda almost out of the pre-race equation, the odds were surprisingly value for money.

The bookmakers upped the ante and at race time Maseeha was quoted at 5/4, while Highland Crown was at 6/4 against. These were ridiculously high odds in what appeared to be certainly a two-horse race. That speculation proved to be spot on, as Thanda clearly lagged behind the duo all through the race and finished further down making no impression whatsoever at any stage. Maseeha led the trio all the way until into the straight. Entering the homestretch, Maseeha enjoyed a good two-length lead and with 400 to go was finding it hard to maintain that advantage. Highland Crown started to bridge the gap past the 400 and did not take long to get past Maseeha with only a furlong to go.

Just when it looked like Highland Crown would pull away, Maseeha produced a fifth leg and as if recharged came up with a fresh challenge. Somewhere around thereabouts, Highland Crown broke a vessel and that could have made it easier for Maseeha to not let Highland Crown stretch away. Jockey M Fenton came under pressure as did Highland Crown. Fenton failed to prevent highland Crown from moving inward, thereby denying Maseeha a free run. He also bumped Maseeha a couple of times before hitting the wire narrowly ahead of Maseeha. Jockey Dashrath Singh lodged an objection against Fenton and did not take too long for the stewards to arrive at the decision, which was unanimous, to uphold the objection and award the race to Maseeha. For the backers of Highland Crown, this was a cruel blow, since it appeared that Highland Crown would have won the race anyway.

However, it must be said that the technical infringement was blatant and if there were any, the benefit of doubt ought to always go in favour of the victim rather than the perpetuator. In this case, Maseeha was certainly the victim. Jockey YS Srinath was certainly the pro of the day. He won three out of his four engagements for the day. All his three mounts were first favourites and Srinath won them all without causing any anxiety. Scholar (Placerville – Cambridge Ball) was the clear first fancy in the ring, with Blumarine a close second in demand. Check Her Out went for the lead and had Yankee Lane and Blumarine for company for the most part. Srinath had Scholar handy in the fourth along the rails. Entering the straight, Check Her Out had left a little space along the rails and Srinath quickly speared his way through the available gap and surged forward.

Scholar responded with a fluent gallop and outpaced his rivals adding turf between himself and the rest in quick time. Tudor Regent who was in the rear moved up nicely to snatch the second place from Blumarine close to the post. Scholar’s was an authoritative win and was not fully spent in his effort. Ecstatica (Senure – Star Shine) made light of the top weight she was carrying to provide an encore with similar conviction as she had done in her last outing. She put paid to any speculation that the six-furlong sprint might be sharp for her. Sitting fourth close behind the leader Flames of Fire, Pretty Commission was second, and Frangipani and Lyrical Lass alongside, Ecstatica made a quick forward move at the turn to be in box seat coming into the straight. Srinath effortlessly guided Ecstatica to take the lead early into the straight and bounded forwarded readily to snuff out a challenge if there was any.

Ecstatica accelerated well and kept getting out of bounds for the rest. Lyrical Lass could only finish second beating Pretty Commission in the process. Native Strategy did well to finish alongside Pretty Commission. Ecstatica is in top form and could win in the higher class as well. Alexus (China Visit – Alarming) provided the proverbial ‘armchair ride’ to Srinath and won handsomely showing no signs of any ‘lay off’ syndrome. Taking off nicely from the gates, Srinath had to put an effort to hold Alexus in check. Golden Grace, then went into the lead. Tabar was in the mid bunch. No sooner they turned for home, Alexus darted ahead and looked good while devouring ground briskly. It was soon clear that Alexus would not be troubled as Srinath only had to keep her going towards the wire. The fight was on for the minor placing only.

Free Spirit raised a fast gallop approaching the distance post but failed to sustain it long enough. Solor improved under some goading to end second ahead of Golden Grace. Tabar ended off the frame, the weight clearly taking the toll. Pesi Shroff had only two runners for the day and both his wards won easily adding to his awesome tally this season. Pesi has been doing exceptionally well and it came as little surprise that his charge Triunfo (Alnasr Alwasheek – Connivance) outpaced his rivals with contemptuous easy to pocket the Maharaja Sir Pratapsingh Geakwad Trophy. Triunfo settled just behind Princess Ruby who was tailing The Gain until the turn. The Gain weakened on straightening up and Triunfo was quick to take charge. Once in the lead, Triunfo accelerated further. It appeared that Princess Ruby might offer a worthy challenge, but the Princess could not sustain her gallop.

She was later found to have bled. Triunfo marched on ahead and won with a decent margin. Princess Ruby held on narrowly for the runner up berth from the fast finishing Misschevious Trot. Vincero (Puerto Madero – Revived Up) put in an impressive start-to-finish gallop to win the Bookies Delight Plate, clearly humbling the more fancied duo of River Knight and Francis of Assisi over the mile-and-a-quarter trip. It was a disastrous start for Zayna who probably hindered Empress of India and neither took an effective part in the race. Vincero soon overtook Only The Brave to head the field and kept galloping ahead regardless of his rivals toiling behind. He set a decent pace which suited him best and once into the straight, Vincero only got stronger and kept increasing the margin of victory to finally spare over five lengths to River Knight who disappointed. Francis of Assisi never looked in the hunt but improved in the final furlong to save place money.

Jockey SA De Souza had a decisive hand in helping Blades of Glory ward off a stiff challenge from Shodaan. Racing third behind Always and Daffodils till turn, Blades of Glory moved to take over early in the straight as both Always and Daffodils started to falter. Shodaan soon came alongside and the pair pulled away from the rest. In an engaging battle, both Blades of Glory and Shodaan fought stride for stride with the former holding a thin advantage all the way. Jockeys De Souza and Cleary were at it going all out and the race had the spectators craning their necks in suspense. Blades of Glory had just about enough to nose out Shodaan in a very close finish. Saddlers Rule improved late to snatch the place money from Solid Rock who did get into traffic problems at a crucial juncture midway in the straight.

Always Smile (Bee’s Prospector – Rustle of Spring) won the first race of the day posting a runaway victory in splendid fashion. Favourite Double Delight was nowhere to be seen in the initial stages and when he did make an appearance it was all over. Always Smile with McCullagh in the saddle demolished Double Delight and the rest by more than four lengths. Double Delight took awfully long to settle and the entire field had had him covered by then. He was hopelessly poised when Always Smile was marching on ahead in the straight. Gerrard gained in the straight as did Dangerous Belle. Double Delight will have his day in the sunshine, however, he will have to show much better alacrity in the early stages of the race.