It was an ‘excellent’ day for Dr Cyrus Poonawalla as his horses bagged both he ‘Million’ races, the feature events of the day. It was also a great attribute to the Late Mrs Villoo Poonawalla at whose farm – the Villoo’s Greenfield Farm, the two exceptional horses were bred at. Excellent Sorrento, trained by Malesh Narredu first won the Villoo C Poonawalla Million and Dallas Todywalla trained Excellent bagged the SA Poonawalla Million (Gr3) to give some memorable moments to the Poonawalla family who have always only given to the racing fraternity particularly to the RWITC for decades.

Excellent (Excellent Art – Skyelady, Villoo’s Greenfield Farms) galloped away to his third successive victory, second this season, once again showing marked superiority over his rivals. Excellent was up with the pace going over the mile for the first time and settled behind Van Dyke with Navigator by his side. Adjudicate and Truly Epic kept one another company, while New Moon and Pioneer at the rear.

Excellent took charge soon on turning for home and stretched out gracefully to compile a good lead in quick time. Adjudicate made a dash forward between horses and Pioneer was covering ground from the outside. Neither made much impact on Excellent as he strode away and won easing up from Adjudicate and Pioneer finishing on. New Moon progressed along the rails to take the last slot in the frame.

Excellent Sorrento (Excellent Art – Sorrento Steal. Villoo’s Greenfield Farms) overcame a slightly tardy start and having given that bit of a leeway found himself a couple of lengths behind the field until the turn. Excellent Times led early and guided the field homewards but soon fizzled out of the reckoning. Sharareh took charge briefly but was constantly put under pressure with Chosen One putting up a spirited challenge. Excellent Sorrento was still finding his feet, running green and not focusing on the task. Jockey Neeraj Rawal handled the first timer patiently and got him to show his wears only in the last 100 meters and Excellent Sorrento opened a good burst of speed to zip past Chosen One and Sharareh to win with surprising ease.

Trainer Malesh Narredu had earlier saddled Enchanted (Air Support – Stormy Affair, Kunigal Stud) strode away to an easy start to finish victory, her second win this season. Apprentice jockey Peter rode out a perfect race, guiding the filly to the front soon on start and then going all out once they entered the straight. Xoxo did try to apply pressure approaching the distance post, but Enchanted galloped on gamely all the way to secure a comfortable victory. Skysurfer did well to beat favourite Run Forest Run for the third spot.

Pesi Shroff trained Costa Brava (Phoenix Tower – Karakoram, Manjri Stud) sat second behind Flag Flying well into the straight before showing his dominance at the business end. Flag Flying put up stiff resistance after leading them in and had Trevor riding out strongly astride Costa Brava. The pair went neck and neck for a brief while before Costa Brava got past inside the final furlong and drew away to win convincingly. Pablo was right behind them but couldn’t find much to make an impact and barely managed to save place money.

Iron Age (Strong Suit – Intrigue, Manjri Stud) scored a fashionable victory dismissing the opposition with disdain. He was on tight rein all through going start to finish with Colombianaprincess on his tail. However, even the speedy Colombianaprincess was no match to what Iron Age exhibited on the turf. Iron Age with jockey Trevor in the saddle, cruised ahead without Trevor having to move a muscle. Iron Age stretched away at half pace to draw away from Colombianaprincess and won by a huge margin and stopping the clock at 57.290 one of the quickest timing for the season and this without being extended, speak a lot for the speed the Imtiaz Sait trainee is blessed with.

Smart Choice (Intense Focus – Cashel Queen, Poonawalla Astonish Stud) pulled off a sly gamble in the hands of apprentice Raghuveer Singh. Settling in second behind Bidstone Hill early on, Smart Choice made a forward surge soon on turning for home. Once in the lead, the Vijay Kasbekar ward pushed forward and steered clear of the field giving no anxious moments to his backers. He won well unmindful of the late charge of Cezanne the later doing well to finish second ahead of tote favourite Bidstone Hill.

Till End Of Time (Dancing Forever – Moselle, Alpha Stud) made a late entry into the focus of the crowd on the stands and moved sweetly score in a sensational manner. Daughterofthesun led all the way into the straight and was prominent until Valegro arrived with a spirited bid to outpace the leader. Just as Valegro took charge and was being hailed as the likely winner, Zanzibaar was seen covering ground to catch up. Sandesh, atop Till End of Time swooped upon them all, with the Hosidar Daji ward moving fashionably on a tight rein. He made a fluent forward surge with ease against the hard ridden Valegro and notched up an emphatic victory that was most pleasing to watch.

For the professionals, trainer Malesh Narredu saddled a lucrative double, while jockeys P Trevor and Neeraj Rawal scored a double each.