The Dr MAM Ramaswamy camp struck a fine double which included the J Rustomji Soparivala Trophy, the main event of Thursday’s races at Mumbai. Jockey Prakash wasted no time and guided Superior Quest (Diffident – Days of Glory) to the front, jumping out smartly from the innermost gate. He was soon joined by Titleist who was followed closely by Via Chasellas and the favourite Ocean Star. The rest did little of consequence. Superior Quest led them homeward with Titleist trying hard to match strides with the leader. Ocean Star was not yet on full throttle and looked sharp as they neared the furlong marker.

Via Chasellas was on the rails but not making much progress. With a furlong to go, Superior Quest showed no signs of relenting even as Ocean Star appeared to post a severe challenge. However, all the latter could do was to reduce the margin of victory and was successful in doing so because Prakash started to ease up Superior Quest in the final few strides. It was a good showing from Superior Quest on debut and Ocean Star too looked a worthy runner-up.

Blazing Spectacle (Rossini – Bongusto) provided a back-to-back double for the MAM camp with Prakash riding purposefully to power the Karthik Ganapathy trained Blazing Spectacle to a comfortable victory. It was a horrifying start for the Dhunjibhoy camp as their last start winner IL Tabarro swerved awkwardly to her left dislodging the jockey in the process. Apprentice lad D Akkshay, however, was fortunate to escape unhurt as any fall can be potentially highly risky. The boy was almost in tears when he returned to the weighing room obviously shaken by the occurrence.

Oblivious to the accident behind, Mypethoney assumed his customary front-running role and led the field homeward. Sepia tone chose to stay close behind the leader with Blazing Spectacle alongside. Jockey Imran Chisty astride Sea Shower must have assumed that he had the best position along the rails in this small field but that were pathway restricted him from giving his best. Sea Shower toiled hard but never got a clear run at the serious end of the race.

With the riderless IL Tabarro also believing that she was a part of the race, the horses that were following the ones in front were not clear as to what to expect. Hence the field remained tight until the final furlong. Meanwhile Sepia Tone was putting up some resistance as Blazing Spectacle challenged to take charge. There was a brief tussle between the two, but Karthik’s Blazing Spectacle was gaining heavily in the last 100 metres. Double Delight went wide yet managed to grab the third place a shade ahead of the hapless Sea Shower.

Trainer SK Sunderji scored a well-backed double with River Gem and Endearment turning in winning performances. Endearment (Tirol – Making Waves) was the most impressive winner of the day, running away to an emphatic victory with ridiculous ease. In his last outing as ‘Chanakya’, he put up a superlative burst in the straight but went down by a whisker to Strelitzia in a battle to the wire. This time round, however, there was no worthy challenge from any rival and Endearment who raced in the mid-bunch over the Derby distance improved steadily to take charge soon on straightening up.

Once into the lead, Endearment bounded forward readily and unleashed a terrific run to win by a street. Ashridge, the long time leader, went out in a whimper offering no resistance, while Fire Vault could only finish a face-saving second. Krug was the only one who improved abundantly in the straight, but he too veered awkwardly and banged into Critical Acclaim in the final furlong. Although McCullagh lodged an objection for costing him the third place, the Stewards overruled his contention without wasting much time. River Gem (Ikhtyar – Kilshannig) was sent on a successful start-to-finish mission.

River Gem, showing good early speed, maintained a handy lead coming into the straight. Appalina was the one stalking him all the time. McQueen never looked like troubling the duo in front. River Gem sailed ahead and increased his lead and looked comfortably ahead past the distance post. Appalina warmed up far too late and only managed to reduce the margin in the end. Mariposa, who was prominent till the turn, broke a blood vessel lost the plot.

Chancellor (Ontario – Truffa) looked a lot more determined to redeem himself and despite his jockey Zervan dropping his whip in the closing stages, Chancellor held on grimly to stave off the challenge posed by Polarizer. Polarizer, who put up a lively show, was in hot pursuit of Chancellor right from the outset. Into the straight, Polarizer was asking serious questions and Chancellor, to his credit, galloped on regardless. Inside the final furlong, jockey Zervan slipped up losing his whip, but that hardly mattered as Chancellor riding on the nippy tempo didn’t crack and carried on all the way to the winning post admirably.

Royal Crown progressed to pip Oyster Princess for the third place. Grey Island (Hymn – White Whisper) showed what he can do if only he learnt to be alert at the gates. Trainer Magan Singh Jodha had done his part to ensure that the grey gelding had improved his gate manners and to his joy the long shot not only sprung out of the gates with alacrity but went on to win a hard fought battle with Arabian Power to win by half a length. Favourite Gypsy Queen was right in contention till the race took a serious turn.

However, she failed to quicken and made little progress when it mattered. The followers of favourites went home with a smile as public rage Emerald Star from trainer Imtiaz’s yard justified the faith and got them rich returns. Sacred Relic, who came for a substantial support close to race time, could only liven up the finish just that bit to provide the adrenalin flow for the backers with Ariane too coming up with a late flourish. Brave Gun had a runaway lead but he was going too fast too early.

He surrendered meekly in the straight when Notability, Kimaya and Emerald Star launched into their final gallop. Emerald Star (Steinbeck – Wave of bliss) shot ahead soon and a serious challenge came from the unpredictable Step By Step. The challenger, however, could not sustain his bid for too long. Sacred Relic then warmed up but by then Emerald Star was home and dry. Ariane too produced a nippy gallop far too late yet managed to nose out Sacred Relic for the runner-up berth.