Till End of Time (Dancing Forever – Moselle, Hazara Stud) produced a clinical performance to provide an encore winning the Pune Police Commissioner’s Trophy effortlessly. The MK Jadhav trainee was way down the field for most of the way. Jockey A Sandesh seemed least perturbed as Mount Olympus led with a bunch of horses following him homewards. Star Comrade took charge early in the straight and galloped away to build a handy lead as well. However, Till End of Time came along on cruise mode gliding into the homestretch, Sandesh not moving a muscle yet his mount whizzed by them all and literally on a canter adding distance by the stride to win with remarkable ease.  Star Comrade held on to finish second ahead of favourite Star Bright. Flying Dragon improved positions and did well to secure a place in the frame. Till End of Time is one to be followed until beaten.

Arabesque (Air Support – Marrinsky, Kunigal Stud) proved she was a great fighter on her debut run itself, literally snatching victory on the last stride. Ahearn led until they turned for home but soon after, Seventh Mile squeezed closer to challenge her lead. Arabesque had to wait a few strides as she was sandwiched between the inner rails and Ahearn and in a dicey situation. Seventh Mile by then had gone ahead and was leading by about two lengths. Arabesque had to shift gears and gather momentum which she did and started to inch closer to Seventh Mile. Even in the last 100 meters it looked like Seventh Mile had it covered, but the never say die attitude shown by both Arabesque and jockey Zervan paid rich dividends as Arabesque put in an inspired finish to pip Seventh Mile on the post. Ahearn held on to finish third. Favourite Astounding Bay had an ordinary run and has some catching up to do.

Stormy Atlantic (Strong Suit – Meadowpark, Manjri Stud) showed a clean pair of heels while reeling off a start to finish victory notching up his maiden win on his fourth outing. He started off well and led them into the straight. Chosen One appeared to have something to unleash and make a fight of it, but Stormy Atlantic shifted gears and accelerated nicely to skip away from Chosen One. Jockey P Trevor rode out the Pesi Shroff ward with aplomb and set off even further to pocket the Karl Umrigar Trophy in style. Chosen One had to fight off favourite Jetfire to keep ahead and take the runner-up slot.

MK Jadhav’s Brazos (Authorized – Mitsina, Nanoli Stud) was ridden well off the pace by jockey A Sandesh making progress just at the right time between 800 m marker and the turn. Dazzle N Daze led them all the way into the straight and fought on bravely right through. Jager Bomb also put up a stiff fight and as these two were raging a battle, up came Brazos moving purposefully from the outside. Brazos soon took charge and drew slightly ahead but kept the momentum going right through to the wire. Lucky Luciano was under pressure and was a bit erratic and that didn’t help his cause at all. He finished on, got past Dazzle N Daze and Jager Bomb, but fell short by just under a length, to finish second.

Lord Commander (Western Aristocrat – Bionic Angel, Nanoli Stud) put up a bold show to claim the Division I of the Vinayak Trophy in a close finish to nose out Loire at the finish. Clark Kent led them well into the straight but could not sustain. Loire took charge approaching the distance post with Smart Choice in Chase. Lord Commander arrived with a big run inside the final furlong. Loire put up stiff resistance but eventually Lord Commander with Trevor astride got the better of her and snatched victory on the last stride.

Jockey Dashrath Singh and trainer Narendra Lagad bracketed the Derby day in a way, winning the first and last races of the day. Dashrath struck with Skysurfer (Surfrider – Stardom Bound, Ruia Stud) with a powerful stretch run. Bidstone Hill led them into the straight and was going well when Skysurfer moved up to challenge. The two fought out for a few strides before Skysurfer got the measure of Bidstone Hill and sped ahead. Dashrath Singh rode out hard to keep Skysurfer ahead and sustained just about enough to ward off the late bid coming from Divine Power. The runner up covered a lot of ground in the straight and did well to run Skysurfer close.  Bidstone Hill held on to save the place money from the fast finishing Mighty Warrior and Transform.

The trainer-jockey combo won the last race as well with Brave (Varenar – Mandara, Equus Stud) finally coming good after a few disappointing runs. This time Brave raced in the mid-bunch and improved considerably in the straight. Komodo Dragon led them in and kicked on to stay ahead until into the final furlong. Art Deco started to apply pressure when Brave arrived with a speedy gallop. Brave caught up with them in the final 150 meters and then skipped ahead to score convincingly, to post his maiden win on his ninth start. Komodo Dragon didn’t relent and held on to the runner-up berth, with Art Deco ending a close third.

For the professionals, jockey P Trevor was the star of the day, pocketing a treble which included the Pune Derby (Gr1). Trainers Pesi Shroff, MK Jadhav and Narendra Lagad saddled a double each, while jockeys A Sandesh and Dashrath Singh scored a double each.