New England (Arazan – Autumnal, Villoo’s Greenfield Farm) carried the top weight to victory, fighting though the length of the long Mumbai straight. As B Fifty Two shot into the lead, New England settled in second with Costa Brava and Grand Accord in tow.  They raced in single file until the turn and soon New England darted ahead to take charge early in the straight. He picked up momentum warming up nicely along the way. Costa Brava moved up just as quickly and started to inch closer. The other two were not up to it and fell back quickly.

New England was gritty at the finish and jockey Robbie Dawney was hard at work to keep him going. Costa Brava came under pressure as he was not gaining at all despite giving it his all. New England galloped strongly all the way past the post and Costa Brava was beaten convincingly by a superior horse.

Riquewihr (Phoenix Tower – Coconut Squeak, Manjri Stud) displayed sublime form and scored an even better win this time to take his win tally to four from eight starts. The Pesi Shroff trainee waited in second behind Colombianaprincess until the turn. Once into the straight, Riquewihr galloped fluently to stretch out nicely adding turn with every stride and leaving her rivals far behind. She looked the winner long way from home, giving apprentice jockey PS Kavraj an easy ride to victory. Colombianaprincess kicked on to finish runner-up, holding off fine Tune by half a length. Pokerface received a check early in the straight, yet progressed to run fourth on the haunches of Fine Tune.

Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, the sponsor of the Guineas, had a good day two picking up both the divisions of the Cole Gold Trophy. His Flaming Martini (Excellent Art – Flaming Glory, Poonawalla Stud) was the red-hot favourite and he won without causing any anxiety. He moved up from third to take charge early in the straight. Once in the lead, jockey David Allan cruised further ahead, just hands and heels and within split seconds was elusive to the rest. Flaming Martini won by a widening margin finishing nearly six lengths in front to score a facile victory without being extended. Findlerhof improved position and for a first outing, did well to finish second, well ahead of Brave.

El Comandante (Excellent Art – Yomalo, Villoo’s Greenfield Farm) won the lower division of the race in an equally facile manner. He charged to the front soon on turning into the homestretch and easily accounted for leader Medici who led them homewards. Once in the lead, El Comandante, with Sandesh in the saddle, galloped at a good clip to soon go out of bounds for the rest. He too looked the winner long way from home and flashed past the winning post registering his maiden win on fifth start. Myrcella ran on to beat Sharareh and Medici to grab the runner-up berth.

Leigh Roche ridden Kariega (Kingda Ka – Smoke Ring, Nanoli Stud) scored an easy victory and what was more impressive about the Vishal Gaikwad filly was that she rose from the tail end of the field at the mouth of the homestretch to beat every single opponent turn by turn to land the spoils and with a margin to spare. She won unchallenged beating favourite Starringo by a good three lengths. Princess Scarlet just managed to get past Sandman to finish in the money.

Mighty Warrior (Roderic O’connor – Fun Time, Vikram Greenland Stud) put in a spirited gallop in the final furlong to Shock Chosen One who yet again missed the bus after shaping well in the straight. Chosen One looked well on course to victory as the other fancied horses around were caving in meekly with Chosen One enjoying a handy lead. However, Mighty Warrior came with a terrific burst and spoiled the party for Chosen One who has now found one better on four occasions. Cabellero ended a good third. 

The last race was a fitting finale to a thrilling day with a rare dead-heat between Grand Tenton and Hyannis. Hyannis got past Bottega Louis and looked on course to victory when Grand Tenton arrived with a big gallop. Both Hyannis and Grand Tenton put up fierce fight and dashed past the wire inseparable to the naked eye.  Even the judge took unusually long before declaring the dead-heat. Sassy Lass looked good for a brief while approaching the distance post, but could not sustain and had to settle for the third spot.

For the professionals, trainer Vishal Gaikwad scored a double that included the dead-heat, while jockeys David Allan and Leigh Roche scored a double each.