Certain turn of events in life are destined of which some appear as though it were preordained to add-in a lot more joy to a given fraternity. Top trainer of yore Mr Uttam Singh has been referred to as the Ladies’ Man for decades now. His nurturing of fillies and his several successes at the Indian Oaks aka Ladies’ Derby, earned him that apt sobriquet. The ‘Grand Old Man’ of racing was paid rich tributes and was felicitated just as the fillies were parading in the paddock. Mr Uttam Singh had led-in a record seven winners of the Indian Oaks (Gr1) and his astute ‘student’ trainer Pesi Shroff was soon to surpass that in the next few minutes. 

Roberta (Multidimensional – Moonlight Romance, Usha Stud) had seen a slight dip in her stocks with a lacklustre performance on her first outing in Mumbai that saw her finish down the street to impressive stablemate Smasher. Blue Bell garnered the maximum support on her ‘bloodless’ conquest of the Golconda Oaks at Hyderabad. Roberta was the next in demand at nourishing odds. 

Blue Bell was a tad slowly off  but was quick to recover and joined the bunch with Findlerhof pushed to the tail end of the field. Roberta surprisingly ran up with the pace in third, with New Creation taking charge approaching the mouth of the backstretch. They galloped at a moderate pace with the New Creation at the helm and Princess Eliza in second a couple of lengths ahead of Roberta. Merlot was in the mid-bunch along with Exception while Blue Bell had only Findlerhof behind her. 

Roberta made an early move past the 800 m mark and switched to the outside to race past Princess Eliza and join New Creation. She took off from there and jockey Trevor obviously knew what he was doing. Roberta led them into the straight and picked up speed as she hurtled on through the long Mumbai straight. New Creation bowed out of contention as Merlot set about her chase. Exception was not finding much to offer, while Blue Bell was toiling to stay in contention. Eyes For You was picking up speed but had to manoeuver her way between the fillies. She progressed well to get past merlot but that was the best she could come up with. Roberta was a fairly safe distance ahead of competition and was chipping away the yards on the turf relentlessly. Roberta duly stayed well ahead winning the Hindustan Times Palate Fest Indian Oaks (Gr1) by just over a length. Eyes For You was a gallant second and is the one to note. Merlot finished third ahead of Blue Bell. 

Roberta got a rousing reception from the stands. Jockey P Trevor was the man of the moment and this was his first success in the Indian Oaks taking his tally to five Indian Classics. “I was very particular that Roberta jumped out well and that done, my mind was at rest. It was a slow pace that got slower past the 1200m and I had an inkling that the two in front of me were soon going to fall back. I was ready for it and also my filly was going great so I chose not to do anything that would upset her fine rhythm. She came out nicely and cruised into the lead. She was shifting out a bit and that was the only concern I had, other than that she galloped at a good pace and I never felt threatened at any stage,” said champion jockey P Trevor. When asked about her staying prowess and whether she could go the Leger distance, Trevor played it safe by saying, “It’s too early now to think about the Leger, however, I can tell you that she stayed well right through and there is no reason to believe that she would tire over longer trips.” 

For Trainer Pesi Shroff it was a moment to cherish. Roberta provided Pesi with his eighth Oaks success taking Pesi Shroff past Mr Uttam Singh record of seven. Shroff has had his stranglehold on the Oaks for a while now as Roberta was his fifth consecutive winner, carrying on from Tiger Tops, Myrtlewood, Temerity and Manifold. Shroff had earlier saddled Blue Ribbon, Jacqueline and Smashing. These statistics were readily provided by Mr Vipin Kumar keeper of the records and statistics at indiarace.com. 

Free Gold (Arazan – Free Radical, Poonawalla Stud) had a delightful debut while winning the prestigious Gool S Poonawalla Million (Gr3) a terms race for three-year-olds only. The Imtiaz A Sait trainee was taking on a more experienced lot who had previous winners among them. 

Tommaso hit the front soon on start with Dandi March having to rally after a weak start, Beemer Arabesque and Beemer followed these two close behind. 

Tommaso shaped well kicking on at a good pace, while Dandi March was clearly under pressure. Arabesque was not finding his rhythm either and Beemer was struggling to keep up. Free Gold was not exactly firing on all cylinders either but was taking time in picking up speed. Tommaso looked comparatively solid coming into the final furlong and with Dandi March already looking spent, Tommaso looked good to last. That was not to be as Free Gold warmed up under the whip and started to quicken under jockey Robbie Downey’s hard riding. The Shiraz Sunderji trained filly finished with a flourish just enough to peg back Tommaso a stride before the wire. 

Valegro (Canford Cliffs – Choice House, Highgrove Stud) progressed steadily through the straight and won a hard fought battle with Tanjo in a tight finish. Mozart led them deep into the straight and was soon challenged by Tanjo who cleared a sizable deficit galloping at a good clip. Just when the focus was about to shift on Tanjo, Valegro, with Leigh Roche in the saddle came up with a blazing gallop to join Tanjo with about a 100 to go. The pair went neck and neck but Valegro found that bit extra to edge out Tanjo in a thrilling finish. Mozart ended a faraway third. 

Gazino (Surfrider – La Joconde, Ruia Stud) was at his quickest best and clinched the PD Avasia Trophy with a fair measure of comfort. He was up in close behind leader Master of Universe and favourite Kilkarry Bridge all the way into the straight. Gazino had to wait a while as the two in front were close alongside forcing jockey PS Chouhan to bide his time and slip through the gap. Kilkarry Bridge provided them a slight opening and Gazino pushed through to take charge approaching the distance post. The Noshir Cama ward surged forward and kept the momentum going all the way to win by more than a length to spare. Excellent Gold surfaced with a late run to pip Kilkarry Bridge for the runner-up berth. 

Deepesh Narredu trained Kingsman (Phoenix Tower – Marquisa, Nanoli Stud) scored an encore with as much ease as he did the previous time and pulled off an impressive win to bag the Yawar Rashid Trophy. 

Kingsman stayed closer to the rear for most of the early part of the mile long race and made steady headway around the final turn. Classicus led them in but was soon tackled by Kingsman. Once Kingsman took charge, there was no one to match his speed and the fight was on only for the minor placing. Jockey P Trevor had the luxury of easing up Kingsman and yet had two and half lengths to spare. Classicus did well to finish second. Nobleman just clung on to save place money warding off Kimberella. 

Flaming Martini (Excellent Art – Flaming Glory, Poonawalla Stud) was another won to notch up back-to-back wins but he had to labour a bit harder this time. He sprang up from the fourth spot soon on turning for home and had no trouble getting past Mount Olympus. Jockey David Allan spotted the challenge brewing close behind as Perpetual Winning started to inch closer. David Allan rode out vigorously all the way past the post to ward off Perpetual Winning who was getting closer with each stride. Flaming Martini held on by under a length and Perpetual Winning would rue a good chance going down narrowly. Shae did well to finish in the money. 

Bhaktawar (Multidimensional – Almandine, Usha Stud) kept his date with victory obliging a large following without causing them any anxiety. Bhaktawar had it easy as he moved up from third to sail into the lead past the 400m mark. It was all smooth sailing there on as Bhaktawar was all by himself in the final furlong and galloped on to win by a huge margin. Allegria ran on to finish a faraway second, while long-time leader Deccan King escaped the late assault of Grand Eyes to save place money. 

Medici (Phoenix Tower – Inetrobil, Manjri Stud) also had it easy in the concluding race of the day.  Navigator and So Splendid were fighting it out when Pleiades arrived on tight reins to collar them. Medici was not too far behind and he quickened extremely well to go after Pleiades the moment he had just gone past the front-runners. Medici picked up scorching speed and within strides he was off bolting away from Pleiades leaving the favourite far behind. Medici achieved his maiden success on his seventh start and with the manner of his victory, should add another one sooner than later. 

For the professionals, trainer Pesi Shroff and jockey P Trevor scored a double each.