The Derby day was a huge success and the Kingfisher team along with the RWITC can take a bow for the grand show that they jointly put up. The fun and frolic off the track added to the action-filled events that flowed on the race track and the food and beverages spread was delectable, giving each one something to savour on the day.

Big names tumbled and that didn’t feel too good, as one expects reputed horses to thrill you at the finish. All the three highly talented and proven horses – Sir Cecil, Serjeant At Arms and Desert God fell by and they were the biggest draw. That’s’ racing for you, nothing can be taken for granted.

Smasher (Multidimensional – Exquisite, Usha Stud) picked up his third win for the season with a fluent start to finish gallop while bagging the SM Shah Eclipse Stakes of India (Gr2) defeating the mighty Desert God by a healthy margin.

Smasher eased into the lead soon on start and maintained safe distance while leading them all the way. B Fifty Two, Raees, Desert God and Selfie Star were closely huddled behind the leader while the rest followed not too far away over the 2000m race.

Shroff trained Smasher came in home first with Desert God improving to second position. Raees fell back as did Selfie star. Smasher kicked on gamely, while Desert God was under pressure. The 10 kilo weight Desert God was giving Smasher seemed to make it harder as Smasher skipped further away in the final furlong to pull it off easily. Desert God beat the rest comfortably to finish second. Salazar fought hard to peg back B Fifty Two and the fast finishing Jack Frost in a tight finish for the third place.

Earlier, Serjeant At Arms, another short priced favourite could only finish third as Imtiaz Sait’s ward New England (Arazan – Autumnal, Villoo’s Greenfield Farm) carried on his good form to score his eighth victory, this time prizing home the Rusi Patel Trophy (Gr3) with jockey A Sandesh in the saddle.

Costa Brava darted into the lead and dictated the pace all the way into the straight. While Cambridge raced with the front bunch, New England and Serjeant At Arms were in the rear.

Costa Brava galloped on leaving the rest to chase him down. Cambridge slipped through the inner rails but could not muster well enough to tackle Costa Brava. New England arrived, covering ground at a brisk pace and soon caught up with Costa Brava. Serjeant at Arms had too much to do in the straight, but was getting close to the action at a decent clip. New England however, had the momentum going for him and he sailed past Costa Brava to win comfortably. Costa Brava did well to stave off the fast finishing Serjeant At Arms to claim the runner-up berth a neck ahead of Serjeant At Arms. Cambridge filled the frame.

Pesi Shroff trained Hunt for Gold (Leitir Mor – Pleasure Hunt, Poonawalla Stud) produced an encore adding to his debut win beating Trouvaille a second time in two runs. However, Trouvaille had to apply the brakes at a crucial juncture and that he shifted lanes and picked up again to snatch the second place was a remarkable rally also considering that there was not much ground left at that stage.

Hunt for Gold had it easy as she sailed into the lead soon on turning for home and galloped fluently all the way through. Jockey YS Srinath rode her out until into the final furlong before gliding home on cruise mode closer to the winning post. Trouvaille did extremely well to finish second under the circumstances and bears watching the next time out. Malwa ran on to finish third ahead of the fast finishing Mishka’s Pride who covered a lot of ground to snatch a slot in the frame.

Headway (Arazan – Mazeej, Poonawalla Stud) showed commendable improvement over his debut run to achieve his maiden victory while bagging the BK Rattonsey Memorial Maiden Multi-Million.

Divine Glory shot into the lead and Headway was quick to move into second at the early stages and soon Missing You improved to run close behind these two. The trio didn’t allow any other runner to get into the top three.

Divine Glory fought on as Headway inched closer and started to apply pressure. Divine Glory wilted under pressure and Headway, with S Zervan astride loomed large and surged past the leader to take charge. Missing You was taking time to get going and was ridden hard to go all out. Headway by then had a handy lead and the Sunderji trainee never let his guard down galloping away to hold off the late effort from Missing You. Headway won by over a length to spare to Missing You, who managed to peg back Divine Glory for the second slot.  

Dallas Todywalla trained Flaming Martini (Excellent Art – Flaming Glory, Poonawalla Stud) scored her third successive victory winning the Padmini & Gobind Jhangiani Million in a closely fought race. Slam Dunk led them into the straight with Between the Waters right behind, Untitled was third and Flaming Martini was improving in the centre. Mozart was in a bad position but was improving along the rails at a good clip. Pablo too was making his presence felt, improving from the outside. Flaming Martini got the measure of Between the Waters but had to fight hard to stay ahead as Mozart flew along through the rails. Jockey David Allan rode out powerfully to ensure Flaming Martini stayed ahead at the wire and carve out a narrow victory. Mozart fell short by a neck and had he been in a better position early on he could have bettered the result. Pablo ended a good third.

Sunderji trained True Grit (Excellent Art – Icebreaker, Poonawalla Stud) put in a fast gallop at the finish but had to sustain it until the end. Bonafide enjoyed the early lead and entered the straight well ahead of True Grit. Sharareh moved in to be third approaching the distance post. Bonafide looked in danger when True Grit got alongside and soon surged ahead in the last 100 meters. Sharareh had to check at a crucial moment and that cost her dearly. She flew in the last part but just failed to knock True Grit out, finishing half a length behind True Grit who was hard ridden by jockey R Ajinkya. Bonafide saved the place money.

Hells Bells (Dancing Forever – Awfeyaa, Hazara Stud) shocked the field as he had no form whatsoever coming into this race. The top two fancies Barak and King Khalil were withdrawn at the gates.

Perpetual Winning led them into the straight with Hells Bells close behind. Ustad Pedro was in third with Cormorant right there and Hudson’s Horse on the wider out. Hells Bells, with apprentice Mallan Singh astride got past Perpetual Winning and dashed further ahead. Ustad Pedro veered outwards and hampered the path of Hudson’s Horse, taking him out all the way. Trainer SN Joshi’s Hells Bells brought up his maiden victory on his seventh start. Ustad Pedro who originally finished second was relegated to third following an objection by the rider of Hudson’s Horse, which was upheld and the order revised.

For the professionals, trainer Pesi Shroff and SK Sunderji saddled a double each.