D Netto trained Victory Parade (Top Class – Harmonica) with Akshay Kumar astride, warmed up well midway down the straight and finished full of running to overhaul those in front and then keeping Nayadeep at bay. Consigliori hit the front in his customary fashion and had a pack of horses close behind. ON turning for home, Consigliori fought hard to stay ahead and managed to do so until the final furlong. Victory Parade then started to inch closer with every stride and neither Consigliori nor favourite Exclusive Blue could match his finishing blaze. Both caved in meekly as Victory Parade stormed ahead at good speed. Nayadeep came with a spirited run, but had to surface from the rear and that smothered his chances quite a bit. Victory Parade won unchallenged by a fair margin with Nayadeep in tow. Consigliori held on to finish in the money, edging out Exclusive Blue.  

Jockey Akshay Kumar had a good day as he guided two debutantes to their maiden win in the two divisions of the Royal Tern Plate. It was not the ideal start for Falcon Edge as there was a jostle that checked his free flow soon after the jump on his first outing. That had him in a difficult position closer to the rear of the bunch as they raced away. Proud had no such issues as he strode feely to go into the lead. Soon City of Bliss joined Proud and they were at the helm coming into the homestretch. Falcon Edge luckily turned close to the inner rails and then gradually skirted around horses to get a clear run. 

Proud looked good even as City of Bliss moved up to challenge his lead. Proud was up to the task and went hard at it, not letting City of Bliss get past. As these two were grappling, Akshay Kumar arrived with a bang, with Falcon Edge flying at full throttle. It was an amazing finish as there didn’t seem enough ground for Falcon Edge to catch up with Proud in full flight. The Sequeira trainee however, showed dazzling speed at the finish and beat Proud on the post or probably a stride before to post a sensational debut win. Proud must consider himself a tad unfortunate to have done all the hard work and then see it all squashed in a freakishly fast finish by another debutante. City of Bliss will need to pick up, while Total Darc could not show much improvement over his last effort and ran a tame fourth. 

The lower division of the race too saw another dramatic finish with Laxman Singh trained Indie (Letir Mor – Maleficent) putting everything into her finish to earn her debut win the hard way. The Prospect seemed on his way to glory as he had a handy lead even as they were well into the home stretch. Indie had to do the catching up and to make matters worse, she had a slight shuffle of feet at a crucial juncture. Akshay believed he could get there and rode with that confidence that makes him the tough rider that he is. He kept at it all the way and in the final few strides, Indie put in that extra bit and managed to pip The Prospect on the post to the delight of his followers. Just like Proud earlier, The Prospect too ought to consider himself unlucky to have missed out. Unmatched as not the quickest at the start and found himself at the rear with only one runner behind. However, he improved in the straight to finish a decent third.

Stud Poker (Arazan – Ray of Light) also was made to run hard while achieving his maiden success. Due Diligence was coming into this race with little to show. However he had worked himself to fitness and showed good resolve to stay in contention until the very last. He was quick on start and led them into the straight with Queen Daenerys and Stud Poker close behind. Due Diligence showed no signs of slowing down.  He kicked on gamely to secure a handy lead coming into the final furlong. Queen Daenerys was not up to it; jockey Suraj Narredu got down to business and Stud Poker started to respond with a fiery finish. It still looked close as Due Diligence put up a stiff fight, but eventually Stud Poker surged past to win by half a length. Chuckit finished well to take the third spot just three-quarter lengths behind Due Diligence. 

Bisate, (Western Aristocrat – Verbier) from trainer Laxman Singh’s yard, came alive in the final furlong, finishing full of steam to cruise past Red Snaper first and then Maxwell to post an authoritative victory. Jockey Kuldeep Singh was confident right through as he showed no hurry settling in the mid-pack in the eighth or ninth position until the turn. 

Red Snaper came into the straight with a useful lead but failed to sustain. Maxwell got past him and set sights for an encore. His hopes simply evaporated when Bisate came hurtling down with a fiery finishing gallop that left him stranded. Although Bisate beat Maxwell by just one length, the way he cruised past Maxwell was enough to show how much superior Bisate was on the day. Red Snaper ran on to take the third spot with ease. 

Ravindra Singh trained Artistryy (Ballade Danon) trounced his class III opponents running away to a four-lengths-plus victory, her second win coming after more than a dozen starts post her maiden win. She was up with the pace as City of Wisdom led them into the straight with Ruletheworld ahead of her. Apprentice jockey Gaurav Singh went into action mode early and steered Artistryy into the lead with about a furlong and half to go. Artistryy accelerated fluently and stepped up speed sailing further ahead to draw away from the field in the final furlong and piled up a massive margin of victory. NRI Heights progressed well in the straight and snatched the runner up berth from Ruletheworld. Miss Marvellous made it to the frame, nearly ripping off place money from Ruletheworld.

Sequeira trained Balius (Air Support – Soviet Song) took a while to get to his fourth win, but scored it in style. The five-year-old mare galloped freely in the front playing catch me if you can right from the start. Once into the straight, jockey Akshay Kumar drove her further ahead and kept riding her out taking no chances. Balius kept the momentum going, keeping a safe distance ahead of her rivals to eventually pull up more than three lengths from Max at the wire. Guiding Force put in a forceful final finish that was good enough to pip Dancing Doll on the post for third place. 

With the late withdrawal of Brilliant View, Xfinity (Sussex – Rising Tide) was the firm favourite to win the concluding race of the day. The Anantha Vatsalya trained colt never looked in any discomfort as he sped into the early lead and got stronger in the straight. Apprentice jockey Afroz Khan didn’t require to do anything as Xfinity showed enough power to sail all the way home without encountering any threat whatsoever. Augenstern did try to throw a scare, but Xfinity had enough cushion and momentum to go on and score his second straight win in as many starts. Augenstern could only narrow the margin down while beating the rest to finish second. Blink of an Eye just held on to the third from Linewiler. 

For the professionals, jockey Akshay Kumar was the leading pro of the day returning with four winners, while trainer Laxman Singh saddled a fine treble and trainer RH Sequeira scored a double.