It was a mixed day in terms of betting as the day rolled out with strongly fancied runners coming to the fore in the first three races. The latter half of the day saw the lesser fancied emerge victorious; the second Jackpot pool solved by a lone punter reaping hefty returns!

Srinivas Reddy trained Ashwa Yashobali (Arazan – Bid For Gold) showed good resolve to fight his way up and score his second win on the trot this season. Jockey Gaurav Singh was ever alert right from the start and kept his mount within striking distance, improving all the time.

Incredulous led the field homewards with Her Legacy keeping her company. Balius was shaping well and was hard held when he joined the leaders. City of Wisdom did not have the luck of the race as he got pocketed along the rails and his run may best be ignored as he clearly lost his rhythm at a crucial juncture.

Balius made a good forward move approaching the distance post, but before he could get away, Ashwa Yashobali made up ground and threw in his challenge. Private Empire was closer to the rear end when they turned for home and even the in-form jockey Akshay Kumar could not make up that much ground. Private Empire did flash on the scene with a speedy gallop, even shaping as a strong threat, but fell shy by a neck as Ashwa Yashobali hit the wire just in time to thwart the lively challenger. While Ashwa Yashobali won well, Private Empire ended a gallant second. Balius ran a good third and looked in good enough touch to note for her next run.

Deshmukh trained Francis Bacon (Born to Seal – Look Over) was another one who scored an encore this season. He did so much like his previous success, winning by a bigger margin this time. He was up and away soon on start and maintained a firm grip on the lead throughout the race. Those near him fell back in the straight as Francis Bacon marched on ahead with authority and looked the winner midway in the homestretch. He galloped away to score by close to six lengths, easing up in the last part. King Roger had travelled well all the way into the straight, but found the winner too good. He however, ran a decent second finishing well ahead of Call of the Blue and the rest.

River Song (Excellent Art – River Dance) from trainer L D’Silva’s yard, who was taken to Mumbai for her debut run, scored her maiden win on her very first run on home turf. She settled well in the sixth position as Furious Fun led them into the homestretch with a handy lead. Burano improved well to challenge the leader past the 400m mark and soon took charge. Jockey Akshay Kumar then went into action mode on River Song and the filly responded by a crisp gallop to gather momentum with each stride and soon she was seen picking up speed to get past them all. Akshay did only what was needed and once River Song started to accelerate, he let her cruise past Burano and eased the filly up, winning by a healthy margin, amply justifying the cramped odds offered on her. Burano returned next best, finishing well ahead of early leader Furious Fun.

Limoncello (Bobby’s Kitten – Solar Midnight) looked in good shape in the paddock and the Laxman Singh trainee strutted her stuff on the turf as well. She travelled smoothly in the hands of jockey PS Chouhan all the way, racing along the rails behind early leader General Atlantic.

Limoncello was quick to slip through the rails soon on straightening up. Jockey PS Chouhan simply let Limoncello do her own thing and the filly quickened nicely to stay well ahead all the way and chalk up her first win on her second career start. Georgia Peach worked hard to finish second, while Able Love improved slightly to finish in the money.

Show Me Your Walk (Smuggler’s Cove – Szable) was the third straight on-money favourite to oblige in the first three races. The Sequeira trained filly rose to the occasion when she faced a dual challenge at the business end of the race.

She was quick to grab the lead from Quality warrior soon on turning for home, but had to contend with Thanks and Star Cruise, both of whom were getting too close for comfort. Thanks in particular got to within half-length of Show Me Your Walk with just under 100m to go, but jockey Akshay Kumar ensured that there were no last minute blushes as he rode out strongly to keep Thanks at bay and pick up a memorable debut win for Show Me Your Walk. Thanks did well to finish a close second, beating Star Cruise by two lengths. Over Joy did well to finish in the frame.

Days of Reckoning (Green Coast – Days of Thunder) was straddled with the top weight and jockey Deepak had to dig deep to guide the D Netto trained ward to his third career win. Jockey Deepak improved positions around the final turn to be right up, just behind the leader Lifetime.

Once in the straight, Days of Reckoning moved up fast to join Lifetime and this pair fought stride for stride. Sublime got caught behind this pair. Just when it seemed that Days of Reckoning was safe, favourite Ashwa Raudee arrived with a late dash, raising hopes for his followers. Jockey Deepak however, put paid to their hopes and stayed ahead to carve out a narrow victory. Lifetime ended a length further back to finish a good third.

Trainer Deshmukh’s Due Diligence (Varenar – Thiella) ran away to victory by the longest margin for the day, taking charge half way down the straight and swamping the opposition by over seven lengths.

Favourite La Lady darted to the front initially, but when the race came to a boil, she veered under pressure and ran all across the turf, losing out on whatever chance she had. Sun Dancer moved up first, but was soon tackled by Due Diligence. Once jockey Surya Prakash got Due Diligence going, it was all over for the rest.  The filly produced a terrific burst of speed past the distance post and left the others stranded. Hip Hop did well to recover in the last few strides to pip Sun Dancer for the runner-up berth. La Lady showed good initial speed, but faltered at the finish and missed the frame.

Exponent (David Livingstone – Elle Et Moi) picked up the concluding race of the day with a spirited gallop to swoop down upon the bunch in front and notch up his maiden win on his eleventh start.

Debutante Star Babe did well to dart into the lead and kept going at a steady gallop. She stayed in contention until deep into the straight and this could prove to be an important build up for her. Sacred Lamp arrived with a fast gallop to take charge briefly, but Exponent drew closer with every stride under Nakhat Singh’s handling. Exponent sealed the issue in the last couple of strides as he zipped past Sacred Lamp to win by a length, the markets quoting Exponent at a whopping 20 to 1. Sacred Lamp ended a good second ahead of Sputnic and the late finishing NRI Gift.

For the professionals, trainer LVR Deshmukh and jockeys Akshay Kumar and Nakhat Singh scored a double each.