The Colts’ Championship day at the HRC got the best out of the horses as some close finishes added to the thrills on the day which included a dead-heat as well! The feature race itself saw a fierce fight with the race being decided in a grand photo-finish. Favourites however were completely floored except in the last race of the day.

Bangalore based trainer Arjun Manglorkar trained Kensington (Win Legend – Angelique, Dashmesh Stud)  rose to the big occasion, powering his way to the winning post in what looked an improbable proposition under the circumstances. One of the three maidens in the fray, Kensington was neglected in the betting, offered at odds well over 20 times the investment. The three-year-old colt also drifted out alarmingly in the homestretch ending up from where he could drift no further! Yet he managed to snatch victory on the last stride, nosing out his rival in the nick of time to make his maiden one a truly memorable one.

As the ten jumped out, Knotty Dancer and Zuccarelli dashed to the front and disputed the lead for a while before the latter sustained to knock Knotty Dancer and race ahead. Knotty Dancer settled in second, followed by Spinoza and Southern Dynasty a couple of lengths away. Kensington was closer to the rear and had just Fire Power and the favourite Falcon Edge behind him.

Zuccarelli led them into the straight and soon the field spread out. Knotty Dancer came under pressure and was ridden out to stay in contention. Spinoza too failed to quicken and was struggling to keep up. Fire Power slipped I through the inner rails shooting ahead past Angelico and company. Kensington took the turn wide and jockey Anthony Raj was finding it difficult to keep a straight course as Kensington started to veer out. Zuccarelli battled hard in the final furlong, but Fire Power caught up with him with less than 100 meters to go. Kensington had reached the end of his outward drift, but was galloping at a good clip. They dashed past the wire in a three-way finish with Fire Power and Kensington wide apart, the former at the inner rails and the latter on the outer rails as they hit the wire. While the naked eye picked Fire Power the photo finish revealed that Kensington had indeed nosed out Fire Power to clinch the issue on the post. Zuccarelli finished a neck behind these two, while Angelico ended just half a length behind to take the remaining slot in the frame.

Ananta Vatsalya trained Lockhart Sedgefield – Adams Law) pulled off a sensation victory literally on the last stride, emerging from the mid-bunch and timing his run to a nicety to win the Shaphir Plate Division I. Incredulous as usual led from the start until deep into the straight. City of Wisdom soon challenged her lead and shaped well for the remaining furlong. Lockhart warmed up approaching the distance post and quickened thereon to tackle City of Wisdom. They batted hard and were racing towards the finish when Dandy Man surfaced from the rear and came at them full of steam. Lockhart held on by a short-head to etch out an exciting win. Dandy Man had too much to do in the straight as he was at the tail end of the field until the turn. He was unlucky not to have snatched the race, but ended a noteworthy second, doing well in pegging back City of Wisdom. Favourite Private Empire was never prominent. The soft underfoot conditions may have made an impact on the tote favourite.

Balius (Air Support – Sovet Song) trained by Shashikanth was the only favourite to oblige on the day. He took off at a good clip and maintained a safe distance from his rivals. ON entering the homestretch, Balius galloped gamely in the hands of jockey Gaurav Singh and stayed out of reach to win it comfortably. Max ran on to finish ahead of Full Volume.

Among the thrillers of the day, the top one was the dead-heat between Deshmukh’s Brisbane and Siyavash as they brought about the first dead-heat of the season. Brisbane was in striking position as Story Teller led them into the straight with Healthandhappiness close behind. Brisbane, ridden by Surya Prakash, slipped through the rails to go for the lead approaching the distance post. Siyavash, trained by Srinivas, was travelling well and started to draw closer to Brisbane. Star Dancer moved up from the rear from the wider outside and started to close in rapidly. With about 100m to go, it came to a boil as Brisbane still had what seemed ample cushion. However, he had to share the spoils as Siyavash, with jockey Ashhad Asbar astride, in a last ditch effort, nosed the wire right alongside Brisbane in a dramatic finish. Star Dancer and Blickfang finished close behind for the minor placing.

Sequeira trained Committed Warrior (Win Legend – War Machine) improved considerably over his last start second to score a comprehensive victory by over four lengths. Committed Warrior was closer to the rear as Art in Motion called the shots early on and led them into the straight. Favourite Colachel Battle moved up to challenge the leader on straightening up. Cosmic Run too made headway to join the fight. Jockey Kaushik pulled Committee Warrior out and once in the clear, Committed Warrior picked up good speed to surge past them all and seal the issue. Committed Warrior won handsomely without encountering any trouble. Mauser did well to race ahead and take the runner-up spot from Cosmic Run and Colachel Battle.

The day started on a concerning note with jockey Pradeep Gaddam of Sharp Lady falling off during the race. It is learnt that he escaped unhurt. Tote favourite too had a forgettable debut as she never looked settled down at any stage and veered out considerably approaching the turn and lost all her chances of making any impact. Blue Label too drifted out under pressure at a crucial juncture, spoiling his chances to finish among the top three.

Blue Label and Exotic Dancer were the joint leaders as they turned for home with Arya making some progress and Angelica (Surfrider – Alhuda) slipping through the rails. Blue Label failed to capitalize by being erratic, Hot Seat got close to grabbing the lead from Arya. Angelico picked up momentum and zipped ahead picking up on her acceleration and picked up her maiden victory on her seventh attempt. Jockey Kuldeep Singh guided the Faiyaz Khan trainee filly well to carve out victory by a little over one length. Hot Seat beat Arya by a head for the runner-up slot.

Rising Queen (West Virginia – Beau Ideal) scored a debut win at longer odds and produced a mind-boggling run to rise from the rear end of the field to topple the front runners in tremendous fashion. One could not have been faulted if one had put her out of the reckoning at the turn. She was last by lengths and then went wide coming into the straight as well.

Out in front, Challenger was finding it hard to keep his lead as Cosmico and tote favourite Sally were gaining turf with Good Tidings close with them. Rising Queen started to pick up speed with about 300 to go and still had to clear a rather sizable deficit. Jockey Abhay Singh got her going and she finished with a terrific burst to blaze her way to the front and win by just under a length. Cosmico failed to stop her but did well to finish a close second. Sally fell back to finish a tame third, two and half lengths behind the runner-up.