Strongly fancied Aretha (Win Legend – Wind of Soul), who had an educative debut run earlier this month, showed considerable improvement under the tutelage of trainer J E Mckeown to post her maiden victory while clinching the Queen of the Hills Cup, the feature race of the day. The good looking dark bay filly was off to a quick start and steadily stepped up the pace. Beauregard and Reign of Terror raced about two lengths behind the leader with Wisaka improving on the outside.

Into the straight, Aretha got even more fluent and accelerated extremely well, dominating the rest in the final furlong. Jockey Umesh peeped over his shoulder and could not see any threat whatsoever. Aretha won by a huge margin of just under six lengths. Wisaka too showed improvement over her previous runs and fought her way past Reign of Terror to snatch the runner-up slot.    

Ramanathan trained Pretty Girl (Win Legend – Integral) provided hefty returns despite a couple of suggestive recent outings; perhaps due to the fact that she had never won over the mile. Jockey Gaurav Singh pulled a fast one over his rivals as he spurted ahead to a big lead soon on start. Cuban Pete settled in second, over five lengths behind the leader, with fancied Angelino in the midst of a tightly huddled pack.

Pretty Gal entered the straight with a clear lead and all she had to do was sustain the momentum right through the homestretch. Cuban Pete tried hard to bridge the gap but was not doing so fast enough. Star Twist raised faint hopes approaching the distance post, but could not quicken, while Octavian put in a late dash, but none could catch up with Pretty Gal as the seven-year-old mare kicked on gamely to register her first win over a mile. All her previous six victories were over the shorter sprints. Cuban Pete, Octavian and Star Twist followed in that order, finishing closely between them to take the minor slots.  

Emelda (David Livingstone – Illaunslea) was the firm favourite and she won well without encountering any challenge. She was on the tail of early leader Torbert and was rendered to the third spot momentarily as Breaking Bounds rushed ahead approaching the turn for home. However, Emelda, ridden by Akshay Kumar, set the turf on fire soon on entering the homestretch. The B Suresh trained filly picked up speed and took off like a gust of breeze, leaving the rest panting behind. She won effortlessly, adding distance with every stride and eventually amassed a victory margin of four-and-half lengths. Torbert did well to beat the rest to take the runner-up berth. Divina improved well in the final stages to wrest the third spot from Avellino.

Mckeown trained Pense’e (Varenar – Cogito Ergo Sum) galloped to her second victory on the trot, this one coming with a good measure of comfort. Jockey Neeraj Rawal managed to wriggle out of a tightly packed bunch early on and switched to the outside to get a clear run in the early stages and kept improving his position steadily. Out in front, Rippling Water and Skylight were at the helm until into the straight.

While Rippling Water did not last too long, Skylight made headway to lead the field approaching the distance post. Pense’e started to accelerate with about 300 to go and once she got into the galloping mode, Pense’e pulled away, stretching out well to get past Skylight and bounce away to notch up a fluent victory in the Source Code handicap Di 1. Skylight was ridden hard to stay in second, but Angel Heart finished on well to snatch the runner up berth from Skylight in the last couple of strides.

Jockey Yash Narredu guided Off Shore Breeze (David Livingstone – Off Shore Anna) to a splendid win overcoming some concerning traffic issues and then at the business end had early Embrace drifting out and taking Off Shore Breeze along as well. However, Yash showed good presence of mind and got the Sebastian trained colt cleanly between horses to make a final dash to floor the rest and emerge victorious on promotion to the higher class after posting a facile win in Class IV earlier this month.

Nearly half the field was abreast with a little over a furlong to go with Embrace feeling the pressure after leading them into the straight. Embrace did not keep a straight course and moved outward just when Off Shore Breeze was warming up. Eagle Prince too was catching up from the outside, while Pinewood and Pacific were making their run closer to the inner rails. Yash got Off Shore Breeze going inside the final furlong and shot ahead to outpace the rest and score by more than one length. There was a keen battle for the minor slots with Shadow of Love pushing ahead of Texas Rose and Eagle Prince.

Sir Baffert (Knight’s Tour – Berry Girl) was another one to score twice this month and this time it was in a five furlong scurry and without the use of whip as per the terms of the race. Allowance claiming jockey HM Akshay piloted Sir Baffert into the lead within the first furlong and once in front, they sped ahead well in front, entering the straight with a comfortable lead. Sir Baffert galloped gamely until the distance post, but then started to drift across towards the outer rails. Fortunately that didn’t cause much concern as the rest were way behind. Sir Baffert won easing up by over three lengths. Empress Eternal improved in the straight to finish a clear second. Glorious Symphony, who was second into the straight, could not sustain, while Wind Symbol progressed to pip Glorious Symphony for the place money.

Six-year-old veteran Grey Twilight (Charmo – Glorious Lady) sprang a surprise and coasted to an easy win adding to her two previous successes, the last one coming way back in January 2019. She showed good speed right from the start as she was in the front bunch comprising of favourite Striking Distance, Break the Silence and Kings Show who were just ahead of the Parmar-trained mare.

Striking Distance shaped well as she led them into the straight and drew further away from the ones close behind. With neither Break the Silence nor Kings Show making any progress, Striking Distance seemed on course. However, when jockey Ramandeep Singh switched lanes and got Grey Twilight to quicken past the distance post, Grey Twilight responded fluently and surged past Striking Distance to post a comfortable victory, stunning the favourite in the final furlong to win by just over two lengths. Striking Distance was overwhelmed, but stuck on to beat the rest even as Daiyamondo and Charliez Angel were closing in on her.  

God’s Wish (Carnival Dancer – Oban) trained by Saddam Iqbal was well-ridden by jockey Saikumar, coming off the mid-bunch to launch an all-out attack on long-time leader Propahlady at the business end of the race. Propahlady had a handy lead coming into the straight. While Dream run fell back from her prominent position, Roses In My Dream galloped hard to ward off the threats. God’s Wish moved up from the mid-pack to make her presence felt, getting past Roses in My Dreams and set about gaining ground on Propahlady, who was still a couple of lengths ahead with less than a furlong to go. God’s Wish galloped purposefully and collard Propahlady with about 50 meters to go, however, Propahlady fought on gallantly all the way. God’s wish eventually prevailed by a ‘neck’ at the wire from Propahlady, while Roses in My Dream warded off velocity for the place stakes.

Trainer JE Mckeown was the lone professional to score a double.