Iron Age (Strong Suit – Intrigue, Manjri Stud) showed off his class, speed and fitness while claiming the Akkasaheb Maharaj Trophy impressively. His jockey A Sandesh too had a superlative day running through the nine-race card, returning with five winners on the day. 

Sandesh and Iron Age were off to a ripper as they hit the front with ease and kept the momentum going all the way. Augustus Caesar tried to close-in with Iron Age past the 800m mark, but just could not match up to the dazzle that Iron Age displayed. Once into the straight, Iron Age accelerated further away from Augustus Caesar and stretched away and scored a resounding victory by a big margin of five lengths, making it a no-contest. Augustus Caesar returned second best, finishing comfortably ahead of Smashing Blue. 

Jockey Sandesh was the star pro of the day, starting off with guiding AM Jadhav’s Lit (Excellent Art – Classic sky, Poonawalla stud) in the day’s second race. Going up with the pace for the six-furlong sprint, Lit accompanied Royal Alamdaar all the way into the straight. Once it came to business, Sandesh got Lit galloping fluently and the filly powered away to add distance with every stride. She looked the winner as she picked up speed with about 400m to go. She won easing up with a good margin and a sub-1:10 timing for the sprint was a notable display. The fight was on only for the minor slots as Royal Alamdaar just about held on to finish second, while Monarchy finished on well to pip Empower for the place stakes. 

Sandesh and AM Jadhav struck again in the very next race with Queen O’War (Multidimensional – Dhaawiah, Usha Stud) and this filly’s manner of victory was impressive as well. Bold Legend was off slowly and could never recover. Queen O’War raced in the mid-bunch for most of the mile journey, as Beastia made the front running all the way into the homestretch. Queen O’War made a quick headway approaching the final turn. Sandesh had the filly right up with the fronting Beastia and Arabian Phoenix and zipped past the duo with ease. Queen O’War picked up speed with every stride and within seconds she was too far ahead for the others to catch up. Queen O’War won very comfortably, sparing more than three lengths to Treasure Gold, who arrived well with a good late burst snatching second place from Circle of Love on the wire. 

Sandesh compiled an inspiring three-in-a-row astride Successor (Leitir Mor – Sweeping Success, Poonawalla Stud) for trainer Dallas Todywalla. This one was an exciting race as Exotic, Giant Star, Successor and Arcadia were almost abreast turning for home. While Arcadia moved up through the inner rails taking a narrow gap deftly, Successor made his move from the outside. Exotic and Giant Star too were fighting along between them. Successor gained the upper hand approaching the distance post and Sandesh, with his strong handling, ensured that the filly gave her all right up to the winning post, keeping Arcadia a length away at the finish. Exotic too fought off Giant Star and Tigrio to finish in the money. 

Sandesh piloted Sait’s Multistarrer (Multidimensional – Glorious colours, Usha Stud) to his maiden victory which came on his fifth start. Flower Power bolted away to build a big lead and entered the straight with about four lengths in the bank. Multistarrer, who was biding his time in the third spot, began to accelerate well on turning for home and caught up with the runaway leader at a quick rate.  Immeasurable also looked in contention for a brief while but Multistarrer kicked on gamely stifling the challenge before it could turn threatening. Multistarrer eventually stayed comfortable ahead at the post, sparing just under two lengths to Immeasurable. Farahnoush covered considerable ground in the final stages and did well to finish a neck behind the runner-up. 

Noshir Cama trained Trinket (Surfrider – Outtostealthescene, Ruia Stud) scored her maiden victory in the hands of jockey Yash Narredu on her 13th  start. Quick to start, Tristar took charge soon on settling down and had Arabian Storm for company until into the straight. Whispering Queen and Istanbul were right behind with about a furlong and half to go. Pride’s Angel moved along the rails with On Va Danser making his bid from the outside. However, Tristar put in a strong finish to draw away from her rivals, notching up a sizable lead in the final furlong to win by over two lengths. Pride’s Angel beat the rest comfortably, while On Va Danser arrived far too late to finish a tame third. 

Trainer Karthik sent out a lucrative double starting off on a winning note, saddling Trinket (Corporate Jungle – Tour Malet, Hazara Stud) to a first win on the filly’s eleventh start. Irish Eyes set off at a fast pace and was clearly ahead of Trinket until the turn, with Marlboro Man in third. Trinket made rapid progress at the turn to pounce on Irish Eyes soon on straightening up and then galloped resolutely to bounce away from them. Jockey Bhawani Singh rode hard to keep his lead even as the others were closing in with about 100m still to go. Trinket stretched well all the way to ward off the challengers and nailed it by less than a length. Marlboro Man did well to beat Irish Eyes for the runner up berth, while Adonijah too finished well alongside, to make it a thrilling four-horse finish.

Trainer Karthik and jockey Bhawani Singh combined again to score their second success for the day with debutante Darwin (Multidimensional – Allaire, Usha Stud) to stun Agostino Carracci in the final furlong. Agostino Carracci shaped well as they turned for home and got past early leader Fidato soon on straightening up. Bloomsbury was close behind, but failed to accelerate. Darwin warmed up nicely approaching the distance post and started to quicken. Agostino Carracci still had a handy lead, but Darwin was just too fast in his finishing gallop and he flashed past them all to score an emphatic victory with a cracking finish. For a first outing, Darwin was tremendous in his final dash and is more than likely to add to his victory in the near future. Agostino did everything right, but encountered a special talent to wear the runner-up sash after shaping well until beaten. Bloomsbury kept the fast finishing Raffaello for the third spot. 

Enigma (Phoenix Tower – Maisha, Chester Stud) from the Shroff stables, scored an impressive victory by a massive margin of close to ten lengths! She was off in a flash with five kilo claimer Kirtish Bhagwan in the saddle and was just ahead of Desert Fire in the first half of the six-furlong sprint. However, Enigma was on a different gear once she turned for home and within split seconds sealed the issue. Enigma completely outpaced her rivals and won on a tight rein, extending the margin with every stride. She cantered to victory clocking an even better timing than Iron Age and that speaks a lot about her ability. Desert Fire ended a faraway second, while Wayin improved to finish third. 

Jockey A Sandesh was the star of the day with a rich haul of five winners. Trainers Imtiaz Sait, Karthik G and jockey Bhawani Singh scored a double each.