Watch My Stride (Watchmyscript – Flamingo Fan) saddled by trainer Sequeira, thundered in with a tremendous finishing gallop to spoil the party for Beauty on Parade, pinning in his nose on the very last stride to snatch a commendable victory in the nick of time. One thought Watch My Stride had too much to do as he was nowhere in the picture with less than a furlong and half to go. Blissful had just surrendered his lead to Beauty on Parade and the latter looked well on course as she surged past Blissful at the distance post.

Beauty on Parade went into the lead after a brief tussle with Blissful and was stretching away from the one closest to her, shaping to pull it off. Jokey Akshay Kumar though, had other ideas and he lit his charge up and arrived with a fiery burst in the last 1oo meters or so. He was in full flight and although Beauty on Parade was reasonably ahead, he not only caught up rapidly, but even managed to pip Beauty on Parade on the post in the most dramatic manner. Beauty on Parade did everything right until she was shocked literally on the last stride! Blissful managed to finish in the money. 

Two rookies claimed their maiden individual successes in the two divisions of the Gentleman’S Plate, the first being Ashoka (Gusto –Epsilon Orionis) from trainer Netto’s yard. It looked like a close duel as Almas and Ashoka fought stride for stride midway down the straight and it looked like it would go either way. However, jockey Ashhad Asbar got that little bit extra out of Ashoka and stretched out and away in the final couple of strides to pick up his memorable first win showing good fighting qualities. Almas tried hard but failed narrowly while wearing the runner-up sash for the second time running. She went down fighting on both occasions and can soon go one better. Lady Dynamite ran on to finish in the money.

Superlative (Roderic O’connor – She Is Special) achieved her maiden win with a net start to finish attempt. She was up and away and had built a sizable lead coming into the homestretch. Even past the distance post, the Sunderji trainee had enough cushion, hence even as The Image started to draw closer, she never really posed any threat to the winner. Jockey CS Jodha ensured he was safely ahead and Superlative held on from The Image by half a length. Milton Keynes ended a decent third.

Gusty Note (Gusto – Key Note) changed tactics and this time reaped rich rewards as he came from behind to nose out Golden Forza to come up trumps in a thrilling finish. Golden Forza showed good early speed and dashed to the front to led them into the straight. He was closely followed by Gusty Note and Flamingo Flame and this trio was safely ahead of the rest.

Golden Forza fought bravely in front as both Gusty Note and Flamingo Flame started to put pressure. The three were abreast in the final furlong when jockey Ashhad Asbar got more forceful on Gusty Nore and the Netto trainee responded well to give that extra zip which was just enough to nose out Golden Forza. Flamingo Flame did well to finish third, while Appenzelle finished on fast to end close behind Flamingo Flame.

Hassan trained Silver Set (Abbeyside – Silver Scent) improved over her last start fourth to produce a spirited run to bring about only her second career win. Jockey Ajinkya settled Silver Set behind leader Smart Money until into the homestretch. She got past the leader easily and Ajinkya got the mare to quicken soon after, building up a handy lead. Berkley and Theo’s Choice started to close in on Silver Set but the winning post was not far ahead. Silver Set kicked on gamely to ward off the challengers and win by a narrow margin from Theo’s Choice and Berkeley. Wot’s Up Jay arrived with a late run but could only manage to peg back My Master for the fourth slot.

L D’Silva trained Paladino (Total Gallery – Lavender Blue) raced to his maiden victory on his 11th start. Pedro Planet led them into the straight with Indie close behind. Jockey Santosh Raj did not wait too long as he pulled out Paladino and surged past the two runners and was speeding away. Indie gave chase, but found the winner too good. Paladino sealed the issue long way from home to score convincingly by a good margin of three and half lengths. Indie, racing after a long layoff did pretty well to hold on to the second place. Isra and Special And Thong improved positions to take the minor slots.

For the professionals, trainer D Netto and jockey Ashhad Asbar scored a double each.