The running of the Queen Elizabeth II Cup on Saturday witnessed a ‘Cliffhanger’ ending as railbirds suffered a tension-packed minute while waiting for the judge’s verdict to separate the favourite and winner Parisian (Champs Elysees-Anywaysmile)  from the tenacious Cliffhanger who put in an incredible effort along the rails. The marathon 2800 metres event saw Roaring Tiger and Redoubtable set a cracking pace with Cliffhanger in close touch and the piping hot favourite Parisian with PS Chouhan astride a good 15 lengths behind. The order remained virtually the same till Redoubtable took over the running at the 1000 marker. As they neared the final turn, Cliffhanger opted for the rails while Parisian made up a lot of ground on the outside to shoot ahead in the straight. But the Pesi Shroff-trained mare was rattled to find that the tenacious Cliffhanger was not giving up that easily. The pair went stride for stride till the wire with the judges giving the final nod in favour of the favourite – much to the relief od the followers of money. The win completed a brace for jockey PS Chouhan as he had earlier piloted Bharath Singh-trained Agnostic (Top Class-Kabini) to a facile win over Mogul in the MB Medhora Cup run over six furlongs. The win puts Agnostic in the highest class where he will be a force to reckon with.

The Ranjit Sinha Roy Memorial Metropolitan sprint saw Aashay Doctor-trained Awesome One (Dean’s Kitten-Aim To Achieve) produce a popular encore thanks to Neeraj Rawal’s timely run in the straight, bisecting front-running Areca Legend and Soaring High. He had to stave off a strong challenge from the fast-finishing Dandi Satyagraha. Aashay Doctor had earlier led in the winner of the curtain-raiser – Star Justice – with apprentice Tejeshwar astride. The apprentice did well to position the filly by Tenth Star out of Laughter in a striking position as there was a rush for the lead as the gates opened. He eventually collared Thiago quite easily in the straight while Sun God came from the rear to finish a good runner-up in The Portugal Cup.

Trainer Shyam Habbu and jockey RS Bhati combined to fetch home the honours with five-year-old mare Basharat (Stardan-Amanda’s Queen) in the mile race for the Malaysia Cup. Bhati has matured into a reliable rider and he proved it with a splendid ride on Basharat who took the shortest route home after traveling in fifth spot for most part while Scarlet Witch and Cape Tanaros called the early shots. Senturion issued a strong challenge to Basharat in the straight but failed narrowly. One race earlier, Bhati had piloted Javed Khan-trained Devushka (Roderic O’connor – Chase The Sun) to a clean triumph over Castillo in the race for the Kishore Bhimani Memorial Cup sprint.  Trainer Habbu completed his brace in the last race of the day where apprentice Hasib Alam guided home Namiki (Total Gallery-Cordoba) to a facile victory in the seven-furlong race for The Ocean And Beyond Handicap. The others were never in it.

The 2000 metres race for The Philippines Cup saw HS Bath-trained The Indicator (Crimson China-Brutta E Cattiva) prove himself as the best stayer in the small field of four. He quite easily collared the front-running favourite Discover. Trainer Vijay Singh enjoyed a single ‘success’ during the day as his filly by that name mauled the opposition in the mile race for the Hong Kong Jockey Club Cup. The Havana Gold-Columella youngster was ridden by Suraj Narredu for his sole winner during the long afternoon.