Trainer Imtiaz Sait had a good day at the office leading in three winners including Truly Epic (Mull of Kintyre – Sun Control, Sohna Stud) who won the Madras Race Club Trophy for Class I horses run over 2400 meters.

The race had only two prominent runners (Majistero not really considered a serious contender) and both were trained by Imtiaz Sait. Ironically though, Caprisca was the on-money favourite. All seemed to be going according to the script as Majistero took off and set a comfortable pace with Caprisca in second and Truly Epic tailing the small field all the way into the straight.

Majistero dropped out soon on turning for home and Caprisca took charge with less than two furlongs to go. However, Caprisca didn’t exactly pull away as was expected. He never looked in command and was not accelerated on expected lines. However, Truly Epic produced a fiery dash and zipped past his stablemate without encountering any
resistance. Caprisca surrendered the lead meekly as Truly Epic, in the hands of jockey C S Jodha sailed past to score a decisive victory by a good margin of two and half lengths.

Pesi Shroff trained Northern Lights (Lethal Force – Prescription, Usha Stud) scored a well-fought with a determined effort at the business end of the race. Jockey PS Chouhan hit the front with Northern Lights soon on start and the gelding galloped gamely throughout the race. Chouhan waited just long enough and when asked to go, Northern Lights responded with a crisp gallop. Prides Angel and Successor tried hard but could not match up to Northern Lights. They ended up fighting among themselves for the minor slots. Petronia took his time to find his rhythm and paid the price. He came with a good but late burst and was never posing any threat to Northern Lights, even when he started to draw closer in the final furlong. Northern Lights galloped on to score his third career win keeping Petronia safely at bay.

Birkin Blower (Midnight Interlude – Al Khazneh, Nanoli Stud) followed his impressive victory in the lower class last time out with an even better performance in Class III, beating a good set of speedsters with ease. There was no change in his tactics as he hit the front soon on start and kept a good momentum going right through. As they turned for home, Birkin Blower had Cellini, Red Merlot, Aegon and Remus snapping at his tail. But the Vishal Gaikwad trainee surged away from them all to build a handy lead and galloped ahead with a forceful finishing run. None from the quartet could match his speed. Jockey Trevor rode Birkin Blower out strongly and stayed clear of the rest. Spring Grove put in a late effort and picked up good speed as well, but that was not enough to topple Birkin Blower as he sped away to win the Ibrahim Rahimtoola Trophy by a length and a half. Spring Grove improved considerably in the final furlong to finish a good second, beating the rest by a big margin.

Shroff trained Kinnara (Kingman – Mujadil Draw, Nanoli Stud) picked up the Seth Ramnath Daga Trophy with a measure of comfort although the margin shows just under a length. She raced in the third spot as Tristar led them into the straight with Commandment in second. Kinnara shifted gears soon in the straight and surged past the duo in front with ease. She quickened well in the hands of in-form apprentice Kirtish Baghat and steadily worked her way to build a handy lead coming into the final furlong. Commandment could not keep up but Rubik Star put in a spirited finish to cut down the lead. However, Kinnara was clearly ahead and duly won comfortably warding off Rubik Star without fuss. San Salvatore covered a lot of ground in the straight and did well to finish alongside Commandment to finish a close fourth.

Impermanence (Anjaal – Close Link, Sohna Stud) had to fight hard on the turf and then again in the stewards’ room before officially recording her victory. Jockey CS Jodha took her on a start to finish mission and she had Hilma Klint close behind right from the gates.

Once into the straight, Impermanence led by just over a length as they galloped past the 400m marker. About the same juncture Timeless Deeds stumbled and fell and dislodged jockey Akash Agarwal. It is learnt that the jockey suffered a blunt injury and nothing serious; however, Timeless Deeds could not survive.

As the fight for the finish built up, Impermanence shifted out that bit just when Hilma Klint was making her move forward. Trinket compounded Hilma Klint’s woes and she didn’t get enough room to quicken, forcing the jockey to wait a stride before he switched to the inside to make his bid. Hilma Klint closed-in on Impermanence rapidly thereafter, but the Imtiaz trainee fought on hard to etch out victory by a short-head. An objection followed and the stewards after due deliberations overruled the objection. Hilma Klint was very unlucky that Tristar too moved up just when Impermanence shifted out, leaving her no room to manoeuvre. The merits of the objection were credible, but whether it was fair to take away the race from Impermanence is debatable and the stewards cannot be faulted for ruling in favour of Impermanence. Tristar did well to finish a close third.

Imtiaz picked up his third winner for the day with Rasputin (Multidimensional – Anywaysmile, Usha Stud) in the last race of the day. Jockey Trevor showed his class in not only timing his run perfectly, but also for taking the narrow gap astutely at the most opportune moment.

A tiring Fleur Des Lys led them into the straight with favourite Irrepressible close behind. Rasputin was closer to the rails and on the tail of the favourite. Irrepressible, after getting past the early leader, could not accelerate and push ahead as required. Ladida was on her outside and trying hard to stay in contention. Chancellor arrived with a spirited gallop to join Ladida, which is when Trevor took the gap and surged ahead, probably a tad to earlier than he had planned to do so. It worked well as Rasputin picked up speed and made a dash for the lead with Chancellor also fighting to take charge. The duo fought hard for the rest of the stretch with Rasputin finishing on a lot better, to win by just under one length. Chancellor was a game second while Ladida fell back and finished third a good four lengths behind.

The Flutist (Burden of Proof – Angel Child, Kunigal Stud), all of eight years, showed youthful energy when it mattered to snatch a thrilling victory close home. Debutante So So Special ran out of steam after leading them into the straight. Spiritual Rock showed grit and speed as he flashed past the front runner to snatch the lead and race ahead. Caprifla and The Flutist started to open throttle and were making headway. Speculator chose to take the difficult route between runners instead of waiting and skirting around The Flutist and that made his task even more difficult. The Flutist though had no such issues as he had the clear run and managed to peg back Spiritual Rock to score a narrow win. Caprifla finished a decent third and can do better after this hard run.

For the professionals, trainer Imtiaz Sait saddled a treble, while Pesi Shroff and jockeys Trevor and CS Jodha scored a double each.