Salute Theon. He is the new Maharaja.  The winner of the Stayers’ Cup at Guindy, who lost to stablemate Zuccarelli by the shortest of margins despite the fact that his pilot Pradeep Chouhan lost his whip in the final furlong, made no mistake in the prestigious Maharaja’s Gold Cup and to the delight of his master Pesi Shroff added another plum to his distinguished list. 

On form, Theon and Forest Flame from the stables of Sulaiman Attaollahi topped the list taking into account that the Bengaluru and Mumbai Derby winner Zuccarelli had struggled to beat Theon in his last essay despite the 1.5 kilos weight advantage he enjoyed. Forest Flame in line for a hat-trick after registering two sublime efforts topped the betting board at the end after Zuccarelli opened the favourite. Theon rightly was second in demand at the betting ring quoted at (3/1), the punters shrewdly picking him in favour of Zuccarelli. And the winner produced another gutsy pillar to post effort in the hands of a confident Chouhan to justify the confidence of his supporters who provided a standing ovation to the new maharaja. Zuccarelli who chose to play the waiting game, lying last for most part of the 2200 metres trip finished a poor fourth behind My Opinion, while A Star Is Born appeared to have regained form and fitness while finishing a creditable second behind the winner. 

The 15 to one long shot Vanguard from Neil Darashah’s yard floored the followers of form in the principal added attraction, the AMC Gowda Memorial Trophy run over a mile. Advantageously placed at the scales and partnered by four kilo claimer Likith Appu, Vanguard tracked the leader Multistarrer for most part of the mile long trip before assuming command at the distance post and then gallantly pegging back the challenge of Regal Command in the final furlong. The favourite Forever Together surprisingly failed to produce his best and much to the disappointment of all the big punters finished a poor fourth behind Caracas. 

After failing to even figure in the frame in his two earlier efforts this season and in his last two starts in the winter season, Ombudsman from Lokanath Gowda’s yard appeared to have sprouted wings, winning the Chaitanya Chakram Plate by a `street’. The enhanced performance stunned the railbirds who ignored Ombudsman on his two dismal earlier efforts. The sharp contrast in form defies logic and calls for an explanation. Will that happen is the big question and the answer simply is: your guess is as good as mine. 

After a couple of satisfactory efforts, Fierce Fighter from trainer Faraz Arshad’s yard entered the winners’ circle, winning the lower division of the Mahalakshmi Plate run over a sprint. The winner was strongly fancied to come up trumps and the Faraz ward after gaining a favourable position powered through to score from Perfect Halo. Jai Vikram was seen finishing on purposefully at end to save money in place while the second in demand at the betting ring, Dawn Rising was never in the hunt. 

On the strength of his eye-catching effort in his debut, third behind Pinnacle Point after covering acres of ground in the straight, Prime Abbess competing in the Red Divine Plate was expected to garner the maximum support. But the punters pinned their hopes on the Irfan Ghatala schooled Victoria Punch only to see the public choice go down fighting to Prime Abbess, who stole a march at the distance post and hung on gamely to prevail by the shortest of margins. Gimme after dictating the pace for most part of the seven furlongs trip finished third ahead of Sleipnir. 

The Mohd, Khan schooled Flying Quest, a smart last start winner was fancied most in the Prabalo Plate but all that the overwhelming favourite did was take a lot of good money down the drain. The six to one shot Classic Charm from trainer Ganapathy’s yard strongly piloted by Vishal Bunde gained the day edging out another lesser fancied contestant Perfect Rendition in a thriller. Classic Charm who had failed to justify favouritism in her last essay in lower class it is clear is not a weight carrier and the moment her connections chose to reduce the weight she was asked to shoulder in the lower class, she displayed her true potential. The Response caught the eye while finishing third and is one for the notebook. 

The topweighted Knotty Woods from trainer Prasanna Kumar’s yard was backed to the exclusion of his eight rivals in the upper division of the Mahalakshmi Plate and the overwhelming public choice much to the delight of the followers of form produced a winning gallop in the hands of Nazer-ul-Alam to score from Another Rainbow and Gallic.