Imtiaz Sait and Colm O’Donoghue were the men in action on Friday as their respective engagements had fair chances to win. Both professionals however didn’t go farther than gaining a brace apiece. This apart, two rookie riders were made to look like veterans by horses endowed with explosive talent. Accessible was one and Steel Butterfly the other. Both Accessible and Steel Butterfly attracted a steady flow of smart money. Interestingly, the Indian lads made O’Donoghue eat a humble pie on both occasions. Balthazaar was seeking his second successive win under Imtiaz’s card and was the on-money favourite to win the Maharaja Sir Pratapsingh Gaekwad Trophy. Assisted by the Irish rider, O’Donoghue, Balthazaar (Alnasr Alwasheek – Lorne) snapped the leading sequence of Ranier when heads turned for home but found Patroclus hot on his trail. Try hard as he did, P. Kamlesh never managed to secure that extra ounce of energy from Patroclus that was required to nail Balthazaar. O’Donoghue, to his credit, was focussed on his job all the way and his powerful finishing drive did the trick for Balthazaar. Golden Triangle laboured hard to finish third ahead of Dedication. Imtiaz’s second winner Accessible (Steinbeck – Access All Areas) was ridden by D. K. Ashish and who found himself pocketed towards the rails when favourite Strathendrick was given his head by O’Donoghue. S. N. Chavan atop Cornelia Supra, fortunately for Accessible’s followers, was in a generous mood and he gave Ashish the opening he was desperately looking for. Strathendrick had meanwhile stolen a march over the field was being hailed as a winner before Accessible’s superb turn of foot did him in. Roman Beauty ended a fair third while River Dancer an easy fourth. Ishtar probably didn’t like the feel of the pacifiers on her eyes and performed poorly in contrast to her earlier two runs. Pesi Shroff not only has nerves of steel but is undoubtedly a good judge of the calibre of a rider also. Not surprising as he has established himself as an icon in that capacity. He put a novice Vijay Kadam in the driver’s seat on Steel Butterfly. The grey daughter of Burden of Proof out of Kariba found herself in the same predicament as Accessible but Kadam had no intention of letting his master down. Taking a cavalier stance, Kadam took a criss-cross route without proving a nuisance to the other contenders. Steel Butterfly made a stellar contribution in Kadam’s feat as she manoeuvred her way through the maze of horses like a versatile filly. Steel Butterfly and Kadam made O’Donoghue aboard the favourite Oyster Pearl pay the price for their daring caper. Catalunya ended a faraway third ahead of Druids Glen. Pesi had a perfect start to his day when hot-favourite Totalitarian (Royal Kingdom – Eka) made every pole of the mile and a quarter trip for the Tiger Lily Plate a winning one in the hands of Niall McCullagh. The field was spread out in single file and raced almost in the same order all the way home with Mischief in his Eyes finishing runner-up ahead of Star of the Season and Struie. Master Planner (Royal Kingdom – Rhinefield Beauty) from Rehanullah Khan’s yard had so much power packed in his final burst that the wayward Viceroy was unable to halt his victory run. Master Planner seemed cruising giving an appearance that his saddle-partner, Amyn Merchant, was taking things too lightly. Be that as it may, Master Planner overcame seemingly violent interference from Viceroy but favourite Jalapeno was not that lucky and got squeezed out in the melee that ensued. This incident definitely called for a Stewards enquiry which was not initiated, to the surprise of many, by the Stipes. No-hoper Sparrow Hawk ran third after making the entire running with Return of the King ending a close fourth. Trainer Mansoor Shah, making his comeback after a brief stay away from his job, tasted immediate success when P. Kamlesh steered Collateral (Libor – Spring Water) stretched away to win from Perfect Attraction and Last’n Impression in a tight finish. Home To Home stunned all with an upset victory but was not allowed to keep race after runner-up Peoria’s rider T. S. Jodha raised a successful objection. Malcolm Kharadi ridden favourite Royal Ballerina, owned by Mohan Thakur and saddled by Hosidar Daji, ran a dismal third without raising any hopes for her admirers. Artillery flattered to deceive till arriving in the home stretch and ended up in the dumps when the race was over. The same colours however came to the fore when Kharadi guided the even-money favourite Red Dawn (Royal Kingdom – Serious Trouble) to his maiden win in the concluding race. Dallas Todywalla’s candidate however had a tough time countering Black Warrior’s attack and should consider himself lucky to have escaped the clutches of the R. Rupesh ridden adversary. Sara Jahan (formerly Diffiant Gal) ran on to be third while Red Mesa ended fourth. Ancient Princess once again let down a large following.