S Waheed trained Star Gallery lived up to the promise shown in his previous essay when finishing fourth behind his stable-mate and winner Believe last month as he went on to claim the Lt. Col. Govind Singh (VRC) Trophy on Sunday. Star Gallery (Total Gallery – Star Aligned), however, had to fight hard for his success as he was almost nailed on the post by debutant Axlrod. Giant King showed plenty of initial speed to head the field with Star Gallery, Alexandros, Ashford and Winter Agenda running close behind. As the field settled down, there was some jostling after Star Gallery, who was apparently running green, went on to Winter Agenda who had to be steadied to avoid a collision and fell back. 

Giant King meanwhile ran merrily infront with Ashford and Star Gallery chasing him into the straight. Sandesh alerted Star Gallery as soon as the field was homeward bound and overtook Giant King inside the last furlong. S Zervan-ridden Axlrod was the one who made significant progress when rallying from the wrong end of the field to join Winter Agenda and Alexandros as the field reached opposite the grand stands. Axlrod threw a strong challenge at Star Gallery but Sandesh spurred Star Gallery to successfully thwart Axlrod’s bid to topple him. Both these horses, incidentally, veered out under pressure close to the winning post. Winter Agenda failed to progress in the last furlong and ended third ahead of Giant King, Neeraj Rawal-steered favourite Alexandros and Versace, all finishing in close proximity. Most of the juveniles ran erratic which clearly affected their performance. Versace was pulled out from the inner rails by Bhawani Singh at the turn after anticipating a traffic snarl ahead and lost precious ground in the process.

Earlier in the day, Altaf Hussain’s ward Snow Fall registered an encore when she achieved victory in a workman-like fashion in the hands of Sandesh. The daughter of Territories out of Markabah raced close on the heels of Northern Singer till the last two furlongs before wresting the lead. Snow Fall then brushed aside Sovereign Master as Sandesh drove her out for a convincing victory. Outlander came with a long stretched run to take the runner up berth with Buckley and Lit finishing a length away. Second favourite Lord Vader stumbled soon after taking off from the gates and ran riderless after dislodging Bhawani from the saddle. 

Brave Beauty, another Territories progeny brought in-foal to Bravia, had her stamina on display when she eked out a narrow victory over Jerusalem in the Sonny Brar Trophy. The Hosidar Daji nurtured Brave Beauty was ridden off the pace by jockey K Nazil and was gradually brought into contention when entering the final lap. Meanwhile, Alpine Star and Gangster played the cat-and-mouse game in the front till Brave Beauty unleashed a good dash to join them and gain the upper hand. Brave Beauty however had to be hard-ridden by Nazil in the final stages to escape the clutches of Jerusalem, who had Gangster and Whatsinaname in close tow. Despite racing after a gap of over three months, Gangster ran a notable third. Whatsinaname also seems to be finding his lost form gradually. An enquiry has been initiated into the running and riding of Jerusalem following the initial scrutiny of the stipendiary stewards and the dissatisfaction expressed by trainer Malesh Narredu over R Ajinkya’s riding effort.

Narendra Lagad schooled Golden Neil (Excellent Art – Mauna Kea) earned this season’s third success when lifting the Air Force Trophy. Pesi Shroff saddled Sierra Dela Plata had incurred a penalty of 15kg for finishing fourth behind King’s Ransom in the Indian 1000 Guineas and Oaks and, despite failing to graduate from the maiden ranks, she found herself competing in a in a Class III event. Her main adversary, interestingly, was Golden Neil, her vanquisher at Pune and who had three wins to his credit. Apprentice Mustakim Alam astride Golden Neil allowed San Salvatore to do the initial running over the mile and quarter event and collared him shortly after entering the home stretch. Golden Neil was never under any threat of being beaten once he assumed command in the last two furlongs as he drew away from his rivals as Mustakim kept him going under his whip. Neeraj Rawal-piloted Sierra Dela Plata, a hapless victim of the handicapping system, ran hopelessly in the straight and had further agony in store as Sandman denied her the runner up position. Leto ended a faraway fourth.

The five-year old Demetrius (Sussex – Double Or Quits) from trainer Subhag Singh’s yard unleashed a powerful run in the straight and carried the top weight to his maiden victory in the day’s opening event. Earlier, Teispes showed the way to the field with favourite Lord Murphy in hot pursuit. With little over two furlongs left to go for the wire, S Zervan-ridden Lord Murphy took charge and led till the last 100m before Demetrius, shown daylight by Bhawani in the straight, came charging down the straight to end his supremacy. Mount Sinai ran an improved third ahead of Teispes. Dufy and Lady Di failed to make any impression after racing prominently till the race came to a boil.

Another aged horse to triumph over a younger one was Nirad Karanjawala’s ward She Is On Fire. The aged mare raced in the mid-bunch as Prince O’War called the shots till the heads turned for home and made way for Marlboro Man, Shadows and She Is On Fire. The last named moved better of the lot to gain the upper hand and Neeraj Rawal ensured that Sandesh-partnered favourite Walter’s late bid did not cause any damage. Shadows ended in the money ahead of hard-ridden Freedom and Stunning Visual, who recovered lost ground after a lethargic start.

Though making her first appearance on the Mumbai track, Fancy Nancy showed no signs of rustiness after her four-month long break and found her mark in the lowest class. Ridden by 5kg-claimer Haridas Gore, Fancy Nancy (Roderic O’Connor – Remembrance Of You) raced behind leader Mufaza, Adamas and Mirae before she was given her head in the straight. Nancy Fancy overhauled Adamas in the last furlong and skipped away to keep Sussing at bay. Tarzan rallied on late to finish third ahead of Bomber who also warmed up to his task quite late.