A little over a week after she refused to put her best foot forward in the experienced hands of Imran Chisty, trainer G Shashikanth saddled Miss Little Angel decided to unwrap her true potential on Wednesday. Ridden by Abhay Singh, who has proved to be a lucky charm for the bounty hunters since last week, Miss Little Angel raced in the rear bunch as leader Garnet had a commanding lead when she brought the field into the home stretch. D Netto-groomed Beauty On Parade was in pursuit of her stable-mate along with Ambitious Star but both moved out of the way of Baisa who came through the inner rails. Abhay meanwhile switched lanes and brought Miss Little Angel (Top Class – Isle Of Avalon) wide into the straight before showing her the daylight. The mare literally flew towards the winning post to catch hold of Garnet, who was shortening her strides, and Baisa who were both steamrolled by Miss Little Angel’s scorching run. S Saqlain-piloted favourite All Time Legend, Netto’s third candidate in this event who was seeking a hat-trick, toiled in the mid-bunch throughout and lost pace in the straight to end last.

Punters continued to reel under the misery inflicted upon them by rank outsiders, who registered shock victories defying their current form. The only outright favourite to carry the public’s purse successfully was D Yes Boss from Anant Vatsalya’s yard. Making amends for her last start failure, the six-year old mare flourished in the straight after Ayur Tej was run into the ground which allowed Fatuma took charge briefly. D Yes Boss (Whatsthescript – Covent Garden) responded well to Ajeeth Kumar’s urgings and measured Fatuma inside the last furlong to bring some cheer for crestfallen punters. Suraj Narredu-guided Blast In Class got into his stride quite late to make any difference to the end result. The second favourite ended a close fourth behind Fatuma and Plethora. It’s On, who finished fifth, was also switched on belatedly by DS Deora which hardly mattered eventually.

Earlier, It was kind of a carnage for bettors as the three victors had come out of the blue to shock them. K Satheesh saddled City Cruise started the rout for the punters when the gelding won almost start to finish over the mile trip in the hands of apprentice Ekram Alam. Top-weighted Temptations, though running after a three-month hiatus, shared the favouritism with Indian King and hit the front before City Cruise (David Livingstone – Tourmalet) took over after travelling for about two furlongs from the gates. City Cruise was never headed after that as Temptations dropped back in the straight following which then Golden Inzio and Mireya moved up. The K Mukesh Kumar ridden favourite came with a big run towards the end when alerted to his task but the effort turned out to be late and a wasted one at that. Indian King took the runner up berth ahead of Mireya and Voice Of A Dream.

Worcester from L D’Silva’s string appeared to have stripped fitter after a non-too-impressive debut earlier as he went on to shock his fancied rivals including the piping hot favourite Morning Mist, saddled by RH Sequeira who was standing in for Laxman Singh. Worcester (Dali – Isle Of Avalon) made steady progress at every stage of the six furlong trip and came within striking distance of leader Smart Striker, Great Giver and Morning Mist in the last furlong and half. Worcester initially tackled Suraj-ridden on-money favourite, who showed no signs of obliging, and then surged ahead of Smart Striker and Great Giver in the final furlong. Mukesh Kumar kept Worcester going under the whip and lasted out to win from Saqlain-piloted second favourite Clare, who found her moorings somewhat late. Great Giver held on grimly to the third slot while edging out Morning Mist.

The three-year old bay gelding Rival also showed enough improvement over his debut run to register an emphatic victory albeit against weak opposition. Santosh Raj kept KSV Prasad Raju’s trainee in close attendance of Thunder Knight, who called the early shots, and gained rapid ground in the straight to go sailing clear after snatching the initiative in the last furlong. Thunder Knight finished runner up ahead of Proud Girl and Moon Walk. There was some good support for Barchetta in the betting but the filly was simply outpaced and ended fifth after being hard ridden in the home stretch.

After his failure atop Indian King, Mukesh was once again found wanting astride favourite Laurus as he was outwitted by the 20 to 1 long shot Exotic Dancer. D Netto-nursed mare Exotic Dancer jumped out smartly from the wide draw to bounce ahead and show a clean pair of heels as jockey G Naresh confidently steered her to victory. Laurus was in futile chase throughout and looked shorn of his brilliance as he failed to quicken when urged for an effort by Mukesh. Laurus ended three-part length behind the winner and just about managed to hold back Sun Dancer, who came through the inner rails. Above The Law ran a close fourth. The first seven horses finished within two lengths of each other and they didn’t overtly display any sense of urgency when approaching the winning line.

Trainer D’Silva’s decision to discard the use of blinkers on Varenna, who had made her debut only in December last, paid off as the bay filly shed her maiden status in her fourth career start. Varenna (Roderic O’Connor – Forever Glory) took a smart jump with the 5kg-claimer Ekram on her back and made every post of the seven furlong journey for the lower division of the General Anders Plate a winning one. Saint Emilion and favourite Coming Home raced close behind the leader but failed to overpower him. DS Deora-partnered Coming Home made a late dash but failed to topple Varenna. Saint Emilion managed to finish in the money ahead of an uninterested lot of which Shubrak ran on to complete the judge’s frame.

Neglected in the betting ring as Power Ranger, though ridden by lesser-known Aneel attracted majority support, the four-year old filly Fresh Hope (Top Class – Vijay Sakhi) outsmarted her rivals with a speedy display. Jockey B Nikhil hit the front astride Ravinder Singh’s ward, who drew away from the pack after her rider removed his whip to guide the filly to a convincing win. Power Ranger was apparently given too much to do in the straight as the favourite couldn’t bridge the leeway and ended a faraway second. Divine Destiny and Bien Pensant took the remaining minor slots on the judge’s frame.

Tripurari (Stardan – Lake Huron), who was settled third behind the leaders, triggered a powerful run when DS Deora asked him the question inside the last furlong and went breezing past Golden Forza and Gusty Note. The MS Parmar trained Tripurari tasted his maiden success at the age of five after a belated debut in August last. Top Diamond ended fourth. Blazing Jupiter came in for sustained support in the betting close to race time but the Ajeeth Kumar ridden gelding ran hopelessly throughout and finished off the board.