The smashing victory which he recorded on debut last month gave no reason to any race-goer to look beyond Christofle in the Shapoorji Pallonji Breeders’ Juvenile Colts’ Championship (Gr.3). The Pesi Shroff schooled flashy dark bay specimen, brought in foal to Enzina and who is by Le Havre, was thus backed to the exclusion of his six rivals and he produced another glorious performance in the hands of Trevor Patel. The winner is co-owned by Mr & Mrs Vijay B Shirke, Messrs KN Dhunjibhoy, Zahir Dhunjibhoy and Vispi Patel.

Christofle’s success, though assertive, was by no means an easy one as he had to be ridden out to snuff out the threat posed by none other than his stable-mate Sea The Sun. Not relishing the moderate pace in the early stages of the mile event, Sea The Sun forced PS Chouhan to take him to the front and the bay colt raced merrily ahead with Christofle, Winter Agenda and Alexandros chasing him. With Sea The Sun still enjoying the lead as the field approached the distance post, Trevor got busy astride Christofle and it was only after his vigorous effort did the on-money favourite tackle his rival. Christofle finally collared and passed Sea The Sun in the final 100m and went on to assert his superiority to achieve an encore. Sea The Sun was not disgraced in this defeat and lives to fight for another day. Believe was hard-ridden to finish third ahead of Alexandros.

Veteran Mansingh Jadhav nursed filly Waikiki had the best credentials from among the field of six competing for the Forbes Breeders’ Juvenile Fillies’ Championship (Gr.3) and was the firm favourite to claim the event. Nikhil Parmar-ridden Waikiki raced in the fifth position as Momentous and Ashford both fought for their heads successfully and found themselves leading the small field on sufferance. Transcend, who raced close behind the leaders, made her move as the heads turned for home with Parmar too bringing Waikiki into contention. The bay daughter of Leitir Mor out of Mauna Kea meanwhile surged ahead through the gap between Transcend and Momentous, who was making her retreat. K Nazil-piloted Transcend looked menacing as she came abreast of Waikiki but young Behram Cama’s protégé ran green and shifted out of a straight course. Waikiki gave a tenacious display and streaked clear in response to Parmar’s feverish urgings and was home and dry before Nazil could get his mount on an even keel and renew his bid. Versace was prominent till the turn but failed to quicken and ended a faraway third with Capucine close behind.

Fortunate Son, also from MK Jadhav’s yards, displayed good determination to earn his first success this season. Following his classics’ campaign this winter, Fortunate Son returned back to handicap events but the drastic cut from a mile and half to seven furlongs was a bit of concern for punters initially. But come race time, the odds against overnight favourite Great Guns started to expand while Fortunate Son saw once-sided betting coming his way. Parmar-ridden Fortunate Son hit the front as is his wont and made every post a winning one. With a furlong and half left for home, A Sandesh-partnered Great Guns and his barn-mate Nolan threw a strong challenge at Fortunate Son who, in a compliment to Parmar’s resolve, successfully repelled the threat posed by the duo. Fortunate Son spared Great Guns a length at the wire with Nolan and Dexa following them home.

In one of the day’s best performances, trainer Hosidar Daji-saddled filly Misty made a sparkling debut in the Rustomji Soparivala Trophy. Misty (Cougar Mountain – Smoke Ring), with Trevor astride, was at least ten lengths behind when Moonlight Kiss and on-money favourite Maysara brought the field into the straight. CS Jodha eased HJ Antia’s ward Maysara into the lead in the final two furlongs as Moonlight Kiss lost steam and, with a lead of in excess of two lengths over Senorita D, she appeared to be in sight of her maiden victory. But Trevor switched lanes to bring the filly very wide into the home stretch following which Misty set the track ablaze with a solid run and doused Maysara’s hopes in the last 100m. Senorita D and Cyrenaica completed the judge’s frame.

SK Sunderji-schooled Walter ran true to form as also the market expectations when achieving his maiden success. Sandesh kept Walter (Leitir Mor – Retained) behind Divine Intuition, Charming Star and Mascara till the field straightened for home. A little over a furlong away from the wire, Walter had made steady improvement with every stride to join the issue with the leaders and eventually wore down Charming Star close home. Freedom edged out Charming Star to take the runner up spot with Zborowski in close tow.

In a similar effort later in the day, Sandesh achieved a double when assisting Dallas Todywalla-nurtured It’s My Time to a convincing win. Making his first appearance this season after a long lay-off, top-weighted It’s My Time (Roderic O’Connor – Unforgettable You) raced keenly behind Mighty Wings from the gates and, once given his head by Sandesh in the straight, sailed clear to leave his rivals fighting for the crumbs. Lord Fenicia, Flashing Famous, Wild Thing and Toussaint ended up in close proximity whilst following the winner home in that order.

Trevor completed a fine treble through his forceful riding atop Intense Belief (David Livingstone – Dhahab). S Zervan took second favourite Spirit Bay on a start-to-finish mission over the six-furlong trip and appeared cantering home for an easy win when Intense Belief started to gain ground in the last furlong. Zervan was outwitted by Trevor's resilience which helped Intense Belief to enter the winner’s enclosure for the second time this season. The two horses were separated by a long-neck. Nord ended third ahead of Red Dust. There was spirited support for Tarzan in the betting ring but the favourite failed to justify the support when ending a poor fifth.

Trainer S S Shah led in his second winner this season when Divine Soul (Roderic O’Connor – Touch My Soul) gave a rousing performance in the hands of rookie Navnath Bhosale. The five-years old maiden mare, who raced well up with the leaders, rallied well when urged by Bhosale to outshine favourite Teispes and Count The Wins close home. S Zervan-ridden Silver Steps, who was backed enthusiastically close to race time, ran leisurely to finish fourth, a little over two lengths behind Divine Soul.

Spirit Bay and Silver Step’s owner and stable-mate Myrcella however scored a big upset in the opening event of the day. Faisal Abbas saddled Dufy, who was freed of the blinkers, tongue-strap and earplugs on this occasion, ran zestfully to show the way to the field over the mile trip and had favourite Malakhi and Myrcella in hot pursuit throughout. After Malakhi failed to overhaul the leader, the eight-year old mare trained by Shazaan Shah, who had last won over four years ago, moved resolutely when spurred by rider H Zeeshan to stun Dufy in the shadow of the post. Malakhi ended third ahead of Dagger’s Strike who warmed up late to his task.