Shyam Habbu-trained Tigrio (Phoenix Tower-Tigresse Noire) proved himself a gutsy miler as he lifted the Adjudicate Cup in the hands of RS Bhati after pegging back the likes of Malwa and Eastwood. The favourite Stockbridge ended up dead last. For some reason or other, he was not permitted to run up front as he likes to do. He was held back in the rear of the six horse field and never raised a gallop thereafter. Malwa tried to make every post a winning one with Tigrio not far behind along the rails. After the turning for home, Bhati chose the shortest route home and it paid rich dividends.

Trainer Patrick Quinn and is trusted knight PS Chouhan took over from where they had left off a day earlier as they continued their success story from the very first race of the day. Quinn’s Compliance (One  Lucky Dane – Another Reema) pocketed the Anzello Handicap run over seven furlongs without much ado. Allowing Yuvi to call the shots till into the straight, Compliance took over the running and quite easily staved off the late challenge of the favourite Truth And Dare. The one for the notebook is Reagan who seems to be improving with each run. Quinn and Chouhan completed their brace with the four-year-old filly Inamorata (Roderic O’Connor-Coccinella) who won The Snow Forest Handicap after being installed as the firm om-money favourite. She made every post a winning one with Emry’s following her home.

Trainer Vijay Singh’s filly Sweet Legacy (Win Legend – Glamorous Approach) ran quite a spectacular race to bag the Advisor Plate for maiden three-year-olds though she was not given the best of rides by her rider Hindu Singh. After lying in the rear of the seven-horse field for most part while Tropical Lady set a good pace, she took the bend eight wide but raised a thunderous gallop near the distance post to sail past Torino who was a creditable runner-up. 

The low-weight front-runner is always a dangerous proposition and trainer Vikash Jaiswal’s Indian Tiger (Daavid Livingston – Mullagh) proved that old-age theory right as the six-year-old made every post of the six-furlong sprint for the Phoenician handicap a winning one. It would be fair to say that the others in the nine-horse field were simply run off their feet by his early speed. Apprentice Hasib Alam sensed victory in the straight and kept his mount going with a couple of cracks. The favourite Horus The Great has been a repeated failure at this centre and would be best left alone by punters.

Jockey Akshay Kumar made his presence felt in the last race of the day as he piloted Suraj Shaw-trained Edmund (Fiero-Lisa’s Kitten) to a start-to-finish triumph in the 2000 metres race for the Birthday Girl Handicap. The poor timing of the race suggests that it was Akshay’s pace judgement which went a long way in fetching him the top honours.