The thrill of watching the grey mare Juliette in action at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse taking on a younger competitor King’s Ransom was an exciting proposition few race-goers would have turned it down. The expected duel between the two champion equines however failed to materialise. Blazing Bay set the early pace for Juliette and had Arc De Triomphe, Wall Street, King’s Ransom, My Opinion and Juliette chasing her. Of course, King’s Ransom had the first run after tackling Arc De Triomphe, who took over from Blazing Bay before the final turn, and Wall Street when turning for home. But that lead last a few fleeting seconds as Juliette unleashed a brilliant run to join King’s Ransom and zipped past her in a trice. CS Jodha just gave Juliette (Musketier – Gimmesumsugar) a couple of backhanders and she achieved one of her few scintillating victories on the turf. Karthik Ganapathy’s protégé, bought overnight from late Dr MAM Ramaswamy’s trust by Zavaray Poonawalla, won sparing a good seven lengths to King’s Ransom. Truly Epic and Fire Power completed the judge’s frame.

Another prospective duel on the cards that evoked much interest was between Northern Lights and Ahead Of My Time in the Maharaja Sir Harisinghji Trophy (Gr.3) run over a mile. Coeur De Lion yet again headed the ten-horse field and was followed by Bellator and Northern Lights. The latter moved up to race on the haunches of Coeur De Lion after Bellator fell back at the half-way mark and soon PS Chouhan loosened his grip on the reins allowing the grey Northern Lights (Lethal Force – Prescription) to shoot ahead. Northern Lights then kept going and was vigorously ridden by Chouhan to hit the wire ahead of late-finishing Flying Visit and Ahead Of My Time. Sandesh brought the latter into contention in the straight but Northern Lights proved to be a tough nut to crack and Ahead Of My Time was even pipped for the second slot by Flying Visit. Successor finished fourth. 

Pesi Shroff trained filly Swift’s bid for a hat-trick failed as Buckley from SK Sunderji’s yard showed good improvement after an easy lung-opener in his only appearance this season. Arcana led the field over the six-furlong sprint and had Inishmore and Buckley following him into the straight. With a furlong and half left for the wire, both Inishmore and Buckley assumed command after Arcana retired from the fray. Imran Chisty-ridden Inishmore led briefly but he was outwitted by the resilience shown by Dashrath Singh-piloted Buckley (Phoenix Tower – Athens). Surprisingly, the fancied duo Swift and Snowfall did not race up with the front-runners and were outpaced though they ended close behind the runner up, a head and half-length respectively to be precise.

The two juvenile events didn’t go exactly the punters way. In the first, the Bombay Club Multi-Million, Destroyer, the Patrick Quinn-schooled challenger from Calcutta, showed dramatic improvement over his debut run in the Poonawalla Breeders’ Multi-Million where he ended nowhere. He surprised everyone with his successful start-to-finish dash over the seven-furlong event. Imran Chisty-steered Destroyer (Excel And Exceed – Abaq) hit the front from the gates and was never headed though favourite Dream Alliance, who was badly placed till entering the home stretch, bridged the leeway with a strong run but the winner held on gallantly. The General ended third after a forward run with Cordelia finishing a faraway fourth.

Hosidar Daji-groomed Misty, who had made a winning debut last month, gave a gutsy performance to make it two in a row. Debutant Serrano was backed down to favouritism but the MK Jadhav trainee was in need of this run badly. Yash Narredu-driven Senorita D showed good initial speed to lead the field of six followed by Prophecy and the other contestants racing close behind. Serrano tried to collar Senorita D opposite the stands but failed to quicken. Chouhan meanwhile spurred Misty (Cougar Mountain – Smoke Ring) and the bay filly made steady progress to swoop down on Serrano, Senorita D and Prophecy in the last furlong and half. Misty was required to be hard-ridden to snuff out Senorita D’s challenge and then ward off the late bid of Generosity, who found her rhythm a bit late. Azrinaz also came with a late run to finish a close fourth ahead of Serrano.

The last two events of the season were claimed by trainer Altaf Hussain’s wards. Hot-favourite Queens Pride (Roderic O’Connor – Queen’s Guest) gave no anxious moments to her supporters as Sandesh got her to hit the front and stayed put after brushing aside the initial irritation caused by Zukor. Jet Typhoon finished on to be second ahead of Zukor and Moment Of Madness.

Displaying his never-say-die attitude, champion jockey A Sandesh snatched victory from the jaws of defeat astride Malakhi (formerly named Nostalgic) as he shocked S Zervan-ridden Doc Martin in the shadow of the winning post. Doc Martin who raced well up in the initial stages of the race got stronger as the heads turned for home and increased his lead gradually. The Nosher Cama trainee was being hailed as a winner close home when Sandesh triggered a superb run from Malakhi (Roderic O’Connor – Nostalgic Memories). The bay filly responded gallantly to her rider’s call and moved resolutely to stun Doc Martin in virtually her last stride. Sussing ended in the money ahead of stable-mate Shadows.

Champions List:

Champion owner: Mr Khushroo N Dhunjibhoy owned Five Stars Shipping Co. Pvt Ltd.

Champion Trainer: Pesi Shroff

Champion Jockey: A Sandesh

Champion claiming allowing and apprentice jockey: Mustakim Alam

Champion Stud Farm: Usha