Within a week of his ward Livermore surprising her opponents in the Fillies Championship Stakes, Leo D’Silva pulled out another ace from his pack in the Colts Championship Stakes on Sunday. That ace was the bay colt Huntingdon, who gave a gutsy performance to outsmart his rivals in the Race2Win.Com sponsored Deccan Colts Championship Stakes (Gr.3). Given the Bangalore Summer form of Synthesis and Destroyer, who had both finished behind Jamari in the classic events, their credentials appeared superior to that of the rest and it was widely considered that the finish could be restricted to these two outstation candidates. Even the betting trend predicted that the Colts Championship could be a two-horse affair. However, the fancied duo caught a tartar in Huntingdon (Oiseau De Feu – Glorious Hymn), one of the three runners saddled by D’silva.

Huntingdon raced well up in the fifth spot with High Command showing the way to the field and had Destroyer, Worcester and Shadow of the Moon in pursuit. Synthesis was ridden off the pace in the rear while Wolf Creek trailed the field. Akshay Kumar-steered High Command led the field into the straight but was challenged by Worcester, Destroyer and Huntingdon. Meanwhile, Yash Narredu brought Synthesis into contention but travelled wide into the straight probably to avoid any traffic problems. As the race came to a boil, High Command’s lead was narrowed down and he had four horses gnawing at his heels. Destroyer, who was in striking position behind High Command, was unsettled when asked for an effort by PS Chouhan thus failing to raise a fluent gallop. Huntingdon accelerated well at this juncture when S. Saqlain pulled out his whip and was soon racing abreast of High Command. Synthesis also warmed up but failed to chart a straight course. Interestingly all the five front-runners ran green especially Huntingdon, who lugged in and then veered out under pressure. He almost bumped into Synthesis thereby hampering his run. Despite the traffic snarls, Synthesis put in a valiant effort but Huntingdon stretched out under Saqlain’s aggressive riding and won sparing a length and quarter at the post. A similar distance behind was High Command. Destroyer ran as erratic as Huntingdon when trying to forge ahead and just about managed to hold on to the fourth spot from Worcester.

Huntingdon’s success was not exactly David versus Goliath story but his victory was a tribute to his master’s diligence in getting the best out of his juvenile string through a strenuous campaign since last winter. The twin classic triumph of his wards is indeed remarkable as D’silva achieved this glory despite facing serious health issues himself. The veteran trainer also gave his supportive owners an opportunity to rejoice that too with modestly bred horses. Huntingdon provided his co-owners, Messrs Vazhaparmbil John Joseph and Bharat Venkat Epur, their first classic success.

Race-goers received a shock treatment in the day’s opening event when favourite Lady Racines swerved to her left immediately after the gates opened and stopped galloping. Akshay Kumar-ridden Lady Racines carried Sacred Bond out with her and quashed the hopes of the latter’s admirers. No-hopers Toffee and Exeter made the initial running over the nine-furlong journey and faded out as Antony Raj-piloted Terenga swooped down on them at the final turn. A couple of backhanders was all it took for LVR Deshmukh-trained Terenga (Akeed Champion – Sun Moon and Stars) to draw away from his rivals. Queen Empress fought hard to catch the winner in the straight but in vain. Favourite Stunning Art laboured hard but could do no better than finish third, a nose behind Queen Empress whilst the other runners trailing behind.

S. Sreekant nurtured Truth completed a hat-trick of wins when swamping his opponents with a blistering run down the home stretch. Beauty Blaze sprinted into the lead over the mile and half journey and handed over the baton just before the taking the final turn to Path of Peace, who was racing close on her haunches all the way. Ridden by Kuldeep Singh (Sr.), Truth (Pinson – Lady Be Good) progressed steadily from the rear to challenge Path of Peace and Humanitarian and gained the upper hand in the last half furlong. Path of Peace ended runner up ahead of Humanitarian and Stormy Ocean, who never raised any hopes for his followers during the race.

Earlier in the day, Kuldeep partnered the 15 to 1 longshot Mireya to victory after Golden Forza raced like a scalded cat from the gates but ran out of fuel in the last 100m. G. Sandeep-saddled Mireya (Planetaire – Win and Enjoy) found herself in pursuit of Golden Forza in the straight and measured him easily. Ice Berry ran on to finish runner up ahead of First Class, who finished in the money ahead Golden Forza. Most of the contenders who were expected to grace the finish showed no inclination to oblige their supporters.

D’silva-groomed Silver Lining finally managed to shed his maiden tag with a successful start-to-finish dash in the hands of Saqlain. Silver Lining (Total Gallery – Emilia Romagna) seized the initiative at the start and won comfortably from My Master, who found his rhythm too late to make any difference to the outcome. The rest including Canterbury, the winner’s stablemate who ended third, were out for an airing.

D’silva narrowly missed a treble as Kenaf went down by a neck to Avancia. Kenaf not only threw her head up at the start but was inconvenienced by La Mirage who shifted out on to Malibu and Kenaf after taking off from the barriers. Afroz Khan then hustled Kenaf to wrest the initiative from Avancia but encountered a spirited bid from MR Chauhan-saddled Avancia (One Lucky Dane – Capriani), who received an inspiring ride from whipless Sonu Kumar. The two fought a stirring duel in the last furlong with Avancia getting the better of Kenaf in the last couple of strides. Malibu and Archway both rallied late to finish third and fourth respectively.

Another strong piece of riding was witnessed in the last race when PS Chouhan powered Sopranos to victory. The RH Sequeira-schooled Sopranos (Whatsthescript – So Charm) made steady progress from the mid-bunch and challenged Classy Dame and Fatuma, who had just tackled the runaway leader Ok Boss. Sopranos unleashed a powerful run in the last furlong to snuff out Fatuma and Classy Dame’s challenge and won convincingly as he got stronger towards the end. Classy Dame, Fatuma and Spectacular Cruise were separated by a neck each as they followed the winner home, Spectacular Cruise caught the eye when finishing on leisurely and should be a different prospect over a longer trip.