Racegoers starved of their regular fill of horseracing action due to the disruption of the sport at Bangalore were in an upbeat mood on Sunday as the long-awaited Mumbai racing season was back on track. There was a pleasant surprise in store for punters as the card of eight, barring the sole defeat of Sovereign Power, brought windfall gains for them. The resumption of Haunting Memories’ (Placerville–Haunting Beauty) career was also a major attraction for many. The S. Ganapathy trained filly obliged her fans no doubt but she did make their hearts skip a beat or two. Belose piloted Pampered Princess took off smartly from the blocks and showed no signs of slowing down when Haunting Memories came into contention. C. Rajendra really had to sweat hard to overcome the rustiness shown by Dr.MAM Ramaswamy’s property. Patroclus ran leisurely to finish third just three-parts of a length ahead of Nanjing. The close verdict surely flatters Magansingh Jodha’s ward but it should not be forgotten that Haunting Memories was making a serious comeback after a gap of over four months and she has ample scope for improvement. Also, any astute trainer would love to see his protégé reach his peak form gradually and Ganapathy has already found a place among those few in the business today to be overly worried about Haunting Memories’ show. Count Du Monet’s non-participation in the race was a major disappointment for genuine lovers of horseracing. The performance of Pesi Shroff’s candidate was indeed being eagerly looked forward as he was involved in some closely fought contests against Ruben Star and Secret Memory at Pune. However that was not to be as Count Du Monet suffered a stifle-lock soon after jumping out from the gates. Niall McCullagh, who was swift to realise that something was amiss with his mount, brought Count Du Monet to a gradual halt before dismounting. There was another casualty in the race when P.S. Chouhan ridden Airliner came a cropper at the bend. The law of averages caught up with Sovereign Power, who had been unbeaten in his last five starts, in the Mathradas Goculdas Trophy. Bezan Chenoy saddled Agha (Glory of Dancer–Anusha) who raced up with the pace along side Noble Desire grabbed the initiative on turning for home and just held on gallantly from both Premier Star and Silken Star, who were breathing down his neck. According to C. Rajendra, Sovereign Power’s saddle partner, the Altaf Hussain trainee probably disliked being ridden off the pace and was also distracted by a couple of minor checks he received during the race. Rookie Akash Agarwal suffered a nasty fall along with his mount Thundering Star, who went crashing into the ground after clipping the heels of Morpheus. Jockey Rajendra, who booted home a treble, had been instrumental in the winning debut of The Hurricane (Senure–Untold Story), who was incidentally sent out by Altaf. The Hurricane got straight down to business when the gates flew open and Rajendra steered him plain hands and heels to stay clear of his main adversary Alvida. Alvida looked menacing opposite the stands but failed to accelerate and then veered out under pressure to concede the runner-up berth to Spiritual Flame. The Hurricane gave his sire, the Manjri Stud based Senure, his very first winner on Indian soil. Atmosphere (Tirol–Stratospheric) from Mansingh Jadhav’s yard proved a point when Rajendra powered him to a comfortable win over the market favourite Persephone, who succumbed meekly. Mysterious Land finished a faraway third with Marquisa arriving with a long stretched run to deny Barbados Skies a place in the first four. The curtain raiser went to Saeed Shah schooled Pine Crest (Tirol–Canadian Fame) who was ridden confidently by T. S. Jodha to strike immediately on demotion. Pine Crest lay in the fifth-sixth position as Cornelia Supra followed by Striking Out set the early pace only to fizzle out at the bend. Pine Crest pressed forward and kept going though at one stage it appeared that runner-up Glory would go cruising past him. Pine Crest’s full sister Peoria just knuckled under to the devastating run unleashed by Hosidar Daji nurtured Naval Academy (Tecorno–River of Dreams) in the home stretch. After the start, Naval Academy had made a gradual retreat to the rear end and chose to bide her time there till the heads turned for home. She devoured ground when alerted to her task by Malcolm Kharadi and managed to gain a neck verdict over Peoria close home. Naill McCullagh aboard Pesi Shroff trained Bravissima (Placerville–Innocent Pleasures) was back in business with a hard-earned victory over Innovator. The dark bay filly had no difficulty in overpowering Win For Me and Thunderella but had to rely on the skills of the Irishman to keep Innovator at bay. Ishtar made an eye-catching entry albeit late to finish fourth, a short-heard behind Win For Me. Trainer Cooji Katrak, who spent almost a year on the sidelines, had a solitary runner Rococo (Diffident–Chloe’s Delight), which not only provided him a winner straightaway but also turned out to be the most impressive of the day. P. Kamlesh astride Rococo went smoothly into the lead after Mister Fixit had shot his bolt and had something in reserve when sailing clear of Strawberry Fields and Bright Side. Pesi’s ward Secret Garden with McCullagh in saddle carried the public purse but she never raised any hopes of an imminent victory at any stage of the race. She managed to finish a tame fourth yet she should not be written off solely on the basis of this dismal run.