Apprentice Ajay Kumar is slowly but surely gaining confidence as was borne out when he piloted Malaala to a brilliant victory, a day after steering Ashwa Morocco successfully. Both victors belong to the higher class and Ajay’s talent was put to test against the best riders in this circuit. Trainer Laxman Singh once again reposed his confidence in the young jockey’s ability by assigning him the task of guiding Malaala’s fortunes on her promotion. Ajay brought Malaala from the wide draw to stay in close contention behind Blissful, who was off to a swift start from gates, and City of Bliss. When the heads turned for home, Ajay asked Malaala for an effort and the mare responded gallantly by piercing through the gap offered by Blissful and City of Bliss. Malaala (Kingda Ka – Ashtoh) stepped up the pace to go clear of Soloist and late finishing Miss Little Angel. Blissful retired to end fourth. Favourite Beauty Blaze never raised any hopes and toiled hard in the rear. Watch My Stride ran a suggestive race when warming up late to his task and finishing close behind Blissful.

Trainer Donald Netto, who spent the monsoon season on the sidelines after being found in breach of the drug regulations, saddled his first winner through Bellaque (Perfect Stride – Fire Song), who made every post of the five and half furlong trip a winning one. Bellaque carried a heavy impost of 62kg on her back as she was running on demotion but that proved to be no hurdle as A. Imran Khan eased her into the lead after the starter’s flag came down and was never headed thereafter. Warwick finished on well to be a notable second ahead of Coming Home and Subha.

The day started off with the victory of K. Satheesh’s ward Club Queen, who was running in the lowest class after a lacklustre performance in her previous four outings. Well-fancied Club Queen (Planetaire – Flyingangel) chased Urgent and Golden Inzio into the straight and accelerated nicely under apprentice RS Jodha’s urgings to overhaul them both. Golden Inzio made a renewed effort to catch the winner but in vain. Urgent ended a faraway third ahead of Riffa.

Both Satheesh and Jodha achieved a back to back double with Role Model, who swept her rivals off their feet over the nine-furlong trip. Jodha hit the front with Role Model (Planetaire – Miracle of Love) who proved too good for her rivals. Favourite China Town raised some hope in the straight but faded out meekly allowing the unfancied Muaser and Alpine Girl to finish second and third respectively. Princess Daka with Akshay Kumar in the saddle graced the wrong end of the field throughout and ended thus.

The duo of trainer MS Parmar and jockey B. Nikhil were also associated in the back to back victories scored by Delhi Heights and Tripurari. Nikhil settled Delhi Heights behind Fatuma and Creative Force and launched his assault in the last furlong and half. Delhi Heights (Stardan – Alohamora) gathered momentum and soon wore down Fatuma and Creative Force close home. D Yes Boss completed the judges’ frame.

Tripurari went in hot pursuit of Angelita, who displayed plenty of initial speed to grab the initiative from the word go and almost pulled it off before Nikhil got Parmar’s candidate going. Tripurari (Stardan – Lake Huron) moved resolutely as Nikhil went all out and stunned Angelita in the last couple of strides. Star Racer finished on to be in the money whilst Plethora rallied late to figure in the final four. Favourite Maximum Glamour raced alongside Tripurari till the final bend but found the going tough despite Imran’s desperate efforts and dropped out of contention as the race progressed.

Trainer S. Sreekant also had a brace of winners – Dali’s Champion and Magnum. Apprentice Kuldeep Singh astride Dali’s Champion fought for the lead with My Master in the initial stages of the six-furlong sprint and managed to shrug him off after travelling a couple of furlongs from the gates. Three-year old Dali’s Champion (Dali – Lovely Senorita) led all the way home thereafter and won warding off the threat posed by Canterbury. Tortilla Chip ran on to be a faraway third ahead of My Master. Solar Princess played truant once again and came out riderless from the starting stalls. Inderdhanush took an awkward jump from the gates whereby apprentice Shivansh was unbalanced and dislodged from the saddle soon after the start.

Magnum was backed to the exclusion of his rivals in the concluding event of the day and the three-year old bay duly obliged despite facing stiff resistance from Precious Gift. Magnum (Smuggler’s Cove – Ascension) with Kuldeep Singh (Sr.) in the saddle raced alongside Precious Gift soon after the start and managed to overhaul the mare after a fierce duel in the straight. Calista Girl and Dali’s Destiny looked menacing in the last furlong but Magnum was steered to safety by Kuldeep. Precious Gift, Calista Girl and Burgundy Black finished in the frame behind the winner whilst Dali’s Destiny ended fifth.