Exceeding all expectations about his ability to succeed in graded events, Malesh Narredu-schooled Count of Savoy produced the best performance of his career in the AC Ardeshir Trophy (Gr.3) here on Sunday. Taking the credentials of the contestants into account, it was widely presumed that the finish of the event would be restricted to Northern Lights and Zuccarelli, the two highest rated horses in the fray. But the two equine stalwarts from Pesi Shroff’s yard were in for a major surprise from unexpected quarters. Count of Savoy was settled well up with the leaders Coeur De Lion and Golden Neil with PS Chouhan also deciding to ride Northern Lights in check behind them whilst In Contention running abreast. Chopin, Mojito and Zuccarelli played the waiting and ran in that order at the tail end of the closely bunched field . Yash Narredu aboard Count of Savoy tackled Coeur De Lion shortly after entering the straight and was driven out to establish a two-length lead over his rivals. Northern Lights and Chopin meanwhile started to close in on the leader and so did Mojito and Zuccarelli. Yash applied relentless pressure on his mount as the pack of four that included Mojito and the trio saddled by Shroff moved menacingly towards him. Count of Savoy (Roderic O’Connor – Lombardia) responded gallantly to his rider’s call and dug into his reserves to keep Mojito at bay. Trevor Patel-partnered Zuccarelli also looked dangerous as he warmed up to his task opposite the grand stands but he failed to generate the pace required to collar the winner and the runner-up, who were separated by a long-neck when crossing the winning line. Zuccarelli finished half-length away while Chopin edged out Northern Lights on the post for the fourth spot. Turned out in top fettle by Malesh, five-year old Count of Savoy is co-owned by Ms Farida B. Dubash and Rustom H. Vakil.

Half an hour earlier, another Malesh saddled longshot Star Prosperity showed remarkable improvement over his debut run at Pune and outclassed his thirteen rivals to claim the Kheem Singh Gold Cup. Ridden confidently by apprentice Haridas Gore, Star Prosperity raced in the mid-bunch while his stable-mate Light of Life showed plenty of early speed to come from the wide draw and call the early shots over the seven-furlong trip. With a little over two furlongs left to go, Multiverse took charge and led briefly after Light of Life threw in his towel. Just as Multiverse was busy repelling The General and King’s Retreat’s threat, Star Prosperity emerged as the fastest moving horse in the home stretch when given his head by Haridas. Star Prosperity was full of running as he breezed past Multiverse in the last furlong and drew clear of late-finishing Pride’s Prince, who pegged back King’s Retreat for the runner-up slot while Multiverse ended fourth. Favourite Kubric was a victim jostling a couple of times before the half-way mark and was thrown out of contention in the process though he was seen putting up good work towards the end. Runner-up Pride’s Prince was also interfered by King’s Retreat at the bend.

Reversing his strategy that saw his ward conceding weight and then going down to the maiden Christophany over a sprint at the start of the season, Shroff elected to pit Democracy against the older lot in the upper class where she would be in receipt of weight from her rivals, The strategy worked wonders despite apprentice Navnath Bhosale having to go all out to taste success astride Democracy. The bay filly took off smartly from the gates and led merrily till facing a serious challenge close home especially from her main adversary, Ataash. Trevor brought Ataash, who was conceding no less than 9kgs to the favourite, into contention in the final furlong and tried to overpower the filly. But Navnath refused to surrender and spurred Democracy (Aclaim – Choose) to a neck victory over Ataash, who was done in by the handicap difference. Majorella Blue rallied late to finish in the money ahead of easy going Dali Swirl.

In another tenacious display in the saddle, Navnath completed a back-to-back double in the day’s final event. He hit the front with Karthik Ganapathy-groomed Hela (Multidimensional – Fond Fantasy) and helped the five-year old mare earn the second bracket of her career. Hela was threatened by the late flourishing effort from joint favourite Jetfire but she successfully thwarted his spirited bid. Chieftain ran a close third with Sim Sim following him home.

Four-year old ‘Gimme, who had shifted to veteran trainer SS Shah’s care towards the end of the Pune season, graduated from the maiden ranks in the sixteenth outing of his career. Shah was quick to realise the futility of a hood and ear plugs, the added equipment that was fitted on Gimme last time out which had an adverse effect on the gelding’s performance. That equipment was immediately removed on this occasion and Gimme ran true to the promise shown in his first appearance with Shah. TS Jodha eased Gimme into the lead to dictate the terms to the small field and was initially chased by Lightning Blaze. Going into the final lap of the mile event, Gimme (Air Support – Optimal) encountered a dual threat from Arbitrage, who launched an assault from the inner rails, and Midas Touch who seemed poised to overtake the leader. But Jodha encouraged Gimme for a more determined effort and regained the lead to squash the duo’s hopes. Leo The Lion ended fourth while favourite Freedom ran pathetically throughout and never raised any hope for his followers.

Three-year old Exuma, who raced in the same colours as Gimme but saddled by MK Jadhav, carried the public purse to victory over the mile and quarter long VP Koregaonkar Plate. PS Chouhan-ridden Big Red was brushed into the lead after a slightly slow start and was in control till about the last half furlong. Chat, who was always in chase of Big Red, made his move at this juncture to throw his challenge at him. Meanwhile, the hot favourite Exuma, who was ridden well off the pace and raced in the rear till the heads turned for home, was put into top gear by NS Parmar. The bay gelding made rapid ground and came with a blazing run to topple both Chat and Big Red in the last few metres. Eaton Square ran on late to snatch the third spot from Big Red.