The seven-year old mare Miss Marvellous unleashed a scintillating run in the home stretch to power her way to victory in 1 EME Centre Rolling Trophy. Hailing from the yards of Leo D’silva, Miss Marvellous returned victorious at the expense of her stable-mate Sacred Bond, who went into the nine-furlong event as a hot favourite after the withdrawal of Mandela. N R I Ultrapower dictated the early pace and had Role Model and Ivanhoe in pursuit. Afroz Khan-ridden Sacred Bond was racing handy in the mid-bunch while Miss Marvellous was in the bunch of three runners in the rear though not far behind the leader. Divine Destiny and Sacred Bond improved to close in on  N R I Ultrapower as Role Model and Ivanhoe receded. Just as Sacred Bond was poised to tackle N R I Ultrapower inside the last two furlongs, jockey K. Mukesh Kumar pulled out all stops on Miss Marvellous. The bay mare picked up momentum instantly to zoom past Divine Destiny, Sacred Bond and N R I Ultrapower in a matter of few strides. Miss Marvellous (Crimson China – Gamay Beaujolais) proved far superior to her rivals on this occasion so much so that Mukesh eased her up in the last furlong and yet finished six lengths clear of Sacred Bond, late-finishing Lady Danger and Divine Destiny.

Mukesh had earlier guided another D’silva trainee Quality Warrior to victory, a narrow one over Exponent, Challenger and Aerial Combat. It was Capital Gain who shot into the lead as the field of twelve set sails for the seven furlong journey with Challenger in hot pursuit. The favourite Quality Warrior lacked early speed and was settled in the rear bunch till Mukesh pulled him out from the inner rails. Mukesh then got busy astride Quality Warrior (Declaration of War – Firelight) to gradually move forward and swoop down on the leaders. Quality Warrior did gain the upper hand over Challenger but Mukesh had to go all out on the favourite to escape the clutches of runner-up Exponent, who came with a late run and fell short by half-length. Challenger and Aerial Combat finished close behind.

Mukesh achieved a rare hat-trick astride the bay gelding Siddharth, who was back to his winning ways after an unsuccessful bid for the Golconda 2000 Guineas. Srinivas Reddy’s ward ran prominently behind Best Buddy till shortly after entering the straight and threw a challenge at the leader who had all but shot his bolts. Siddharth (Excellent Art – Lavender Brown) was driven powerfully by Mukesh to stretch out and log in his sixth career victory. Favourite Strauss, though receiving chunks of weights from the winner, took a long time getting into his stride and could only finish second ahead of Best Buddy. Thanks ran on to be fourth, a nose ahead of Commanding Knight, who seemed to be in no mood to put his best foot forward on this occasion.

RH Sequeira-groomed filly Divine Prophecy made a winning debut in the Astonish Pate, the last event reserved for two-year old juveniles this season. P. Sai Kumar had Divine Prophecy racing close on the heels of Flying Fury, who seized the initiative at the start. As Divine Prophecy ranged alongside favourite Flying Fury in the last furlong, they both drifted out under pressure and almost collided with each other. After having steadied his mount, Sai Kumar spurred Divine Prophecy (Dali – Ice Fantasy) to overcome Flying Fury’s resistance close home and scored by half-length. Imperia ran a faraway third with Royal Parade following her home. Jungle Girl dropped her rider shortly after jumping out of the gates.

Sequeira had a back-to-back double when Watch My Stride earned a bracket after a year’s gap in the hands of apprentice Shivansh, who recently became eligible to carry a whip. High Reward called the early shots as the field took off for the Auxiliary Plate (Div-I) with Watch My Stride staying in close attendance in the fourth spot behind City of Blessings and Kingston. Shivansh produced Watch My Stride on the outside in the last furlong and half as he went all out to throw his gauntlet at the three front-runners and measured them with about a furlong left for home. Both Kingston and High Reward fought hard but Shivansh showed remarkable poise and steered Watch My Stride (Whatsthescript – Flamingo Fan) resolutely to contain both Kingston and High Reward and lasted out to win by a neck from City of Blessing, who made a renewed effort after having to switch lanes as apprentice Ajay Kumar could not get the desired opening between K. Satheesh’s pair. The rest of the contestants hardly showed any interest and seemed to be out only for an airing. 

Trainer B. Mukesh Kumar’s ward Carnival Lady lived up to the promise shown when finishing runner-up to Brooklyn Beauty and relished the extra furlong on this occasion. Abhay Singh-ridden Hero of the East, who ended last as a favourite over a mile and quarter a week ago, set the early pace and almost pulled it off in the Dynamic Dancer Cup run over a mile. Hero of the East’s stable-mate Sundance Kid went out as the favourite but he veered out when turning for home as usual and kissed goodbye to all his chances. Meanwhile, jockey Santosh Raj asked Carnival Lady for an effort in the straight and the filly came with long-ranging strides to humble Hero of the East in the last few metres from the post. Ajay failed to exercise control over Track Blazer, who drifted out alarmingly when the apprentice sought to make his move from the outer lane in the straight and ended up wide abreast of Sundance Kid. Track Blazer recovered the lost ground and finished on well to be a close third ahead of Exclusive Spark.

S. Sreekant-saddled maiden filly See My Attitude, who had Mukesh Kumar in the saddle, was backed enthusiastically in the concluding race. But it was lesser-fancied Dream Jewel with two victories against his name who scored a smashing victory over the seven-furlong race. MR Chauhan-trained Dream Jewel (Sedgefield – Night Dancer) stayed within striking distance of Canterbury and It’s My Life till crossing the final bend where Ajay gave him his head. Dream Jewel finished with a flurry to assume command in the last furlong and sailed away for an emphatic win. See My Attitude was hard-ridden to take the second berth ahead of Canterbury and Duck Hawk.