“Fortune favours the brave,” it’s said and young Aman Altaf Hussain went by his instincts in entering his ward Magileto in the Dr SC Jain Sprinters’ Championship (Gr.2), a terms event for horses four-year old and above and also a pre-curser to the Indian Turf Invitation Sprinters’ Cup to be run next month. Aman’s immense faith in Magileto’s ability to match strides with reputed sprinters was amply rewarded when the bay gelding performed out of his skin, turning the principle of handicapping on its head on Saturday. It was certainly not the first time that race-goers were witness to such a phenomena, but punters were in a tizzy when the two contestants – Magileto and Democracy defied the rating allotted to them by the handicapper and finished one-two on the judges’ board.

Suraj Narredu-partnered Magileto shot into the lead as the gates flew open and made every post of the six furlong trip a winning one. Joaquin was in hot pursuit of the winner initially but lost pace in the straight and it was Democracy, ridden by Tom Marquand, who exerted pressure on Magileto in the last furlong. Sura, however, had the race under his control as Magileto (Sedgefield – Providence) stretched out to keep Democracy at bay. A length away was Joaquin in the third spot while Market King ended a poor fourth. When Magileto and Joaquin were disputing the lead in the front, Market King and Ahead of My Time were involved in a fight of their own at the wrong end of the field. After the six contestants had sorted themselves out, S. Saqlain-ridden Ahead of My Time shifted in slightly on to Trevor Patel-steered Market King. Far from trying to win the race, or so it appeared, both Saqlain and Trevor got into a street brawl of sorts till after the field had straightened for home. Market King and Ahead of My Time, who were the first two favourites, were simply outpaced. Coming back to Magileto and Democracy’s performance, it is to Aman’s credit that he had the former tuned for this appearance and earned the first graded race success of his career just a few months after being inducted into the sport as a professional trainer. Democracy was not disgraced in her defeat as she was most unfavourably placed on the scales in this event. Magileto is the joint property of Mr Solomon F. Sopher, Ms Jessie D’Cunha, Ms Veera D’Souza, Mr Ashok Ranpise and Mr Anil Saraf and was bred at the Jai Govind Stud Farm.

Four-year old Reminiscence, who had made a winning debut a year ago and was on the repair list till she had a lung-opener in December last, registered an effortless victory in the HPSL Punjabi Cup. PS Chouhan had Reminiscence (Leitir Mor – Memory Bay) racing on the haunches of leader Moonlight Kiss till the field moved into the straight. With about two-furlongs left for home, the even-money favourite from Shroff’s yard cruised ahead after Moonlight Kiss had shot her bolts and won convincingly in the end. Into The Storm denied Decacorn the second place while Flashing Famous ran on to be fourth. Art Collector was sluggish at the start and was brushed up to be with the front-runners before fading out to finish fifth.

Chouhan had earlier guided the Adhirajsingh Jodha trainee Multiverse to his maiden victory, a facile one for that matter. After tracking leader Alpha Domino and racing alongside Multiverse till the final bend, favourite Des Marquis, astride whom Englishman Marquand made his debut in India, started showing signs of distress and dropped back gradually. Chouhan immediately urged Multiverse (Speaking of Which – Manifold) to grab the lead from Alpha Domino and the race was all over bar the shouting. Chat came from way behind to edge out Double Scotch from the runner-up slot while Des Marquis ended a distance away.

Imran Chisty got a chance ride atop Malesh Narredu-schooled Bubbly Boy and he cashed in on that opportunity to claim the HPSL Rajasthani Cup. The winner showed a lot of improvement in tackling the seven furlong trip as he raced alongside Alpine Star and favourite Lazarus in a bunch of three which chased leader Ultimo. Shortly after crossing the two-furlong marker, Chisty wore down Ultimo to take charge of the running. C. Umesh astride Lazarus, who was held up towards the inner rails, was a trifle late in making his move. Lazarus started to gain ground on Bubbly Boy (Fiero – Bubbly Bellini) but the latter was ridden resolutely by Chisty to spurn the favourite’s advance and scored by a neck. Rambler, the winner’s owner-mate warmed up late to finish third ahead of Ashwa Magadheera.

Malesh missed a back-to-back double when New Dimension went down in an identical finish to joint favourite Dream Seller in the HPSL Telugu Cup. SK Sunderji-saddled and R. Ajinkya-piloted Dream Seller (Phoenix Tower – Maluku) seized the initiative early into the five-furlong trip and held on gallantly from fast-finishing New Dimension. Yash Narredu-partnered New Dimension was separated by half-length from the winner, who was ridden confidently by Ajinkya. Lord Vader and Divine Thoughts followed them home.

Trainer HJ Antia had a field day as he led in three winners and almost had a fourth one in the concluding race. The long in tooth Untitled showed that he has not lost the zest for racing at the age of eleven as he showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals in the five-furlong scurry. Despite his losing his left stirrup aboard Untitled (Sussex – Overdrive) shortly after the start and failing to regain it till the end, apprentice Navnath Bhosale showed admirable composure in the guiding his mount to victory and staving off the spirited attack of favourite Mojo close home. Moment of Madness ran on to be third while Champagne Smile was fourth after chasing the winner into the straight.

It took a year-long weight-reducing mission for Luminosity to reach below the mark where he had scored his last win exactly a year ago. The eight-year old gelding assumed control of the running from the gates and won untroubled thereafter. Prince O’War finished runner-up ahead of Toofan and Zacapa. Favourite Cascade, whose odds drifted after smart money came pouring on Luminosity’s winning prospects, was never in the hunt and ended a disappointing sixth.

The 20 to 1 longshot Sussing probably won out of turn and the outcome was not as intended by Antia. The mare won by default following the withdrawal of on-money favourite Ricochet at the gates. Ricochet hit the front gate while being loaded into the starting stalls and was declared a non-starter. Entrusted to 5kg-claimer S. Saba, who had just one success in his short career, Sussing (Sussex – Safe Keeping) held a narrow lead over Rising Power and Tyrone Black till the field turned for home. She extended her lead in the straight and won comfortably from Esfir, who improved from the rear to finish second ahead of hard-ridden Midas Touch and Mighty Wings.

Bhosale-partnered Hagibis failed to provide Antia with the icing on his cake as all his hard work came to a nought when Nosher Cama-schooled Scorcese (Quasar – Zana) scuttled his pillar-to-post mission and pipped him on the post. Hagibis did well to take up the running despite coming from the widest draw and was being hailed as a winner close home when CS Jodha brought Scorcese wide into the straight and drove him with positive intent. The bay gelding came with a devouring run to tackle the front runners and snatched the race from Hagibis in a breath-taking finish. Malet Spring finished in the money ahead of favourite Etoile, who raised some hopes in the straight but failed to accelerate.

Five-year old Adonis, who never hit the board in either of his eight career outings, provided his master Vijay Kasbekar and rider K. Nazil their first winner of the season. Adonis tracked the speedy favourite Mirae all the way home from the word go and put in a strong run to gain the upper hand over the latter in the last hundred metres. Arbitrage also made good progress but could only deny Mirae the second berth. Otello ran fourth.