Twice or thrice during his current campaign at the Mahalaxmi racecourse, Son Of A Gun came very close to winning a race. He did pass the winning post first on the inaugural day but the race was declared null and void. In his last essay, when entrusted to apprentice Navnath Bhosale, Son Of A Gun ran all over the place before finishing second to The Protector and was later relegated to the third place following a successful objection by the rider of Amazonia. Son Of A Gun had thus failed to enter the winner’s enclosure for a year. On Sunday, Narendra Lagad-groomed Son Of A Gun had to contend with just two runners in the Bangalore Turf Club Trophy, which he claimed had to slog hard to beat Amazonia. Son Of A Gun (Top Class – Indian Serenade) hit the front as usual with Wall Street and Amazonia closely following him. The five-year old bay increased his lead in the straight but Neeraj Rawal-piloted Amazonia started to bridge the gap. The handicap difference allowed the mare to range alongside Son Of A Gun and it appeared for a moment that she would have her say. But both Mustakim Alam and Son Of A Gun refused to be intimidated by Amazonia’s belligerence. Mustakim’s never-say-die attitude secured a tenacious rally from Lagad’s ward who eventually asserted his superiority. Amazonia went down by half-length and had Wall Street over a length behind. If nothing else, the three-horse contest ensured that both Amazonia and Wall Street’s connections were rewarded by the generous stake-money offered by RWITC.
 
Apprentice Bhosale also gave a confident ride to the sparing-raced filly Portofino Bay, who had lost form after winning two consecutive races at the start of her career a year ago. Bhosale settled the Dallas Todywalla-nursed Portofino Bay behind favourite Goddess Of Dawn, Harriet and Fidato who raced in the front. Soon after skirting the false rails, Portofino Bay (Roderic O’Connor – Star Of Venus) was given her head by Bhosale and the filly gathered enough steam to mow down the favourite on her way to an overdue victory in the Ahmed I. Rahimtoola Trophy. Trinket ran on to wrest the runner-up berth from Goddess Of Dawn, who had her stable-mate Khaleesi finishing a game fourth.
 
Another rookie, Haridas Gore, showed nerves of steel when guiding Malesh Narredu’s ward New Dimension to a narrow victory in a tight finish witnessed in the Sportsbet.IO Sprinters Trophy, the day's concluding event. New Dimension, who found the five-furlong scurry a bit sharp when going down to Dream Seller during the Indian Derby weekend, sought to make amends for that failure as his master chose to run him within a span of eight days. Pesi Shroff-saddled favourite Lazarus raced alongside Esperanza soon after the gates opened but found himself in the front on sufferance when the heads turned for home, which was probably not to his liking. Before C. Umesh could steer Lazarus clear of his rivals, New Dimension, after being held up momentarily towards the inner rails, found the gap he was searching for and Haridas then went hunting for the favourite. Lazarus fought valiantly to sustain the lead but knuckled under the powerful surge of New Dimension (Multidimensional – Victoria Falls) in the last few strides. Misty suddenly dropped back after travelling a furlong or so from the gates and finished on to be third, a neck behind Lazarus. Superimpose ran fourth.
 
Earlier in the day, the on-money favourite Scaramanga from Nosher Cama’s barns carried the public purse to victory in the Sportsbet.IO Longstride Classic run over a mile and quarter. Finch led the small field of six as none of the other contestants were interested in setting the pace. Golden Glow and Own Voice remained in close attendance while Scaramanga was ridden off the pace, just ahead of tail-ender Regal Command. CS Jodha brought Scaramanga into contention at the bend whilst Mustakim-partnered Golden Glow burst into the lead after tackling Finch. Scaramanga (Quasar – Zana) covered ground resolutely to get the measure of Golden Glow in the final furlong and cruised away for an easy win. Regal Command laboured hard to finish third while Finch completed the judges’ frame. After running prominently in the front till the turn, both Own Voice and Zarak retired to grace the rear. 
 
Mustakim went on to achieve a double later in the day when he steered Imtiaz Sait-saddled Big Red to a relatively easy victory in the Amazing Mauritius Cup. Despite a sluggish start, Big Red raced in the closely bunched pack of five runners headed by Lion King with Gimme, Metzinger and favourite Alexandros in tow. Just before turning for home, Mustakim pulled Big Red out to race abreast of Alexandros. Big Red shifted in while making his bid and inconvenienced Alexandros in the process. Mustakim kept driving his mount to tackle Lion King in the last furlong and half and Big Red then drew away for his third career win leaving Metzinger, Alexandros and l ion King, who finished in that order, to fight for the minor places.  
 
With the experience of two runs under his belt, SK Sunderji-schooled juvenile Break Point duly obliged in the NM Irani Trophy. Nikhil Parmar swiftly hit the front with Break Point (Dreamfield – Sweet Caroline) and made every post of the seven-furlong journey a winning one. With Picasso withdrawn and debutants Equilateral and Tiepolo both off to a sluggish start, Break Point did not counter any serious threat on the way to his success though Expedite made an unsuccessful attempt to catch him close home. Break Point, eventually, stretched out well to brush aside that threat and register a comfortable win. Pyrite finished third ahead of Serengiti, who faded out after chasing the winner till the distance post. Equilateral languished in the rear along with Tiepolo.
 
As the summer season sets in, the participation in most of the events conducted recently has been sparse. The day’s curtain raiser, the Rajcoomar Gujadhur Memorial Trophy was literally “framed” following only three runners figuring in the list at acceptance stage. With two entrants added to the contest, well-bred Eaton Square got the opportunity to earn his maiden success. Neeraj-astride Malesh-nurtured Eaton Square (Multidimensional – Xisca) allowed Leo The Lion to show the way over the mile and half trip and went past his rival soon after entering the straight. The race ceased to be a contest thereafter as Eaton Square won without raising a sweat. The quality of the competition can be gauged from the fact that Eaton Square conceded over 11kgs to Leo The Lion and yet defeated him by fourteen lengths. There was nothing to write home about the other runners who were out for an airing for RWITC’s sake and got some revenue in return for their owners. Marlboro, who did not figure in the original list of acceptors, was rewarded with a lakh of rupees for finishing third, a double distance away from the winner.