Bharath Singh-trained chestnut colt Kalki was the piping hot favourite to win the four-horse contest for the Deccan Bookmakers Welfare Association sponsored Alcock Arabian Million (Gr.3) but was outclassed in his attempt to register an encore. Entrusted to Surya Prakash on this occasion, Kalki, who had won pulling up in the hands of Trevor Patel on debut late last month, flopped badly as his start-to-finish bid over the seven-furlong event was brought to an abrupt halt in the final furlong by both Dapper Look and King Immortal. At this stage, P. Ajeeth Kumar-ridden debutant King Immortal slipped through the inside to lead for a fleeting moment but was soon joined by Nakhat Singh-piloted Dapper Look. Both these horses went stride for stride in the last hundred metres but it was K. Satheesh-groomed Dapper Look (Sedgefield – Song Dynasty) who eventually emerged triumphant and won by half length. Kalki was exhausted after his blistering run and ended a poor third leaving punters gasping for breath.

KSV Prasad Raju-saddled Great Guns was also available at cramped odds in the betting ring but he gave no cause for concern to his followers, who had backed him following his narrow defeat at the hands of Huntingdon earlier. P. Sai Kumar settled Great Guns, who was sporting blinkers on this occasion, in the rear bunch as Miss Little Angel was taken to the front by jockey BR Kumar only to run out of fuel in the final stages of the mile event. Great Guns made his move when the heads had straightened for home with Icicle and Nugget also throwing their hat into the ring. However, Great Guns (Phoenix Tower – Allied Cause) asserted his superiority with a brilliant effort and won comfortably from late-finishing Ivanhoe, who pegged Icicle to take the runner-up slot. Miss Little Angel got to keep the fourth place as none of the other runners, especially Hugh Capet and Nugget, showed any interest in making it to the judges’ board.

The six-year old mare Mireya, who had not tasted defeat in either of her four outings after migrating to trainer G. Sandeep’s stables during the last monsoon season, kept that unbeaten record intact by snuffing out N R I Sport’s challenge nearer home. N R I Sport, with Kuldeep Singh (Sr.) in the saddle, hit the front with apprentice Ajay Kumar-partnered Mireya racing in a striking position alongside Sun Dancer. N R I Sport stepped up the pace as they entered the home stretch with Ajay sending Mireya in chase of the leader. The daughter of Planetaire out of Win And Enjoy unleashed a powerful run and it appeared that she should go storming clear. N R I Sport, however, was defiant and refused to buckle under the pressure as he fought a pitched battle with Mireya. At one stage the former regained the lead but Mireya dug into her reserves and forged ahead to claim the honours. Delhi Heights was not given a punishing race when finishing in the money ahead of City Of Blessings. Favourite Miss Marvellous toiled hard after entering the straight but failed to raise any hopes for her supporters and ended fifth.

Trainer Leo D’silva, who is heading the trainer’s championship list this season, added four fabulous winners to his tally with apprentice Ekram Alam and Afroz Khan booting home two winners apiece. The half-money favourite Glorious Power (Shifting Power – Glorious Hymn), who is bred as half-sister to Huntingdon, got straight down to business as the field of eight jumped out of the gates and made every post of the scurry a winning one in the hands of Afroz Khan. Cannon Rose, who was in futile chase of the winner in the straight, ended a faraway second but well ahead of stable-mate Cherished Lady, who had Vital Sign and Newfound Glory in close tow. Vital Sign veered out violently under pressure close home while Blazing Saddle swerved alarmingly to his left shortly after the start and ran detached from the field.

D’silva led in his second winner through Malibu, who was second in demand only to Kenna. Ridden by Kuldeep Sr., Kenna exploited her initial speed to hit the front and had Adbhut and Malibu in close attendance. Ekram-astride Malibu made his move soon after entering the straight to assume command in the last furlong as first Adbhut and later Kenna shortened their strides. Before Malibu could breathe easy, Tripurari came with a menacing run to challenge the leader but the lack of adequate assistance in the saddle saw the MS Parmar trainee going down by three-part of a length. Pontefract was happy to watch his barn-mate land the spoils as he finished third ahead of Shadow Fax. The rest of the field seemed to be out for an airing. Kenna dropped back gradually to finish an inexplicable last.

Wind Sprite created a flutter when he made every post of the six-furlong trip a winning one and upset the applecart of favourite Miss Maya in the process. D’silva’s ward hit the front as usual but contrary to all expectations refused to fall back and held on gallantly despite the strong threat posed by K. Mukesh Kumar-ridden Miss Maya in the final stages of the sprint. Ekram was relentless astride the bottom-weighted Wind Sprite (Roderic O’Connor – Praise Of Folly), who probably gave the best performance of his career enroute his second success. Miss Maya may have found her weight a stopper as she finished a neck behind the winner. Colt Pistol ran on to be third while Star Racer ended fourth. Midsummer Star, who ended up as the favourite ahead of Miss Maya close to race time, failed to quicken in the straight and ended off the board.

The last of the quartet of D’silva’s winners came when Hurricane Bay made it two in a row in the concluding event of the day. Afroz had Hurricane Bay covered up behind a bunch of runners as Urgent made the initial running and handed over the baton to That’s My Love in the straight. Antidote was hard-ridden by PS Kaviraj in his bid to tackle That’s My Love and succeeded in the last hundred metres but Hurricane Bay (Planetaire – Midnight Wind), when shown the daylight by Afroz, unleashed a brilliant run to knock him over in the shadow of the winning post. Deccan Ranger took the third spot, a neck ahead of D Right Time.

The intriguing performances of Satheesh’s ward continued as London Bell showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals in a seven-furlong race for horses in the lowest class. RS Jodha-ridden London Bell (David Livingston – Shivalik Bird) drifted out under pressure but Jodha got him back on track and repelled the attack of favourite Tortilla Chip, who essayed her challenge from the inner rails. Special Effort ran a game third with My Way Or Highway close behind. London Bell thus tasted his maiden success in his 26th attempt.