“Form is temporary, class is permanent,” is a widely held belief that came true in the case of jockey Trevor Patel, who regaled the spectators with a fantastic display of his artistry in the saddle at the Mahalaxmi racecourse on Sunday. Trevor, who rode 14 winners from 66 mounts during the current Mumbai season, was the man of the moment as he steered five winners from an equal amount of engagements. Interestingly, there was not one first favourite among his successful mounts.

Digressing from Trevor’s achievement for a while, trainer Narendra Lagad’s ward Coeur De Lion was given a smart ride by the talented upcoming rider Mustakim Alam when annexing the Seth Ramnath Daga Trophy. S. Saqlain-ridden Pride’s Angel was the favourite to win the three-horse event as he enjoyed a handicap advantage over Coeur De Lion. However, Mustakim displayed good judgement of pace astride top-weighted Coeur De Lion, which proved to be decisive during the climax. Coeur De Lion went surging into the lead as the gates flew open but Mustakim did not allow him to tear away from his rivals and ensured that his mount didn't spend all his energy in the early phase itself. Pride’s Angel lay third till the bend and then overtook Baby Bazooka to launch his assault. With every stride he took, it appeared that Pride’s Angel would overhaul the front runner. But Mustakim got a splendid response from Coeur De Lion (Roderic O'Connor – Sweeping Success) when he asked him to dig into his reserves to ward off the lingering threat posed by Pride’s Angel and eventually secured victory by a neck. Baby Bazooka ended a tame third.

Saqlain soon made amends for his twin failures astride Divine Intuition and Pride’s Angel when Pesi Shroff-schooled El Greco gave him an armchair ride to victory in the mile-long Cursetjee Dhunjishaw Trophy. Shroff’s decision to run El Greco in the higher class following his two consecutive failures in Class IV paid off as it helped the bay gelding to record his second career success. El Greco (Multidimensional – Alice Springs) went sailing into the lead from the barriers and was a winner at every stage of the mile journey. Joint favourite Golden Glow found the weight a stopper and failed to improve after racing in close attendance of the winner alongside Own Voice till the race came to a boil. Empower put in a strong run in the straight to finish runner-up, half length in front of Golden Glow whilst Own Voice ended fourth. Kariena failed to get a clear run as the field turned for home and could not make any headway thereafter as she ran fifth.

Back to Trevor’s feat, the champion rider tasted his first success of the day when he steered Shazaan Shah groomed Eloquent to his maiden win. Favourite Divine Intuition seized the early initiative in his start to finish bid but was overwhelmed in the final lap by Eloquent (Speaking of Which –Aunty Kathryn), who was racing in the mid-bunch till the last furlong. Eloquent finished on powerfully when alerted by Trevor and stretched out well to register a convincing win. Divine Intuition, Adonis and Talking Point followed the winner home and were in close proximity of each other when finishing in that order.

Shroff-mentored three-year old colt Tiepolo, who is by Cougar Mountain out of the Jacqueline, produced a sensational run when set alight by Trevor and pegged back Baklava in the shadow of the winning post. Tiepolo, who had ended down the field behind Break Point on debut, was neglected in the bookies ring as his stable-mate Vincero attracted majority of the betting in the Jimmy Bharucha Trophy, which wore an open look. Saqlain-piloted Quicker grabbed the lead in the early stages of the race and had Baklava, Redouble and Vincero in pursuit while Secret To Success, Alacrity and Tiepolo rambled in the rear. Baklava was spurred by Mustakim to tackle Quicker in the final furlong even as Redouble and Vincero were trying to make their presence felt. Tiepolo, in the meanwhile, started to gain ground as Trevor applied pressure and finished with a flourish in the dying moments of the race to nail Baklava near the wire. Vincero, who reportedly bled during the race, ended third ahead of Quicker.

Trevor’s next winner came through Malesh Narredu trained New Dimension, who simply outclassed her opponents including favourite Reminiscence in the Byram N. Jeejeebhoy Trophy. New Dimension raced unconcerned in the rear pack but was well in touch with the front-runners headed by speedy Soup And Sandwich, who shot into the lead soon after the start. Reminiscence and Ataash were positioned close on the haunches of the leader with Buckley, Dexa and New Dimension not too far away. Soup And Sand began losing steam shortly after the field straightened for home and it was Ataash, who gathered momentum while Reminiscence failed to step up the pace when alerted to her task by jockey G. Vivek. Just when Ataash gained the upper hand over Soup And Sandwich, both Dexa and New Dimension started their rally. However, New Dimension responded gallantly to Trevor’s call and put in a spirited run to go storming into the lead with just under a furlong left for her destination. Malesh’s protégé then sped away en route her fourth  success this season and the fifth of her career overall. Ataash ended second with Reminiscence finishing third ahead of Dexa.

As the floodlights were switched on for the last two races of the evening, Trevor steered Galloping Ahead and Art Collector, both hailing from young Aman Hussain’s yard, to victory. Galloping Ahead (Roderic O’Connor – Common Wealth) won purely on Trevor’s superior riding skill which was on display when he vanquished Northern Singer and staved off Attained’s onslaught both at the same time. Apprentice S. Saba ridden Northern Singer seized control of the running shortly after the starter’s flag came down and, save for Whatsinaname, had several no-hopers chasing her whilst Galloping Ahead raced in the midfield. The eight-year old mare from Lagad’s yard showed no signs of weakening as the winning post came into sight but Trevor got Galloping Ahead improving with every stride, though under pressure, and was within striking distance of Northern Singer in the last hundred metres. Meanwhile, Antony Raj atop Attained also made steady progress and all of a sudden there were three horses fighting for supremacy. Trevor packed enough punch in his efforts in the final moments of the six-furlong sprint and Galloping Ahead’s flared nostril hit the wire ahead of Attained and Northern Singer. Whatsinaname ended fourth ahead of Hagibis, who let down a large following with an insipid performance.

Trevor ended his day on a high note when Art Collector (Roderic O’Connor – First And Only One) tracked Light Of Life till the nine-horse field entered the home stretch and then cruised past the leader in the last furlong and half. The bay gelding then cantered away for an authoritative triumph over hot favourite Kinzhal. R. Ajinkya piloted Kinzhal appeared poised for a strong performance as he raced in close contention of the leaders but he failed to make any impression when the rider reminded him of his task and was well and truly beaten in the end. Light Of Life finished in the money ahead of Luminosity. Axlrod, who was running after a long gap of six months, was second in demand in the betting but he faded out to be a poor fifth after running prominently till the heads turned for home.