Although thrown into the deep after her maiden victory, four-year old Fontana proved too good for her four rivals in the Western India Race Horse Owners’ Association (WIRHOA) Trophy, a seven-furlong event for horses from Class III. Entrusted to apprentice Navnath Bhosale and carrying feather weight on her back, Pesi Shroff saddled Fontana (Multidimensional – Botswana) was beautifully settled alongside Liam as Winter Agenda and Majestic Warrior led their companions into the straight. Imran Chisty urged Liam to snap Winter Agenda’s mission in the final furlong but his lead didn’t last long as Fontana came charging towards him when Navnath set her into motion. The bay filly stepped up her pace and sailed past Liam for an impressive win. Liam kept the second berth with Winter Agenda and Majestic Warrior behind, Julius toiled hard without making any impression though he raced abreast of Liam and Fontana when turning for home.

Fontana’s barn-mate Angelo was expected to have it easy in the next race but the bay gelding seems to have a mind of his own. He drifted out alarmingly in his successful foray earlier and on this occasion, he decided to swerve to his left when the field took off and lost all his chances at the gates itself as he did not raise a gallop thereafter. Meanwhile, Chat shot into the lead and bowled along merrily in the front with second-in-demand Giant King handily poised behind. Chat came into the straight first but was collared by Yash Narredu-driven Giant King ( Speaking Of Which – Aster Rose) in the last furlong and half and soon the Malesh Narredu-schooled gelding extended the lead to record his third success this season. Chat came with a re-run to peg back Murwara Princess for the runner-up slot. Eaton Square ran fourth ahead of Dream Alliance, who seemed to be in contention when trying to come through the shortest way home. But Dream Alliance failed to get a clear path as Chat was dropping back and Akshay Kumar had to steady his mount and lost his stride in the process.

Shroff, however, completed a double when Constable found his way to the winner’s enclosure in the fifth attempt of his career. The well-bred four-year colt, who had found the winning post eluding him on three occasions this season, scored a fluent victory in the hands of Joy Chinoy. Madras Cheque seized the initiative soon after the gates opened and had Whatsinaname and India Strong in close attendance. Constable (Multidimensional – Winds Of Fortune) was comfortably placed behind the front-runners in fourth place and started to improve when the field came into the home stretch. Chinoy got Constable going in the last furlong with the colt displaying a good turn of foot to swoop down on the leader and skip away for his maiden success in style. Madras Cheque had to settle for the runner-up berth with India Strong finishing third ahead of Eloquent, who found his moorings quite late.

The two divisions of the Dady Adenwalla Trophy, reserved for maiden juveniles, didn’t go the way of the fancied runners in the respective events as first Treat made a winning debut and then Dulari shocked the race-goers by displaying an astounding improvement over her debut performance. The on-money favourite Knight Crusader, with Akshay Kumar in the saddle, went straight down to business as the gates opened and was a winner all the way except close home when Neeraj Rawal-driven Treat (Moonlight Magic – Plum Sugar) warmed up to her task. Imtiaz Sait-mentored Treat was racing just behind Ocean from the word go and came into serious reckoning in the last furlong. She stunned her stable-mate Knight Crusader just a couple of strides before the wire. Ocean ended a faraway third while Ghirardelli took the fourth place. Except for the first three horses who placed on the judges’ board, the rest of the field did not look prepared for the contest.

Amyn Merchant-ridden Dulari from the yards of Faisal Abbas had finished last in the sixteen-horse field when she made her debut in December last. But she slipped into the lead on this occasion and made every post of the six-furlong trip a winning one. Second favourite Fable was in futile chase throughout and Dulari (Tenth Star – Radical Attraction) had the race sewn up a long way from home allowing Amyn to repeatedly have a peep over his shoulders in the last furlong. The winner’s stable-mate Cinderella’s Dream finished third ahead of favourite, who showed no initial speed and languished in the rear before warming up to finish a tame fourth.

Behram Cama-schooled Ricochet was once again conceding weight to his rivals on promotion but that didn’t stop him from achieving an encore. Ricochet took a smart jump from the gates but allowed no-hoper Yuletide to go ahead as also Little Minister, who soon joined the latter. Little Minister grabbed the lead when the heads turned for home and held sway till CS Jodha applied pressure on Ricochet while favourite Mariana also rallied close behind. Ricochet (Quasar – Venezia) was hard-ridden by Jodha to gain ground and gain the upper hand in the last hundred metres with Trevor Patel trying to get the best out of Mariana. The filly did not quicken enough to tackle Ricochet, who notched a narrow win over late-finishing Stunning Visual. Ricochet, Stunning Visual and Mariana, who ended third, were separated by half-length each. Little Minister retired to be fourth.

Karthik Ganapathy’s ward Azrinaz finally came into her own and received a confident ride from apprentice Haridas Gore on the way to her second career success. Azrinaz raced in the fourth position behind speedy Fidato, Into The Storm and Mi Arion as the field embarked on the six furlong journey. With a little less than two furlongs left for home, Into The Storm and Mi Arion both overtook Fidato while Haridas showed good presence of mind to move away from the inner rails and brought Azrinaz with a brilliant run to overhaul the two front-runners. Mazal, with Trevor aboard, arrived on the scene when Azrinaz (Roderic O’ Connor – Maleficent) made her move and ended up chasing her in vain. Mazal had to settle for the second place whilst Attained took the third spot ahead of Mi Arion.

The seven-year old mare Rhythm Of Nature earned her cornbill when she made a successful start-to-finish dash in the six-furlong sprint for the Racing Journalists Trophy. Apprentice MS Deora atop Rhythm Of Nature (Kingda Ka – Leonora) managed to get a slender lead over Spiritual Rock, Tyrone Black and Sorrento Secret in the initial stages of the race and kicked away resolutely in the home stretch to provide her master SS Shah his third winner this season. Goomah looked dangerous in the last furlong but the mare ran erratic and went down by a neck to Rhythm Of Nature. Spiritual Rock and Tyrone Black completed the judges’ frame.

Narendra Lagad-saddled House Of Lords also earned some precious stakes for his connections when Navnath Bhosale guided him to a narrow win over Between Friends and Nobility in the concluding event. Lady Di made the initial running and brought the field into the straight but the mare shifted out under pressure, carrying House Of Lords along with her. Unfazed by that interference, Navnath got House Of Lords (Excellent Art – Mufradat) to grab the lead and lasted out to win from Between Friends, Nobility and Lady Di. The first four horses finished within two lengths of each other.