The holiday crowd that had come to witness the Pride Group sponsored Independence Million was treated to a thrilling climax with Booster Shot just about surviving the ferocious attack of Phenom in the shadow of the winning post. As the mile and quarter event was flagged off, Coin Empress and India Strong led in the initial stages while favourite Chagall and Alexandros ran in close attendance of the leaders. Meanwhile, Kimiko and Phenom were slowly off at the start. G. Vivek atop Chagall started to improve his position and took control of the running as Coin Empress and India Strong dropping back. Neeraj Rawal also showed some urgency and had Alexandros ranging alongside his stable-mate. Chagall had the upper hand coming into the home stretch with Alexandros in hot pursuit. Booster Shot who, after being ridden off the pace by Akshay Kumar, was swiftly brought into contention at the final turn and so was A. Sandesh-ridden Multiverse, who took the shortest route home. These four runners along with Kimiko were engaged in a bitter fight in which Booster Shot gained the upper hand whilst Multiverse was denied a clear run by Chagall. Akshay powered Booster Shot into the lead and hit the wire first, a short-neck in front of NS Parmar-ridden Phenom whose late burst did not bear the desired fruit. Multiverse finished third, a length away, with Chagall close behind. Sandesh raised an objection against Booster Shot’s rider which was over-ruled as the stewards’ did not find any merit in it. Imtiaz Sait-trained Booster Shot (Multidimensional – Fortaleza), who was bred at the Usha Stud Farms, is co-owned Girish Mehta, Mukul Sonawala and DR Thacker. 
 
Akshay went on to achieve a double aboard Fast Approach (Fiero – Findlerhof), who showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals in the last race of the day. Sanjay Kolse-groomed Fast Approach had obviously stripped fitter after his previous run as was reflected in his solid performance which gave none of his rivals a chance to catch him. Goddes Of Dawn took the second slot ahead of Fiery Red and Sentinel. There was steady flow of smart money towards Fast Approach whose main rival and first favourite Running Star raised no hopes for his supporters at any stage of the five-furlong sprint and toiled in the rear throughout. Indeed it was an inexplicable and painful show from Running Star, whose performance in a far superior company during the previous Mumbai season was too good to ignore.
 
Sandesh was in full form and won half of the races in the six-event card. He, however, started off with a close defeat astride Malakhi in the day’s curtain raiser. Nosher Cama-saddled Axlrod was entrusted to lesser-known jockey P. Vinod, who went out as a hot favourite after being backed with supreme confidence by his connections. Axlrod (Quasar – Shivalik Heroine) went effortlessly into the lead after travelling about a furlong from the start and was right on the money though he encountered a serious threat from runner-up Malakhi, who came with long-ranging strides in the final furlong. Malboro Man finished in the money ahead of Midas Touch.
 
Undaunted by his defeat astride Malakhi, Sandesh immediately registered a back to back double through Doctor Dolly and In Thy Light. The Faisal Abbas trainee Doctor Dolly (Kingda Ka – Jubilant) was settled in the mid-bunch as no-hopers Beyond Stars and Ready To Rumble showed the way to the field and brought them into the home stretch. Doctor Dolly stormed into the lead soon thereafter and cruised home for an authoritative win. Divine Hope was seen in futile chase of Doctor Dolly and had to settle for the second place. High Ground finished a faraway third with second-in-demand Seeking Alpha unable to accelerate after gracing the wrong end of the field. She ended a tame fourth.
 
Prasanna Kumar-schooled In Thy Light was the shortest priced contestant of the day and he went on to make amends for his last-outing failure after being ridden in workman-like fashion by Sandesh. In Thy Light (Phoenix Tower – Divine Impact) raced unconcerned at the back end of the field till approaching the final turn. Sandesh soon set alight In The Light following which the bay gelding put in a sustained run to divest Divine Thoughts of her lead in the final furlong and skipped away for a comfortable victory. Dream Alliance was sluggish at the start but recovered lost ground as the race progressed and, despite his spirited effort in the straight, finished second after failing to dislodge In The Light. Fontana, who was in a striking position till entering the straight, failed to quicken and ended third. Waikiki laboured hard to finish fourth.
 
Irish Gold provided Sandesh his third winner of the day but not before being stretched to the hilt by Dexa. Portofino Bay from Dallas Todywalla’s barns was installed as the prime favourite but his barn-mate Irish Gold received enthusiastic support and was backed down from 7 to 1 to 5 to 1 in the betting ring. Portofino Bay with Akshay in the saddle was very much in the hunt as he seized the initiative from the barriers and was in command till the last furlong. However, he caved in to the onslaught of Sandesh-powered Irish Gold (Roderic O’Connor – Irish Bailey), who surged ahead and kept going to ward off Dexa by a neck. Sovereign Master finished a game third ahead of top-weighted New Dimension, who was clearly short of a run. Portofino Bay ran fifth with Bubbly Boy, who was not fully stretched, and Outlander in close tow.