Coming fresh after finishing third behind the Bangalore Derby hopeful Santissimo last month, the four-year old filly Tehani carried top-weight and favouritism in the Times of India Trophy, Friday’s feature event. Despite her superior credentials, SS Attaollahi-schooled Tehani went down by the proverbial whisker to El Greco in a finish, the last hundred metres of which were pure thrill and had the spectators on the edge till the two horses went past the winning post. Alpine Star snatched the lead from Fortunate Son after the initial two furlongs of the mile journey and wasn’t willing to give up when entering the straight with El Greco in tow. Tehani, who was already being ridden out after racing in the rear, joined the leaders with Akshay Kumar having to bring her five-six horses wide into the straight. On entering the home stretch, S. Saqlain had El Greco off the bridle and was relentless astride the dark bay gelding whom he had successfully steered start-to-finish at Mahalaxmi earlier. The favourite joined the fray with Alpine Star and El Greco whilst Vincent Van Gogh, though looking set to make his presence felt, was done in for want of a free passage. As the race was coming to its climax, both Tehani and El Greco put Alpine Star behind and the first-named nosed ahead briefly. But El Greco’s last surge when driven with renewed vigour by Saqlain, snuffed out Tehani’s gallant effort. Pesi Shroff-saddled El Greco (Multidimensional – Alice Springs) was bred at the Usha Stud Farms and is co-owned by Mr & Mrs Vijay B. Shirke, Mr Khushroo N. Dhunjibhoy, Ms Anosha Meyers and Mr Berjis Minoo Desai.
 
MK Jadhav-groomed Fighton made ample amends for his previous failure when going out as the shortest priced runner of the day and claimed the Racingpulse.in Trophy without much ado. NS Parmar got Fighton to seize the initiative easily as the small field of five took off over the six-furlong journey and made every post a winning one. Malet Spring showed some spunk in chasing Fighton but found him a tough nut to crack. Eloquent failed to accelerate in the straight and ran a disappointing fourth behind Lord And Master.
 
With form horses dominating the proceedings, punters went home a happy lot. Veteran professional Imtiaz Sait led in a pair of winners through Big Red and Treat. The betting for the Indiarace.com Trophy centred around Big Red, Angelo and Eaton Square, who had finished in that order behind winner The Panther earlier this month with the last two named, surprisingly, receiving majority support in the bookies’ ring. Both Eaton Square and Big Red were sluggish at the start but the latter was swift to recover and join Angelo, who was settled behind leader Chat and Giant King. It seemed that jockey G. Vivek astride Angelo had made up his mind to stay towards the inner rails and not to make a move in accordance with any situation, which ruined the chances of Shroff’s ward in the end. Despite Angelo being overtaken first by Big Red and later Eaton Square, Vivek showed no urgency in launching his assault. He finally switched gears when the field was about to turn for the final run-in only to find Giant King, who was dropping back, denying him a clear run. Angelo lost momentum in the process as he had to be steadied. Meanwhile, Akshay-powered Big Red swooped down on Chat soon after the heads turned for home and was already in the comfort zone by the time Eaton Square or Angelo could pose any danger. Big Red (Speaking Of Which – La Dona) drew away from the pack to win by over five lengths whilst Eaton Square finished runner-up. Angelo ran a tame third ahead of Regal Command.
 
After she had finished second behind Spanish Eyes on the opening day, Sait once again pitted the three-year old filly Treat in Class IV company where she lived up to the promise shown in her previous essay. Neeraj Rawal settled Treat within striking distance of leader Gimme and owner-mate Disciplined and easily slipped into the lead when turning for home. Soon, Treat (Moonlight Magic – Plum Sugar) scampered home for her second career success though veering out under pressure close home, Black Thunder made a futile bid to catch Treat in the straight and ended second ahead of Rush, who raised some hope when she came charging down the straight but failed to quicken further and finished a nose behind the runner-up. The General finished a faraway fourth. Top-weighted Bugatti, who was running after a long lay-off, graced the wrong end of the field and was not unduly pressed when finishing alongside The General, Gimme and Chieftan.
 
Adhirajsingh Jodha’s trainee Escape Velocity was backed to the exclusion of her rivals in the Hindu Trophy, a six-furlong event for maiden juveniles and she justified her favouritism with a pillar-to-post victory. Jockey A. Sandesh hit the front with Escape Victory (Leitir Mor – Flaming Martini) soon after the jump out and cantered home to achieve his maiden success. Ocean, also saddled by Adhirajsingh, led the procession behind the winner along with New Yorker and Divine Star.
 
The four-year old filly Moonlight Kiss from trainer Narendra Lagad’s yard finally found her mark in a five-furlong scurry for the Race Mirror Trophy, the day’s curtain raiser. Though endowed with good initial speed, Mustakim Alam-ridden Moonlight Kiss (Surfrider – Melinda) had to fight every inch of the trip till the last furlong with the long-in-tooth Moment Of Madness, who had the assistance of Sandesh in the saddle. Moonlight Kiss wore down her rival after being ridden flat out by Mustakim and kicked on to keep Khaleesi at bay. Moment Of Madness ended third ahead of Fantastic Flare.