He failed to find his mark on his maiden appearance on the Pune track but Redefined made his superiority count in the SA Poonawalla Million (Gr.3) on Sunday. A. Sandesh had the even-money favourite well poised in the mid-bunch as Pyrite, Bashir, Spanish Eyes and Thundering Phoenix showed up in the front. As the field was about to enter the home stretch, Sandesh swiftly brought his mount into contention and powered him into the lead. Redefined (Phoenix Tower – Symi) was then egged on by Sandesh to stretch out and romp home in style. Yash Narredu aboard Dash, when coming way off the pace to make his bid on the wide outside at the turn, was taken out further by Mighty Sparrow. Dash put in a great effort in trying to live up to his name but Malesh Narredu’s ward was no match, at least not on this day, for the brilliance exhibited by Redefined and had to settle for the runner-up position. Spanish Eyes was third ahead of Bashir. Prasanna Kumar mentored Redefined is the joint property of the trainer himself and Messrs Ashok Ranpise, SR Sanas, Dr Thacker, K. Kamesh, Raj Shroff and Dr Ram Shroff. The winner was bred at the Manjri Horse Breeders’ Farm.

There was a dramatic start to the day’s proceedings as an apparent coup was attempted through HJ Antia trained Otello, the five-year old who had finished only once on the board in nine career starts. Otello was entrusted to jockey R. Shelar who, in one of the two successes he had achieved in the last three years or so, had landed the spoils in a similar attempt for the same owners in January last at Mumbai. Interestingly, Prince Igor from Narendra Lagad’s stables, who is partly owned by one of the owners of Otello, was the prime favourite before smart money started flowing in the direction of Antia’s ward. Imagine the scenario where the odds of a horse ridden by Sandesh start going astray in the betting ring and the one ridden by Shelar being backed down to favouritism! No wonder horse-racing is labelled as a mug’s game. Be that as it may, Otello went straight down to business when the gates opened for the six furlong event with Reciprocity and Prince Igor in close attendance. Contrary to the expectations that Otello would be coasting home, the favourite was overpowered by Prince Igor, who was driven vigorously in the final run-in by Sandesh. Prince Igor (Basem – Double Diamond) kicked on to earn his third career success by warding off Anoushka. Moment Of Madness ended in the money as Otello plodded to finish an embarrassing fourth.

The six-year old mare Baby Bazooka, who had failed to earn a bracket for over two years, found her way to the winner’s enclosure immediately after migrating to Altamash Ahmed’s stables. Sandesh showed no haste astride Baby Bazooka and settled her on the heels of favourite Irish Gold and Cellini who disputed the lead in the early stages of the Excellent Trophy, a six-furlong event contested by a four-horse field. Cellini held a narrow advantage over Irish Gold, Baby Bazooka and Bubbly Boy till he brought them into the home stretch. Irish Gold headed the field when Akshay Kumar released the brakes as the field straightened for home but failed to sustain the advantage as Baby Bazooka displayed a remarkable turn of foot in the final furlong. Baby Bazooka (Kingda Ka – Bullseye) wore down the favourite and it took just a couple of backhanders from Sandesh for her to draw away from Irish Gold. Navnath Bhosale-ridden Bubbly Boy tried to take the non-existent opening between the inner rails and Irish Gold which stalled his progress but despite recovering well he could only finish third, a short-head behind the runner-up whilst Cellini ended last.

After his back-to-back double, Sandesh ended second best in the next two races which were claimed by rank outsiders. Sandesh-partnered Multiverse found himself in the front as the eight runners took off from the barriers for the Serum Institute of India Trophy run over the derby distance. Multiverse led till Gangster decided to take charge just before the halfway mark and as Multiverse took the backseat, Cape Wickham, Zarak and Bugatti drew parallel to each other when approaching the final turn. Zarak and Bugatti hit the front on entering the final stretch even as Regal Command started to gain ground while Sandesh made an adventurous move in switching lanes towards the rails. Multiverse failed to quicken at this stage and it was Karthik Ganapathy-nurtured Regal Command who stole a march after being driven out by Bhawani Singh. The lead established by Regal Command (Saamidd – Reina De Mexico) was good enough to keep Multiverse, who came with a re-run, at bay. Chat ran on from way back to finish third ahead of Zarak.

Before punters could recover from the shock given by Regal Command, they were delivered another blow by P. Vinod-ridden Credence in the Villoo C. Poonawalla Million, the supporting event of the day reserved for maiden juveniles. Credence showed plenty of speed to grab the lead and had Wind Dancer and Cache in hot pursuit when the nine-horse field took off from the gates. Shazaan Shah-schooled Credence brought the field into the home straight but started to veer out and Vinod’s mindless use of the whip with his right hand extended her drift. Meanwhile Sandesh brought Fable wide into the straight and, in a bout of uncharacteristic frenzy, went across Knight Crusader and shifted in towards the rails in his bid to catch Credence. Fable collared Credence (Excellent Art – Maleficent) in the dying moments of the race but Vinod applied enough pressure to energize the filly and secure a three part length victory over Fable. Cache finished third ahead of Expedite.

Following an inspiring ride given by C. Umesh, Pesi Shroff-nursed filly Villanelle got up just in time to cut short the winning bid of Divine Thoughts in the Suraiya and Masoom Master Trophy. The three speedy customers Soup And Sandwich, Fast Approach and Esperanza led the field in the initial stage with Divine Thoughts and Villanelle close behind. When the heads turned for home, Haridas got Divine Thoughts to tackle stable-mate Soup And Sandwich in the last furlong and was being hailed as a winner when Umesh urged Villanelle for an effort. Villanelle (Admiralty – La Tonnarella) responded gallantly to swoop down on Divine Thoughts in the last fifty metres to secure a half-length verdict. Turn And Burn was outpaced in the early stages of the sprint and was hard-ridden to finish third whilst Baklava making a late appearance to be fourth.

Pride’s Prince from Imtiaz Sait’s yard floored his rivals in the last race of the day, running over a mile. Quicker, Psychic Star and Axlrod raced abreast when showing the way to the field while Pride’s Prince graced the wrong end. S. Saqlain-piloted Psychic Star seemed to be travelling on the bit when taking control of the running ahead of Axlrod in the home stretch but he lacked the acceleration to counter the onslaught of Pride’s Prince, who unleashed a blazing run down the straight. Antony-partnered Pride’s Prince (Excellent Art – Polished Chrome) went on to score a convincing win over Axlrod and Psychic Star following him home. Luminosity ended fourth, a distance behind the first three horses.