Trainer Hormuz Antia-trained juvenile Expedite justified her master’s faith in his ability to tackle the fancied lot when laying claim to the Panchshil Million, the highlight in Sunday’s card for which eight contenders were in the fray. So strong was Antia’s confidence in Expedite’s talent that he readily entrusted the bay filly in the hands of jockey Prasad. Both the jockey and the filly did not fail Antia. The exit of the Adhirajsingh Jodha-schooled filly Substantial from the line-up threw the contest wide open and it was Divine Star, Nostalgic and La Dolce Vita around whom all the betting action was centred. As the betting activity resumed for this race, Divine Star witnessed some inspired betting frenzy in his favour as did La Dolce Vita whilst debutant Nostalgic saw his support waning . But none of three fancied runners could match strides with Expedite, whose chances were largely neglected due to the presence of high-profile jockeys riding the fancied trio.

A. Sandesh-ridden Aafreen, who had her blinkers removed and was fitted with an eye-patch plus a hood on this occasion, sped into the lead for the seven-furlong trip with La Dolce Vita and Nostalgic in close attendance while Expedite was settled in the rear in the closely bunched pack of seven. Aafreen led the field into the straight even as the fancied trio was off the bridle but La Dolce Vita and Divine Star failed to quicken and Nostalgic went in pursuit of the leader. Meanwhile, Prasad manoeuvred his way through the middle to enable Expedite to launch her assault. In the final furlong, the bay daughter of Phoenix Star out of Royal Gesture galloped resolutely under Prasad’s freely plied whip to overwhelm both Aafreen and Nostalgic. Before surging ahead in the last fifty metres, Expedite inconvenienced Aafreen, who in turn went on to Nostalgic who herself had earlier shifted in under pressure. However, Expedite’s supremacy was not under question as she eventually scored a convincing win. Aafreen landed the runner-up berth, a neck ahead of Nostalgic with La Dolce Vita and Divine Star following them home.

It was a toss-up between Bazooka Babe and It’s My Time for the King’s Ransom Trophy, an event for horses in the highest class which unfortunately attracted only three runners. With the scales in his favour, Dallas Todywalla-saddled and A. Prakash-piloted It’s My Time (Roderic O’Connor – Unforgettable You) zoomed forth as the starter’s flag came down and made every post of the seven-furlong event a winning one. Last-outing winner Bazooka Babe and Taimur, who was returning after a year-long hiatus, were both left chasing the winner’s shadow all the way.

That Dream Seller had retained the winning form following his maiden success under Pradeep Chouhan’s care was apparent when he gave another speedy display in the Dakshin Maharashtra & Goa Sub-Area Trophy. Dream Seller stormed ahead from the barriers and the lead he had built up in the home stretch proved to be a cushion in the end. The bay gelding tried to drift out not once but twice during the race but R. Ajinkya skilfully avoided a fiasco by exercising superb control over his mount. Dream Seller (Phoenix Tower – Maluku) stretched out gamely to crush the hopes of both Portofino Bay and the late-warming Dexa to topple him. Portofino Bay finished runner-up with Dexa a neck behind with Rambler and Bubbly Boy following them home.

Faisal Abbas-saddled Singer Sargent surprised his rivals in the Moosa M. Hoosein Trophy, having escaped the clutches of Opus Dei by a whisker. With the front-runners Winter Agenda, Lord and Master and Fontana failing in the attempt to get going after coming into the straight, G. Vivek-ridden Singer Sargent staged his appearance on the outer flank to wrest the lead from My Princess but he had to counter a strong challenge from Opus Dei as also Attained in the shadow of the winning post. The camera verdict went in favour of Singer Sargent (Kingda Ka – Proserpine) as Opus Dei lost by a short-head with Attained a neck away. Opus Dei did not have the luck of the race as he was caught in traffic snarl just when he had picked up momentum and again when he had rapidly recovered the lost ground. Attained was languishing at the tail end of the field and came with a big run when shown the daylight by Vishal Bunde after turning for home. My Princess was also not disgraced as she finished fourth after facing a rough passage towards the end. Fontana is reported to have suffered internal bleeding during the race which probably explains her poor show in this event.

Shazaan Shah-groomed Spirit Bay, who had a forward run over a mile journey earlier, slipped into the lead in the opening event of the day and was never in danger of being caught by her rivals enroute the five-furlong scurry. Apprentice Navnath Bhosale hustled Spirit Star (Air Support – Sangre Azul) to the front soon after the start and the six-year old mare was driven plain hands and heels thereafter to achieve her maiden success. The rest of the field seemed to be in a ‘happy to follow’ mindset and it was Reciprocity, who chased the winner all the way and took the second berth ahead of Fantastic Flare and High Heels.

Favourite Wanderlust from Hosidar Daji’s yard made amends in the Amjad Khan Trophy for his narrow defeat at the hands of Goddes of Dawn in his previous outing. Entrusted to S. Saqlain now, Wanderlust went in chase of Moonlight Kiss after allowing the filly to show the way in the early stages of the race. Moonlight Kiss had established a good lead after entering the final run-in and it took some vigorous effort from Saqlain astride Wanderlust to bridge the leeway. Meanwhile, Trevor Patel aboard top-weighted Eloquent gradually improved to be in the reckoning in the final furlong. However, Eloquent failed to chart a straight course and it was too late an effort as Wanderlust (Roderic O’Connor – Striking Beauty) had already overhauled Moonlight Kiss to hit the wire first. Eloquent fell short by a length with Moonlight Kiss holding on grimly to the third spot ahead of Supreme Spirit, who failed to gain momentum in the straight.

Aman Hussain-nursed Malakhi faced a mediocre opposition in the concluding event run over a mile and she won justifying the cramped odds at which she was quoted in the betting ring. Sandesh chose to bide his time astride Malakhi in the mid-bunch as Yuletide made the initial running over the mile journey with Malboro Man and Neilina in tow. Malakhi (Roderic O’Connor – Nostalgic Memories) was pressed into action as the field swung into the home stretch and quickly darted ahead at the two-furlong marker. Soon, the race was all over bar the shouting as Malakhi drew away for an emphatic victory. Neilina landed the second spot ahead of Marlboro Man and Yuletide. Midas Touch and Spiritual Rock trailed behind all the way and finished thus.