The sparingly-raced filly West Brook was raring to go after an educative run behind Juliette earlier this month and she had her say in the Fair Haven, the main event in Saturday’s card. Akshay Kumar settled the chestnut filly in the mid-bunch with Alpine Star, Golden Kingdom and It’s My Time doing the initial running in pouring rain over the mile journey. Golden Kingdom had the first charge in the straight but the Suleiman Attaollahi-groomed filly was in full flight when alerted by Akshay. West Brook (Western Aristocrat – Sugar Bay) soon caught up with Golden Kingdom and skipped away under the whip to win by a length. West Brook recorded his maiden success in the highest class by neutralising the painstaking effort of the two seasoned campaigners, Mojito and Rasputin, close home. Golden Kingdom ended a close fourth.
 
Trainer Malesh Narredu, who has had an uncharacteristic lean season this year, got his first win through the two-year old juvenile Rosabelle in the Prudential Champ Trophy. The framing of this event of a blessing in disguise for the connections of Rosabelle as only four two-year old novices faced the starter and the fittest among them was Rosabelle. Bred as half-sister to the Indian Derby winner Enabler, Rosabelle (Planetaire – Rozene) was off to a fluent start from the gates and she showed a clean pair of heels to her rivals all the way before cruising home. Golden Dancer, Giant Gold and Among The Stars failed to make any impression on Rosabelle and followed her home meekly. Yash Narredu also got to open his account this season when steering Rosabelle to victory.
 
Trainer Adhirajsingh Jodha’s perseverance with the five-year old mare Fiery Red, who had last tasted success two years ago, paid off when she registered an easy victory in the Nitrous Plate (Div-II). A. Sandesh kept Fiery Red within striking distance of leader Daulat Mai but only till she brought the field into the home stretch. Sandesh then released the brakes on Fiery Red (Western Aristocrat – Cruising) allowing the mare to draw away from the mediocre lot racing behind. Nairobi ended second ahead of Spirit Bay, who was unable to hit the front on this occasion and finished third ahead of Mirae.
 
In stark contrast to the advantageous position he took astride Fiery Red, Sandesh aboard favourite Mi Arion may not have realised that he was riding in a sprint as he took some involuntary interference before his mount dropped back and could not recover thereafter. Meanwhile, the eight-year old Moment of Madness (Net Whizz – Crosspatch) darted ahead and won untroubled in the opening event of the day. Rehanullah Khan’s ward was ridden confidently by apprentice Bharath Singh as she won convincingly from Lightning Blaze while Mi Arion ran a disappointing third ahead of Rising Power.
 
The day’s concluding event was called off by the club authorities due to heavy rains rendering the track unconducive for further conduct of the sport, a decision which the punters hoped had come a little earlier. The Hosidar Daji-trained grey mare Chat relished the underfoot conditions and left her adversaries and the punters both gasping for breath in what was supposed to be the day's penultimate event. Trevor Patel-ridden (Kingda Ka – Yellow Diamond) dashed into the lead shortly after the gates flew open and swept her rivals off their feet with a strong start-to-finish gallop over the mile and quarter trip. Zarak and Giant King were in early pursuit of the winner before Regal Command rallied close home to finish second ahead of Zarak. Booster Shot failed to gain momentum in the straight and ended a tame fourth. Favourite Multiverse, it seems, was unable to cope with the track’s condition and flopped before the race took a serious turn and finished sixth. Same was the case with Tiepolo, who finished fifth on his maiden appearance at Pune.
 
Adhirajsingh achieved a double when Pure for Sure finally showed some positive intent and floored the field of ten with a speedy display. CS Jodha aboard Pure for Sure (Phoenix Tower – Sweet P) seized the initiative at the start and made every post a winning one. The eight runners barring favourite The General lacked any sort of form to pose any problems for Pure for Sure. The winning post continued to elude The General, who was outpaced and ran second. Beyond Stars ran a close third with Mount Sinai completing the judges’ frame.
 
The stars were finally aligned in favour of Marlboro Man, which helped the Subhag Singh trainee to earn his cornbill in the Star Millionaire Plate, which proved the ratings given by the handicapper to be meaningless. Regardless, young Haridas Gore gave a flawless ride to the seven-year old gelding who, for once, had a trouble-free passage and raced well up with the front-runners initially headed by Northern Arrow and later till the bend by Away She Goes. Haridas gave Marlboro Man (Royal Gladiator – Moneypenny) his head as soon as the field entered for home and established a lead which eventually proved unassailable. The Flutist and Toofan ran second and third respectively. Mohsin ended fourth. Away She Goes decided to race well up with the pace on this occasion, which may have proved to be her undoing as she finished down the field after being prominent till the final turn. Neilina too lost pace in the final stages and ran off the board.