Trained by Arti Doctor, six-year-old dark bay gelding Buckley (Phoenix Tower – Athens) stunned the piping hot favourite Trakila in the seven-furlong sprint for The Bullet Cup. Despite giving 7kg to the thus-far unbeaten three-year-old filly, big-boned Buckley left her standing in his wake. In fact, the filly could only finish a tame third – behind pace-setter Wonderful. Jockey Vivek had Buckley in a handy second position till the top of the straight where he took over the running and won as he liked. This victory gave Arti Doctor a double as her three-year-old filly Sky Force (Fiero – Ha Ha Tonka) made every post of the Cascades Handicap a winning one in superb timing. Jockey Yash Narredu had precious little to do on this brilliant speedster. However, trainer Arti commented after the race that we are unlikely to see her in the !000 Guineas.

Yash went on to complete a brace on Aashay Doctor -trained Aeropoli (Win Legend -Hauhaiwunai) who demolished the opposition in the seven-furlong race for the Moon Mission Handicap while conceding chunks of weight all round. The three-year-old chestnut colt followed pace-setter Avon till into the home stretch and won as he liked. Second favourite Dona Sienna was completely outpaced by the colt. Aeropoli was penalised 7.5kg by the handicapper for this smashing victory. The trainer commented post-race that he was pleasantly taken aback by the stunning fashion of his ward’s triumph and will take a shot at the 2000 Guineas next month when he is sure to be further improved. 

Yet another professional who completed a double was veteran Sandesh. Both his winners were available at nourishing odds of 4/1. He opened his account with Vikash Jaiswal-trained Elite (Fiero-Laguna Beach) who won the Aashna Handicap from the course favourite Lineupandcollect. Tracking the front-running public choice till into the straight, Elite lived up to her name with a creditable victory. Sandesh said after the race that she has the potential to win in this class again. The handicapper has penalised her 4kg so she may take a little time to gat back in the lowest class.

Sandesh later guided home Patrick Quinn-trained Dubai Princess (Gusto-Whistling Strait) to a facile start-to-finish triumph in the Multimagic Handicap. The vastly improved three-year-old filly left the field standing in this seven-furlong sprint. As she had strolled to a top-weight mile victory on the last day of the monsoon meeting, she has the best credentials till date to close as the ante-post favourite for the 1000 Guineas. As expected, the even-money public choice Finley struggled all the way under Trevor’s urgings to end up a far-away third. The other runners like Main Street and Forest Fragrance where outpaced by Dubai Princess. As is his wont, the astute trainer of the winner refrained from commenting on his filly’s performance though the owner had a few words of praise.

Trainer Rutherford Alford’s All Time Legend (Top Class – Angeling) quite easily accounted for the opposition in the five-and-half furlong sprint for the Comedy Of Errors Handicap. The six-year-old was eased up long way from home by Imran Chisty and escaped with a 3.5kg penalty which still keeps him in the same class.