Golden Kingdom, who was overpowered by Regal Command close home in a mile and half encounter last month, had both the distance and the handicap in his favour in the mile-long RN Kanga Trophy which helped him make amends for that failure on Thursday. Entrusted in the hands of Akshay Kumar on this occasion by trainer Adhirajsingh Jodha, Golden Kingdom stayed on the haunches of Coeur De Lion while favourite Mojito and Son Of A Gun travelled close behind. Rasputin, who took off slowly from the gates, graced the wrong end of the five-horse field. As the field entered the straight after travelling in almost the same order, Akshay pressed Golden Kingdom into the lead and reached home unscathed. NS Parmar-ridden Mojito made his move and appeared poised to challenge Golden Kingdom as the heads turned for home but the MK Jadhav trainee surprisingly fell back momentarily allowing Son Of A Gun to go after the leader. Akshay, meanwhile, maintained the pressure on Golden Kingdom (Kingda Ka – Albeed) and steered him to safety. Mojito, hard-ridden by Parmar, came with a renewed effort towards the end but could only relegate Son Of A Gun to the third place with Rasputin getting to finish a faraway fourth after Coeur De Lion lost pace in the straight.
 
The four-year old bay filly Credence defied the stiff penalty of 7kg on promotion and thrashed her rivals in the TM Goculdas Plate. Apprentice Aditya Waydande-partnered Credence, who has never been ridden by a seasoned professional thus far, dashed into the lead from the wide draw and the young rider just had to ensure that he did not get unseated from the saddle. The daughter of Excellent Art out of Maleficent did the rest and scored a clinical victory over her seven rivals who, it seemed, were there to just make up the numbers to give the race a competitive look rather than pose any real threat to the on-money favourite. Jaydev Mody-owned and young Shazaan Shah-schooled Credence thus achieved her fourth success from just six starts by trouncing her opponents including runner-up Spanish Eyes with Aperol and Flashing Famous running third and fourth respectively.
 
With an easy run under his belt and the extensive preparation he was subjected to following his debut run, the chestnut colt Zacharias had no difficulty in graduating from the maiden ranks. Saddled by Pesi Shroff, Zacharias raced keenly in the initial stages of the seven-furlong trip for the Charles Forbes Trophy but jockey G. Vivek had firm control over him even as Trevor Patel took Rosalia to the front and had no-hopers Eleven Eleven and Tropical Paradise going in chase. Once into the straight, Vivek released the brakes on Zacharias (Western Aristocrat – Watchmyscript), who quickened well to collar Rosalia inside the last furlong and half and took some backhanders before striding clear for an authoritative win. Caradoc improved in the straight to finish runner-up, half-length ahead of Abhyankar and Tyrannus, who were going nowhere when asked for an effort by their riders, Neeraj Rawal and Antony Raj.
 
Unlike the tough opponents he faced in the Sir Homi Mehta Breeders’ Produce Stakes run on Indian Derby day, Aman Hussain’s ward Fourth Wing was up against a much weaker set in the AFS Talyarkhan Salver. Aman had Fourth Wing well-prepared for this outing, which reflected in the workman-like victory she scored in the hands of Trevor. Fourth Wing (Sanus Per Aquam – Centrestage) slipped into the lead soon after the field had sorted itself out and the bay filly made every post of the six-furlong sprint a winning one as Trevor kept her focussed on her task till the end. Bee Magical was always in hot pursuit of her adversary but she could not match Fourth Wing’s speed and ended up playing the bridesmaid’s role. Debutant Wings of Fury had an educative run when finishing third ahead of her fancied stablemate Rafael.
 
Last-outing winner Medusa was backed if defeat was out of question in the Edgar DeSylva Salver but Sandesh had to sweat it out before she could achieve an encore. The grey filly went straight down to business as the eight runners took off for the seven furlong journey and held a slender advantage over Alexandria and Fable when she brought the field into the home stretch. Faisal Abbas-groomed Medusa (Roderic O’Connor – Selfie Star) extended her lead when urged by Sandesh in the final run-in and managed to scrape through for a narrow win. Fable, ridden by whipless Bharat Singh, took a long time to warm up to her task and despite her late dash, she fell short by a neck at the wire. Alexandria failed to gain momentum when trying to collar Medusa in the final stages of the race and even had to concede the runner-up berth to late-finishing Fable. Ekla Cholo made no impression when rallying on to take the fourth spot.
 
The concluding event for horses in the lowest class saw Dallas Todywalla-nursed mare Sorrento Secret tasting her maiden success in the twentieth attempt. Apprentice Bharat Singh atop Untitled tried runaway tactics and almost succeeded in pulling off trainer HJ Antia’s smart gamble before being upstaged by Sorrento Secret. Between Friends and Sorrento Secret were breathing down the neck of Untitled in the final furlong, however, it was Sorrento Secret (Leitir Mor – Queen’s Guest) who responded gallantly to jockey A. Prakash’s call and slipped through a narrow opening to defeat the leader by a long-neck in a three-way finish. Between Friends finished third, a neck away while Golden Rule ran fourth. Lion King reared up awkwardly when the gates opened and although the Trevor-ridden even-money favourite soon caught up with the field, he could only finish a close fifth, about two lengths behind the winner.