With an enviable career record that comprised of 11 wins from 18 starts of which 10 were over six-furlongs, there was little doubt that Adhirajsingh Jodha’s candidate Time And Tide towered over his eight rivals in the Zavaray S. Poonawalla Sprinters’ Challenge conducted at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse on Saturday. The flashy five-year old dark bay son of Dali out of Starlet, the broodmare standing at Mukteshwar Stud, was spot on to justify his widely expected triumph. Jockey A. Sandesh settled Time And Tide towards the inner rails behind Dream Seller, who waltzed ahead as the gates opened and had Magileto and Miss American Pie tracking him. As the field swung into the straight, Dream Seller fought hard to sustain his lead as Magileto was getting stronger with every stride and Time And Tide also making a forward move. Meanwhile, Constable was the one who improved well and took the shortest route home when Time And Tide vacated the space towards the rails. With a furlong left for the wire, Time And Tide was held up for room between Dream Seller and Magileto while Constable moved menacingly towards the rails. Sandesh got the opening in the nick of time and he spurred Time And Tide to the fore and despite his saddle having slipped about a hundred metres from home, the champion rider packed enough punch in his effort to vanquish Constable by a neck at the winning post. Magileto finished third just under two lengths behind with Miss American Pie finishing a length away.
 
Trainer Pesi Shroff dominated the day with a hat-trick, a remarkable achievement given the fact that his three winners were steered by three youngsters – apprentice S. Siddharth, A. Prakash and Navnath Bhosale. Shroff entrusted Chagall, who had twice lost when ridden by Trevor Patel, to the 5kg-claimer Siddharth and that did the trick for the five-year-old chestnut horse. The Suraj Narredu-partnered favourite Perfect Legend led in the first half of the mile trip till Mighty Sparrow stormed ahead and brought the field into the home stretch. Suraj renewed his bid astride Perfect Legend to regain the lead inside the final two furlongs even as Siddharth was cajoling Chagall to put his best foot forward. Perfect Legend surged ahead but Chagall (Cougar Mountain – Heather) bridged the gap with every stride as Siddharth rode him confidently and overwhelmed the Bangalore challenger in the last couple of strides. Kimiko rallied well in the closing stages but could only finish third, a short-head behind Perfect Legend while Grey Beauty ran on to complete the judges’ frame.
 
The bay filly Bishop, who is bred as half-sister to Constable, unleashed a sparkling run in the final furlong to stun well-fancied Vegatha in her last stride in the Zavaray S. Poonawalla Juvenile Multi-Million in which her stable-mate Solidarity went out as the prime favourite. Earlier, no-hoper Foxy showed plenty of early speed to call the shots with Lightning McQueen, Bishop, Vegatha and El Moran in hot pursuit. Antony Raj switched gears on Vegatha once the field had entered the final run-in and swooped down on Foxy to take charge of the running. Bishop (Deauville – Winds of Fortune), meanwhile, was forced on to the outer lane but A. Prakash remained unperturbed as he steered his mount zealously and had the measure of Vegatha virtually on the post. Merlet warmed up late and finished third, a nose ahead of Don Julio. Solidarity lacked initial speed and ran a close sixth after covering good ground in the straight.
 
The perfect placement of Jade by Shroff in the seven furlong contest for the Aakriti Art Gallery Million saw the filly romp home in style. Jade was given an absolutely flawless ride by N. Bhosale as the filly bided her time after stable-mate Celestial took control of the running and had Bashir and Coeur De Lion in pursuit. With just over a furlong left for the destination, Bhosale timed his challenge to perfection as he brought Jade to range alongside Celestial and surged ahead to put the issue to rest. Jade (Multitude – Majestic Opinion) won more comfortably than the official verdict of three lengths over runner-up Celestial. Bashir finished a neck behind Celestial while Ataash ran fourth.
 
Last outing winner Shirsa from trainer Sangramsinh Joshi’s yard proved too good for her rivals over the five-furlong scurry in the concluding event of the day. Jockey Prasad had Shirsa racing a handy third behind favourite Divine Star, who was taken on a start to finish mission by Sandesh with Mojo in close attendance. Shirsa (Sanus Per Aquam – Isotta) came with a devouring run when asked for an effort by Prasad to tackle Divine Star in the last hundred metres and got stronger at the finish to win convincingly over Divine Star, Mojo and Nelson River.
 
Earlier in the day, PS Chouhan-saddled Northbound relished the mile trip after his two forward runs earlier over a mile and quarter and managed to graduate from the maiden ranks at the ripe age of six. Northbound (Quasar – Pristina) made every post of the mile journey a winning one in the hands of R. Ajinkya and faced little resistance from his rivals. Yuletide ran on to peg back Crystal Clear for the second spot while Bohemian Rhapsody finished a faraway fourth. Zacapa broke down as the field approached the final turn and dislodged his rider in the process.
 
Subhag Singh-groomed Land of Plenty showed good improvement over his last run as he scored a fluent victory in the Open Spaces Million run over a mile and quarter. Floyd showed the way to the twelve-horse field from the barriers and led them into the straight with favourite La Dolce Vita and Doctor Dolly in tow. Inside the last furlong and half, Floyd surrendered the lead to Doctor Dolly, who flattered briefly till Mustakim Alam-piloted Land of Plenty came charging down the straight. Land of Plenty (Desert God – Dahlois) breezed past Doctor Dolly in a trice and was never under any threat of being caught thereafter. Luca took the second spot ahead of Doctor Dolly whilst Alexandros finished fourth.