Having played second fiddle to Juliette last year, Adhirajsingh Jodha’s ward Dyf gave a lion-hearted performance to claim the honours in this year’s edition of the CN Wadia Gold Cup (Gr.2) on Sunday. Rasputin surged into the lead as the field of eleven (Dash refused to take off from the gates) set sail for the mile and half journey with High Command, Golden Kingdom and Tiepolo following him while Dyf raced in company of Evaldo at the tail end. High Command took charge of the running a furlong after passing the halfway mark and was the first one to enter the home stretch. Pyrite improved rapidly to take the shortest route home and slipped into the lead at the two-furlong marker. Meanwhile, Trevor Patel got busy on Dyf and brought the grey gelding into contention with a steady gallop on the outside with Duke of Tuscany also getting stronger at this juncture. Pyrite lugged out after leading for half a furlong and, in the process, conceded the lead to Duke of Tuscany who had Dyf ranging alongside and both of them were locked in an intense battle for supremacy in the last furlong. Trevor’s experience and Dyf’s tenacity proved crucial as the latter not only tamed Duke of Tuscany but also survived the late charge of Pyrite who, motivated by Sandesh’s never-say-die attitude, came with a second run but the winning post arrived a bit too soon for her comfort. Pyrite went down by a long-neck to six-year old Dyf (Cougar Mountain – Soak) whilst a head behind finished Duke of Tuscany in the third spot. Evaldo tracked Dyf into the straight but the David Allan-ridden seven-year old failed to raise a winning gallop despite being in strong contention in the last furlong and half and finished fourth, half-length away from Duke of Tuscany.
 
A similar effort from Trevor had earlier inspired another six-year old equine Siege Courageous to unravel a gallant display in the Maharaja Sir Harisinghji Trophy (Gr.3) run over a mile which enabled the Prasanna Kumar trainee to avenge his defeat at the hands of Once You Go Black in the Rusi Patel Trophy run over an identical distance on the Indian Derby day. Knotty Charmer was taken on a pillar-to-post mission by Antony Raj and had A Star Is Born in hot pursuit with Siege Courageous not too far behind. Knotty Charmer led the eight-horse field into the straight but struggled for survival as A Star Is Born and Siege Courageous were closing in on him inside the final two furlongs. However, it was Siege Courageous (Top Class – Golden Queen) who wore down Knotty Charmer in the last hundred metres and then showed enough grit to repel the onslaught of Once You Go Black, who started to cover ground from the rear in the straight, and A Star Is Born. A nose and half-length separated the first three horses with Knotty Charmer ending fourth, a length and quarter behind.
 
Shazaan Shah-trained juvenile Dedication scored a narrow win in the Bombay Club Multi-Million thanks to the strong riding effort from Sandesh. Earlier, the 15 to 1 longshot Juracan dashed into the lead and held the advantage all the way till the last hundred metres where he was collared by Dedication and G. Vivek-piloted Superstar. The force applied by Sandesh saw Dedication (Deauville – Devotee) steal a nose victory over Superstar, who once again came across one better but was certainly not disgraced in this defeat. Juracan, who finished third, could have done better with adequate support in the saddle as Shrikant Kamble was all at sea when the race came to a boil. Caradoc raced prominently behind Juracan till after entering the straight but failed to quicken and ran fourth eventually.
 
The three-year old bay filly Social Butterfly, hailing from Dallas Todywalla’s yard, was easily the most impressive winner of the day when lifting the Poonawalla Stud Farms Auction Sale Stakes, which was reserved for horses bred at the Poonawalla Stud Farms. David Allan-ridden Social Butterfly raced in the fourth position as Rafael led in the initial stages of the six-furlong trip with All For Love and Phantasmique racing close on the heels of the leader. Social Butterfly was still travelling on the bit when Allan released the brakes on the filly, who swooped down on Rafael and went sailing into the lead. The winner was sighted a long way away from home as Social Butterfly (Excellent Art – Lady Danehill) trounced her opponents of which All For Love managed to take the runner-up berth ahead of Tyrannus and Victorious Omen. The odds against pre-race favourite Charismatic, the challenger from Bangalore, went astray in the betting ring and the colt ran hopelessly before finishing seventh.
 
Aman Hussain-saddled Goddes of Dawn very nearly pulled off an upset win with a speedy display in the Ahead of My Time Million. Mustakim Alam-piloted ran like a scalded cat from the gates and was a winner at every stage of the six-furlong sprint till Quicker got into his stride. Apprentice Bharath Singh rode Quicker (Speaking of Which – Quaker Ridge) vigorously as he chased the winner in the straight following which the colt lengthened his strides in the shadow of the winning post to beat Goddes of Dawn by a length. The Athabasca ran on from the last position to be third whilst Win Win took the fourth spot. Favourite Vincero burst his blood vessels during the race and ran fifth in the six-horse field.
 
After dodging the winning post for over a year, HJ Antia-groomed Sussing finally had his say when he earned a bracket in the day’s curtain raiser. Sussing improved gradually from the mid-bunch to be within striking distance of the leaders when the heads turned for home. Antony Raj brought Sussing (Sussex – Safe Keeping) through the shortest way home to tackle front-runner Lightning Blaze and kicked on gamely to triumph over his younger rivals. Red Merlot, Lightning Blaze and Sorrento Secret followed him home. Taabir and Miss Magic were fancied ahead of their rivals but both failed to live up to the expectation. On being scoped at the request of her trainer after the race, Miss Magic is reported to have suffered internal bleeding during the race.
 
The Millenium Force was backed down to even-money in the concluding event of the season and the PS Chouhan-trained favourite gave no anxious moments to his followers. The Millenium Force raced in the rear pack as Medusa went on a fast clip after snatching the lead from You shortly after the start for the seven-furlong event. Sandesh gave The Millenium Force his head soon after the field straightened for home and the favourite started devouring ground with stride to range alongside Medusa in the last furlong. The Millenium Force (Air Support – Sovetskaya) had no difficulty in overhauling Medusa as he was full of running towards the end and was soon home and dry. Medusa retained the runner-up position whilst You and Flashing Famous took the third and fourth berth respectively. Sandesh thus equalled the number of wins registered by his arch-rival Trevor but was declared champion on the basis of having ridden a higher number of second placed horses.
 
 Champions List:
 
Champion Owner: Five Star Shipping Co. Pvt. Ltd.
 
Champion Trainer: Pesi Shroff
 
Champion Jockey: A. Sandesh
 
Champion apprentice jockey: Aditya Waydande
 
Champion apprentice jockey claiming allowing: Aditya Waydande
 
Champion Stud Farm: Usha Stud Farms