It is not very often that a horse fancied by the punters obliges in the Independence Trophy but this year’s edition saw Pesi Shroff-schooled King Ke doing the trick. Substantial took control of the running as soon as the starter flagged off the thirteen-horse field and had Beyond Stars racing on his haunches with King Ke settled close behind. Beyond Stars overtook Substantial just after passing the halfway mark but no sooner had he brought the field into the home stretch, King Ke ranged alongside and eventually assumed command. Before King Ke could break free, Black Thunder loomed large on the outside. However, jockey G. Vivek gave King Ke (Multitude – Woman O War) a few sharp reminders following which the 2 to 1 favourite stretched out to keep A. Sandesh-ridden Black Thunder at bay. Nostalgia laboured hard to finish third, just a neck ahead of Bugatti.

Vivek achieved a back-to-back double with the Hosidar Daji-mentored filly Foujita in the Thanda Plate, contested by a field of eleven. Foxy hit the front as the contestants set sail over the five-furlong scurry with the on-money favourite Dreamer in hot pursuit on his outside. Foujita lacked initial speed and she was nowhere in the picture when the fancied duo entered the home straight and was engaged in a fierce duel. However, Vivek urged Foujita (Lucifer Sam – Enzina) vigorously and the filly simply flew in the last fifty metres to go surging past Foxy and Dreamer, who finished in close proximity along with Aeon Flux.

Veteran trainer Mansingh Jadhav may have failed with Dreamer but he did saddle a winning brace during the day. Turn And Burn, who was up against last-outing winner Esperanza in the BK Lagad Salver, stayed on the haunches of the speedy favourite till the last two furlongs of the scurry with the aged gelding Cellini close behind. Turn And Burn (Western Aristocrat – Celestrella) responded well when asked for an effort by NS Parmar and pinned down Esperanza as he finished on strongly in the last furlong. Cellini pegged back Esperanza, who seemed to have run out of fuel, to take the runner up spot. The other two runners in the field trailed throughout.

Jadhav and Parmar were later associated with the success of Kavya at the end of the day’s proceedings. The lead changed between Rafael, Maysara and Adonis as the field of twelve came into the straight with Kavya racing in the mid bunch. Kavya (Win Legend – Maun Vrat) improved steadily to be in the reckoning at the top of the home stretch and with little over a furlong left for the wire, the Parmar-partnered filly wore down Adonis to go away for a comfortable victory. Cinderella’s Dream made a futile attempt to catch the winner in the closing stages before finishing second whilst Scaramouche ran on from the rear after a slow start to be third ahead of Applause, who ran thereabouts.

Before playing second fiddle astride Black Thunder and Cinderella’s Dream, Sandesh rode Arrived to a facile victory over Caradoc in the Mayor’s Trophy. Arrived, who had finished an impressive second over a mile on debut at Bangalore last month, was the overwhelming favourite in the eight-horse field and the chestnut colt treated his opponents with sheer disregard in the mile and quarter event. Sandesh bided his time atop Arrived in the third spot as Caradoc called the early shots with Illusionist racing on his heels. On entering the home stretch, Sandesh switched gears on Arrived and collared Caradoc at the two-furlong marker. Arrived, who was saddled by Nirad Karanjawala in place of Adhirajsingh Jodha, soon tackled the leader in a trice and drew away from his rivals for his maiden success. Arrived (Deauville – Transformation) won sparing just under five lengths to Caradoc with Heart finishing an identical distance behind to be third ahead of Dexterity.

Ghirardelli was another winner saddled at the start of the day by Karanjawala who won in a three-way finish. Antony Raj settled Ghirardelli behind early leader Fable, Lord And Master and Shirsa till approaching the final turn and then let him loose. Ghirardelli pounced upon Fable inside the last two furlongs to take charge but found favourite Spanish Eyes hot on his heels. Antony went flat out astride Ghirardelli (Fiero – Bernice) as Spanish Eyes threatened him whilst Opus Dei came out of nowhere to join the issue. However, it was too late as the winning post had come to Ghirardelli’s rescue which enabled him to thwart Opus Dei by a neck whilst Spanish Eyes was relegated to the spot by a similar margin. Chardikala ran fourth.

Cascade from Behram Cama’s yard suffered a tardy start but the bay mare made remarkable progress to outsmart her rivals with a flourishing run down the straight. Last-outing winner Yuletide was taken on a start-to-finish mission by A. Prakash and Narendra Lagad trainee bowled along merrily in front and almost pulled off another win before apprentice Aditya Waydande made his move on the wide outside. Cascade (Quasar – Penny Lane) started devouring ground with each stride and was full of running when she scuttled Yuletide’s mission in the last fifty metres. Malboro Man finished third, neck behind while Silver Braid ended fourth.