The sporadic rainfall witnessed by Pune city on Saturday continued till Sunday afternoon, which led to steady deterioration in the underfoot condition on the racetrack. The RWITC authorities were forced to cancel the last two races following a heavy downpour after the main event. In fact, the jockeys expressed their concern about the track’s condition after the third race itself and were reluctant to ride after the conclusion of the fourth race claiming that the condition of the racetrack could endanger their lives. Somehow the jockeys relented after a lengthy discussion and agreed to ride which ensured that the SA Poonawalla Million (Gr.3) event went through.
 
Baychimo, who made a winning beating stablemate Arrived at Bangalore in July last, made a winning appearance here in the SA Poonawalla Million. Lesser fancied than both Zacharias and Ice of Fire, Nirad Karanjawala-saddled Baychimo raced alongside stablemate Encino, who surrendered the lead to Waitara over a furlong after the eight-horse field was flagged off for the mile event. A. Sandesh spurred Encino to the front when turning for home with Baychimo also off the bridely whilst G. Vivek struggled to find an opening towards the rails. Baychimo stretched out nicely in response to Antony Raj’s call to take control of the running in the last furlong with Zacharias moving strongly after getting a clear run. However, Baychimo (French Navy – Lady Sergeant) kicked on gamely to outsmart Zacharias by a neck. Gunsmoke finished way behind to be third ahead of Waitara. Ice of Fire failed to make his presence felt at any stage of the race and ended in the rut.
 
Suleiman Attaollahi-trained Mutual Trust, who played the role of bridesmaid in both her previous appearances at Bangalore, went wire-to-wire over the six-furlong sprint for the Villoo C. Poonawalla Million. Sandesh swiftly seized initiative astride Mutual Trust and showed a clean pair of heels to his main rivals, All For Love and Foxy. Mutual Trust (Dreamfield – Implicit Trust) teased and tormented both Foxy and All For Love through the entire home stretch before recording a comfortable win. On-money favourite All For Love was outpaced and struggled to gain the runner-up berth from Foxy before prevailing over the latter in the last fifty metres. American Eagle was a distant fourth.
 
The speedy duo of Dream Seller and Divine Star cornered majority support in the Excellent Trophy, a sprint event for horses in the highest class. Dream Seller and Cellini disputed the early lead till the latter had a slender advantage once the eight runners sorted themselves out after the start. Divine Star joined the front bunch after a tardy start but soon made a gradual exit from the scene. Meanwhile, Turn And Burn made rapid improvement when asked for an effort by NS Parmar shortly after the field straightened for home. The MK Jadhav trainee was soon racing abreast of Dream Seller whilst Christophany was held up for room behind Cellini. In his final dash, Turn And Burn (Western Aristocrat – Celestrella) tackled Cellini and hit the wire a neck in front of Christophany. It’s My Time staged a late entry to run to deny Cellini the third spot by a neck. Fast-finishing Son Of A Gun was fourth, again a neck ahead of Dream Seller, who had Irish Gold finishing an identical distance behind.
 
Entrusted in the hands of jockey A. Prakash, Pesi Shroff-nursed Bugatti scored an easy win in the Serum Institute of India Trophy, run over a mile and half. Bugatti raced close on the heels of Exuma, who dictated the terms till the field of four reached opposite the Turf Club House. Bugatti (Multidimensional – Moonlight Romance) faced no resistance from Exuma as he slipped into the lead and won as he liked thereafter as Black Thunder, Land of Plenty and Exuma were all left stranded in the straight.
 
Faisal Abbas-groomed Red Dust cashed in on the flop show produced by on-money favourite Ariyana Star and went on to score a narrow win over Etoile in the opening event of the day. Lightning Blaze showed the way to the field with Red Dust and Ariyana Star in chase with Zip Along moving up quickly to overtake Ariyana Star. Red Dust gained the upper hand over Lightning Blaze when urged by apprentice Aditya Waydande but found Etoile gaining ground on the outside. Meanwhile, Ariyana Star looked poised for the kill as she made headway towards the rails but Sandesh failed to find the gap he was looking for as Lightning Blaze shifted in and thus dashed the hopes of the favourite. Eventually, Red Dust (Roderic O’Connor – Only For Gold) warded off Etoile’s threat and held on gallantly to beat the latter by three-parts of a length. Ariyana Star ended third with Arbitrage rallying on to take the fourth spot.