With only four horses in the fray for the KM Munshi cup on Thursday, supposedly the highlight in the day’s card, none expected the nine-furlong race to provide much excitement. Yet the battle between half-money favourite Golden Dancer and Tiepolo produced a thrilling climax. The field was reduced to three runners after Land of Plenty was declared a non-starter at the gates and it was Golden Dancer with A. Sandesh in the saddle who found herself in the front with Trevor Patel-ridden Tiepolo and no-hoper Exuma following her behind. The order of running did not change until Tiepolo stepped up the pace to join Golden Dancer shortly after entering the home stretch at the two-furlong post. Both Golden Dancer and Tiepolo then went stride for stride with the latter putting his head in front with Trevor trying desperately to keep his mount on a straight course as he started to hang towards the rails. Sandesh, meanwhile, showed remarkable resilience in driving Golden Dancer for all she was worth. Eventually, Tiepolo prevailed over his rival by a neck whilst Exuma trailed behind. As soon as he reached the weighing-room, Sandesh lodged an objection against the winner for bumping him multiple times in the run-up to the finish. During the deliberations, Trevor admitted that his horse leaned on to Golden Dancer, however, according to him, the latter had enough room to manoeuvre. Although the three stipendiary stewards opined that the judges’ placings should remain unaltered, the three-member stewards’ body chaired by Ram Shroff felt otherwise. When delivering the verdict Shroff cited that Tiepolo had bumped Golden Dancer repeatedly during the finish and almost unbalanced Sandesh in the process therefore, he believed that the objection should be upheld. The other two stewards concurred with the chair and thus their ruling went in favour of Dallas Todywalla-saddled Golden Dancer (Deauville – Xisca), who was awarded the race whilst Tiepolo was relegated to the second spot.

Shroff and Trevor did not have to wait long to lead in a winner as half an hour later Jaandaar made an impressive debut in the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy (VI Bart) Trophy, a race reserved for two-year-old juveniles. Narendra Lagad-groomed Lucky Diamond, who was blazing the tracks in the morning trials, was installed as the favourite but the colt failed to reproduce that brilliance during the race. Mother’s Gift showed plenty of early speed to grab the lead when the seven-horse field took off from the barriers with Lucky Diamond in hot pursuit. The latter failed to quicken and so did Phantom Strike when the five-furlong event came to a boil. Meanwhile, Jaandaar (Earthwhile – Dance Awhile) came with a terrific run from behind to wrest the lead from Mother’s Gift about a furlong and half away from home and was then driven out plain hands and heels by Trevor on the way to his winning debut. Phantom Strike pipped Mother’s Gift for the runner-up slot whilst Victory Flair ended a length away in the fourth spot. Lucky Diamond dropped back to finish second last.

The first two races at the start of the day were won by Cornerstone and Harrison, both racing in the colours of Jaydev M. Mody. Relegated to the lowest class, PS Chouhan-trained five-year-old Cornerstone gave a mind-boggling performance as he thrashed his five rivals over the seven-furlong trip. Aditya Waydande-partnered Cornerstone (Quasar – Fantasy Queen) chased leader Ananya from the word go before sweeping past her at the top of the straight and went sailing clear for his maiden success. Alexandria tried hard to catch the winner close home but had to settle for the consolation berth. Baleno and Whatsinaname ran third and fourth respectively.

Miracle of Hanukah, though carrying top-weight was fancied to claim the Aristos Plate run over a mile and quarter. However, despite being neglected in the betting ring, Harrison showed a remarkable turn of foot to leave his rivals stranded in the home stretch. TS Jodha settled Harrison close on the heels of Machiavellian and Mysterious Stranger whilst Trevor-piloted Miracle of Hanukah dropped back after a fluent jump to race in the rear. Soon after the heads turned for home, Harrison pierced through between the leaders and soon Behram Cama’s ward skipped away under the whip to graduate from the maiden ranks. Miracle of Hanukah made steady progress from the rear to go hunting for Harrison (Quasar – Zana) but the burden on his back proved to be a hindrance and he ended nearly five lengths behind the winner. Little John finished in the money ahead of Chicago Chimes.

Karthik Ganapathy-groomed Pristine Glory, who was running for the first time after her summer campaign at Bangalore, showed no signs of rustiness as she flourished under the strong riding of CS Jodha in the concluding event. Merchant of Venice, who was entrusted in the hands of Trevor after his narrow defeat at the hands of Miracle of Hanukah at Pune, went out as the prime favourite to win the Rajasthan Royals Plate but the Adhirajsingh Jodha-saddled colt lost all his chances at the gates itself as he swerved to his left and took no practical part in the race. Yash Narredu-steered All For Love seized the initiative soon after the mile event was flagged off with Jackson, South Beach and Algonquin in pursuit. All For Love brought the field into the straight and stayed put in the lead inside the last two furlongs even as Allez L’etoile tried to catch up with her while CS Jodha applied pressure on Pristine Glory, who responded well to her rider’s call. All For Love made a gallant attempt to hold on to the advantage but Pristine Glory (Speaking of Which – Heaven Is Here) had warmed up enough to nail the leader in the last fifty metres and secure a length verdict over her rival. Allez L’etoile finished just under a length behind the runner-up whilst Royal Champ came with a late burst to be fourth.

Rookie Avinash Paswan achieved his first career win after he took Storm Cloud on a successful pillar-to-post mission in the six-furlong sprint for the Dr Jagjit Singh Trophy in which the riders were not allowed to carry their whips. Storm Cloud (Leitir Mor – Priceless Art) from Narendra Lagad’s barns took a smart jump from the gates and showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals with Paswan guiding him confidently on the way to victory. Favourite Silver Strike was outpaced throughout as he languished in the rear before gathering momentum in the straight to run fourth. Last-outing winner Applause managed to finish second, a head better of Escape Velocity, who raced thereabouts in the front bunch.

Trainer Vijay Kasbekar-trained Adonis made amends for his narrow failure against Untitled at Pune with a narrow win in the hands of Bhawani Singh. Apprentice Bharath Singh-partnered Impulsive snatched the lead from Untitled soon after the start and almost made every post of the five-furlong trip a winning one but Adonis played spoilsport. Adonis (Shifting Power – Ainra) moved well under the excessive whipping of his rider to overwhelm Impulsive a few lengths before the winning post. Between Friends was the first to challenge Impulsive in the final stages of the sprint but failed to overtake the leader and finished a neck behind the runner-up who was beaten by half-length. Untitled ran thereabouts to be fourth.