Although the terms of the prestigious Thackers Eclipse Stakes of India (Gr.2) were not exactly in his favour, Pesi Shroff-saddled King Ke showed remarkable improvement on his current form to record a stunning victory. C. Umesh-ridden King Ke raced behind El Greco and Namiri after the former was brushed into the lead with favourite Psychic Star racing in the mid-bunch alongside Mojito. When the field turned for home, Umesh moved King Ke slightly outwards to take the gap between the two front-runners and then overpowered El Greco inside the last furlong and half. King Ke, whose last success was in a Class III event, galloped resolutely ahead to ward off the threat posed by stablemate Psychic Star, who seemed to have been done in by the weight on her back. Second-in-demand Thalassa, with Mustakim Alam in the saddle, was full of running in the straight when coming through the shortest way home but got momentarily stuck behind Psychic Star and El Greco and by the time she got a clear run, King Ke (Multitude – Woman O War) had the race well sewn up. Thalassa had to settle for the second spot, a short head in front of Psychic Star whilst Evaldo took the fourth place after finding his momentum quite late.
 
The second graded event of the day, the Rusi Patel Trophy (Gr.3), also saw lesser fancied Pride’s Prince make his handicap count to score a stunning victory. Akshay Kumar-partnered African Gold went on a start-to-finish mission as usual and seemed to be making it despite coming under pressure from his four rivals. However, though taken out by Santissimo when he had just started galloping in the straight, Mustakim Alam overcame that interference and brought Pride’s Prince with a flourish towards the finishing line. Imtiaz Sait-nursed Pride’s Prince (Excellent Art – Polished Chrome) lunged at African Star in the last hundred metres and went on to win by just under a length. Ravishing Beauty and Chagall finished close behind whilst Santissimo lost his way in the home stretch and ended disappointingly in the last position.
 
The Derby Day card of nine events had three races reserved for three-year-old juveniles — Keki D. Mehta Memorial Million, Sir Homi Mehta Million, and the Rattonsey Multi-Million. David Allan won two of them astride Alexios and Buckingham while Lady Scarlet was successfully partnered by Trevor Patel. Puccini from Shroff’s string was the piping hot favourite to win the Keki D. Mehta Memorial Million on the back of her impressive run on debut. However, Tom Marquand-driven Puccini failed to reproduce the same spark when trying to catch up with Radiant Reign and Alexios. Trevor atop Radiant Reign tried runaway tactics over the mile trip and had Power of Attitude and Alexios in chase while the other four runners raced behind. Radiant Reign held on to a slender lead as Allan powered Alexios started to surge ahead whilst Marquand also attempted to bridge the leeway with Puccini. Eventually, Allan’s strong finish saw Sanjay Kolse-schooled Alexios (Top Class – Miss Pareil) get the better of Radiant Reign close home and then drew away for a comfortable victory. Puccini finished in third place behind runner-up Radiant Reign with Vortex following him home.
 
Karthik Ganapathy-groomed Buckingham survived a minor scare after taking charge from leader Starlight Serenade, who faded out after bringing her rivals into the straight. Buckingham’s main adversary D’Artagnan moved steadily forward when alerted by G. Vivek as soon as the field turned for home and headed his rival for a fleeting moment in the final furlong before Allan went flat out to get his mount to make a renewed effort. Buckingham (Holy Roman Emperor – Thanielle) stretched out well under the whip to snuff out D’Artagnan’s aggression and went on to achieve an encore. The two-time winner Nebula was unable to concede weight to his rivals and could only gain the third place ahead of Admirable.
 
Trevor’s task astride Lady Scarlet, who had played the role of bridesmaid twice earlier, was relatively easy as she made every post of the Sir Homi Mehta Million a winning one. Lady Scarlet (Dali – Starlet), who is bred as full sister to Time And Tide, was off to a brilliant start from the gates and earned her maiden win with a fair degree of comfort. Pinnacle, Beast Mode and Rambo were no match for the winner and followed the filly home in that order.
 
Trevor went on to complete a double when Social Butterfly gave a solid performance to claim the Coromandel Gromor Million. Social Butterfly raced within striking distance of speedy Esperanza, who seized the initiative from the gates, and ranged alongside the leader with a little over a furlong left for home. Esperanza refused to give up easily, but Trevor packed enough punch in his effort when enabling Social Butterfly (Excellent Art – Lady Danehill) to overcome the resistance and register a hard-fought win over runner-up Scaramouche, who came into the picture quite late. Fontana spurted well towards the end and deprived Esperanza the third place. Favourite Western Star failed to make any headway after racing prominently behind the leaders and finished fifth. Well-fancied Big Bay also ran hopelessly before ending in the rut.
 
Trevor narrowly missed out his third winner as Don Julio suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Vincero in the day’s curtain raiser. Shazaan Shah-groomed Vincero moved with rapid strides in the straight to collar Ashwa Gypsy, who had taken control of the running from leader Majesticus about a furlong away from the wire. Apprentice Aditya Waydande-steered Vincero (Leitir Mor – Rhinefall) nailed Ashwa Gypsy in the shadow of the winning post and lasted out to win from Don Julio, whose late effort proved to be too little too late. Vincero, Don Julio and Ashwa Gypsy were separated by a neck each whilst Looking Like A Wow ran on to complete the final frame of four.
 
PS Chouhan-saddled Desert Classic struck immediately on relegation to the lowest class and proved too good for his rivals in the last race of the day. K. Mukesh Kumar-piloted Desert Classic raced alongside Santana Row and We Still Believe as Mirae and Red Mist made the initial running. Santana Row stormed into the lead soon after turning for home but Desert Classic (Phoenix Tower – Evelyn’s Dancer) unleashed a brilliant run down the straight to tackle the filly in the last furlong and cantered away for an easy victory. Favourite Ministry of Time warmed up late and could only finish second whilst Santana Row and Tropical Paradise finished third and fourth respectively.