Punters were on the top of the bookies for the second day running, giving them a drubbing in the betting ring. Pradeep Chouhan-mentored Ultimo proved his superiority in the highest class, making it two in a row by lifting the Seth Ramnath Daga Trophy, Sunday’s main event. Ultimo seized the initiative as soon as the starter’s flag came down and made every post of the seven-furlong trip a winning one. It took a couple of backhanders from Trevor Patel for Ultimo (Surfrider – Honey Dew) to kick on gamely in the end. Irish Gold ran second ahead of Market King, who found it difficult to concede weight to the former, while Mojito rallied late to finish a nose behind.

Dallas Todywalla-nursed Golden Dancer defied the odds and waltzed for another victory in the Homi Mehta Trophy, the day’s supporting event run over a mile and a quarter. Imtiaz Sait-saddled Endurance was preferred over Golden Dancer in the betting but the former, who was assisted in the saddle by Yash Narredu, was defeated once again. Endurance, not relishing the early pace, went ahead and tried start-to-finish tactics after finding himself in the front, while Kimiko, Golden Dancer, and Exuma raced behind. Akshay Kumar exerted pressure on Golden Dancer as the field moved towards the final turn and then used his whip a few times to get the filly going. Golden Dancer (Deauville – Xisca) responded steadily, picking up pace to go sailing past both Endurance and Kimiko in the last furlong. She won more easily than expected. Endurance narrowly held on to the runner-up slot from Kimiko, while Exuma failed to improve.

Akshay had a hard-earned victory earlier when Sait’s ward Azure successfully kept both Enforcer and Chelsea at bay. Enforcer and Chelsea disputed the initial lead, while Azure raced in striking distance alongside Storm Cloud. Yash went flat out astride Enforcer, but the winning post took a long time coming. Meanwhile, Azure started to bridge the gap and gave a positive response to Akshay’s call by nailing Enforcer a few metres away from the winning line. Chelsea was hard-ridden by Dashrath Singh to dead-heat with Enforcer for second place. Storm Cloud ended fourth.

Trevor recorded a fine hat-trick, taking an unassailable lead in the tally for champion jockey of the season. He first rode the Faisal Abbas-schooled filly Tajiri to victory in the MH Ahmedbhoy Trophy. Tajiri was ridden well off the pace to race in the rear Lord And Master assumed his usual front-running role, while Floyd followed him closely. Akshay spurred second favourite Juracan into the lead as Lord And Master and Floyd weakened in the home stretch. However, Tajiri improved with every stride after the heads straightened for home to range alongside Juracan, In the ensuing battle, both horses went stride for stride inside the last furlong until Tajiri (Cougar Mountain – Verbier) gained the upper hand in the last fifty metres and went on to score by a length and a half. Giant Gold made his presence felt in the final stages of the race but failed to improve and had to settle for the third berth, while Ekatarina completed the final frame of four.

After succeeding aboard Ultimo, Trevor steered top-weighted Ministry of Time to an overdue victory. The Aman Hussain-groomed filly, who failed to deliver the goods as a favourite in her previous three outings, gave a determined display to achieve her maiden success. Second favourite Ashwa Ankara took charge of the running from no-hoper Lightning Blaze soon after turning for home following which G. Vivek tried desperately to sustain the lead with the aged mare. But Ministry of Time gathered momentum when alerted by Trevor to pounce upon Ashwa Ankara in the final hundred metres. In her last dash, Ministry of Time (Moonlight Magic – Askeria) zoomed forth to claim a narrow victory. Saseka ran a fair third, while Simola was fourth.

The last race of the day witnessed a mishap involving Medusa, who came a cropper close to the two-furlong post leading to Trevor being dislodged from the seat. Trevor may have been fortunate to emerge unscathed from the accident but the same cannot be said about Medusa, who was euthanised on compassionate grounds. That aside, Yash piloted Heaven’s Rhythm to a thrilling win in a three-way finish. Absolute Gorgeous had nearly pulled off a pillar-to-post victory before Malesh Narredu-trained Heaven’s Rhythm came with a sustained run to stun the leader in her last stride. S. Mosin-ridden Eloquent came with a late run from the last position but Heaven’s Rhythm (Fiero – Bubbly Bellini) had hit the wire first. Eloquent finished a close third, a short head and neck separating him from the winner and Absolute Gorgeous. A length away ran Appalachian in the fourth position.