Veteran professional Narendra Lagad-mentored four-year-old gelding Allez L’Etoile ran the best race of his career thus far when he donkey-licked his fourteen rivals in the Teena Katrak Memorial Independence Cup here on Saturday. Trevor Patel had Allez L’Etoile settled nicely behind early pace-setter Tropical Paradise and Charisse till the field was opposite the Turf Club House. Timing his bid to perfection, Trevor brought Allez L’Etoile swiftly alongside the front-runners to take over the running with three furlongs still left for the winning line. Allez L’Etoile (Leitir Mor – Sweeping Star) came all alone in the home stretch and left his rivals stranded in the final furlong. Caradoc ran second after moving from the rear end of the field while Savage Peacock held on to be third ahead of late-finishing Little John.
 
Trevor, in the previous race, steered Storm Majesty to a comfortable win in the Lucky Luciano Trophy. Storm Majesty came well from the outside draw to race on the heels of Golden Axl, who led the field while Dreams Come True stayed close behind. Trevor spurred Storm Majesty (Sanus Per Aquam – Alexandrite) as soon as the heads turned for home and the Aman Hussain trainee kicked on gamely to make amends for his previous failure against Pinnacle. Despite A. Sandesh’s strong handling, Dreams Come True could not catch the winner and ended runner-up, a short-head in front of fast-finishing Paloma while Rizz ended fourth.
 
Apprentice jockey Ramswarup hogged the limelight by achieving a treble aboard Foxy, Challenge Accepted, and Gold Bar. His best ride was in the Moosa M. Hoosain Trophy where he came up trumps against the likes Vivek G. and Akshay Kumar. When the gates flew open, Blue Jet sprinted ahead of the field and had the on-money favourite Zayyan and Starlight Serenade in pursuit while Ramswarup-ridden Challenge Accepted was close behind. Zayyan, when urged by Vivek G., wore down Blue Jet in the last furlong but before Pesi Shroff’s ward could find himself in the comfort zone, both Wind Dancer and Challenge Accepted loomed large on the outside. As the three horses went past the winning post together, the photo-finish subsequently showed Adhirajsingh Jodha-groomed Challenge Accepted (Gusto – Michaela) to be a short-head better of Akshay-piloted Wind Dancer while Zayyan ran a neck behind. Darcy ran a game fourth.
 
Earlier, Ramswarup returned triumphant aboard Foxy, who recorded her fifth career success over a five-furlong scurry in the Eau De Vie Plate. Azure showed plenty of speed to take charge from the gates and led till the halfway mark where she was overtaken by the old war-horse Cellini. Meanwhile Midnight Express and Foxy both joined the two runners ahead with Ramswarup showing a lot of spunk in bringing his mount through a narrow gap. Behram Cama-nursed Foxy (Surfrider – Lorraine) stretched well as her rider drove her plain hands and heels for a fluent victory over Midnight Express, Unforgettable You and Azure.
 
Adhirajsingh-saddled favourite Gold Bar provided Ramswarup his third winner in the last race of the day. Ramswarup kept Gold Bar well up with the bunch headed by Dancing Cloud and made his move only after Bravo Zulu had overtaken the leader. After a brief tussle, Gold Bar (French Navy – Gold Bag) had the measure of Bravo Zulu and stretched out well to earn her maiden success. Touch of Mystic and Majesticus ran third and fourth behind runner-up Bravo Zulu.
 
Ramswarup very nearly had his first winner right at the start of the day but was deprived by Fay, who defeated him by a head in a three-way finish. Fay led briefly after jumping out smartly from the gates, but jockey TS Jodha played safe by easing her off from the inner rails as Dashing Cherie came perilously close before slipping into the lead. Trail Blazer went in chase of Dashing Cherie and tackled her inside the last two furlongs. Jodha meanwhile got busy on Fay and joined Trail Blazer. Both horses went stride to stride in the last hundred metres, but it was Behram Cama-trained Fay (Surfrider – Shivalik Heroine), who prevailed by a head over Trail Blazer. Baleno and South Beach covered good ground towards the end to finish close third and fourth.
 
Antino from Adhirajsingh’s stables graduated from the maiden ranks by conquering the mile and quarter journey for the Albertini Plate. Benefitting immensely from the lung-opener he had last month, Antino (French Navy – High Above) surged ahead as soon as the gates opened and controlled the pace under Sandesh’s guidance to make every post a winning one. Runner-up Old Fashioned, the winner’s well-fancied stablemate, tried to challenge him in the last furlong but ran green under pressure forcing Trevor to drop his hands before the winning post. Hermanus ran third ahead of Daredevil.
 
A tenacious effort both from jockey Yash Narredu and favourite Remarkable enabled the Altamash Ahmed-trained colt to overcome the spirited performance given by debutant Chilton Lodge in the lower division of the Magansingh Jodha Trophy. The field of eight was spread out as Loyal Lover called the early shots while Chilton Lodge, Sanctified, and Remarkable went in chase. Yash made a swift forward move to bring Remarkable abreast of Chilton Lodge when the field approached the final turn. Once they overtook Loyal Lover, what ensued was a battle royal between the Akshay-partnered Chilton Lodge and Yash-driven Remarkable (Plumatic – Arlene), which culminated in the former emerging victorious by a whisker. Wise Approach ran a distant third ahead of Loyal Lover. Joint favourite Sanctified faded out in the straight to beat one home.
 
The upper division of the Magansingh Jodha Trophy was lifted by PS Chouhan trained Real Gold, who made a winning debut in the hands of Dashrath Singh. Alpha Strike, on whom Trevor was bidding for a hat-trick, and The Olive Crown disputed the lead in the early stages of the seven-furlong trip with the former finally gaining the upper hand in the straight. With a little over a hundred metres to go for the wire, C. Umesh-ridden Naledi challenged the favourite and put her neck in front. However, Real Gold (Win Legend – Imperial Verse) came with a powerful run down the home stretch to record an upset win. David ran on late to be third behind Naledi while Victory Flair finished fourth.