Almost three weeks after she caught a tartar in Matisse, Mansingh Jadhav-groomed filly Dreamer made amends to win the Times of India Trophy on Saturday. When the gates flew open for the mile journey, Rosario took a handy lead after Neeraj Rawal decided to take Pesi Shroff trainee on a wire-to-wire mission and had Elysium and Dreamer travelling a few lengths away. Rosario’s lead was cut down shortly after he brought the field into the straight and rather than Elysium, it was Dreamer who started to bridge the leeway. With a little over a hundred metres left to run, Nikhil Parmar put Dreamer (Dreamfield – Practicallyperfect) into top gear following which the bay filly quickened well under the whip and got stronger at the finish to defeat Rosario by just under a length. Elysium posed no danger to the pair ahead yet finished third, close on the haunches of runner-up Rosario while Opus Dei, after a sluggish start, improved gradually to be fourth.
 
An hour earlier, Rosario’s stablemate Oliver too tried runaway tactics in the hands of Yash Narredu and almost pulled it off before Neeraj Rawal-ridden Little John outmanoeuvred him in the last couple of strides over the mile and a quarter trip for the Race Mirror Trophy. Running for the first time without blinkers after his maiden success at Pune last year, Dallas Todywalla-saddled Little John was ridden well off the pace until the field of five was in the home stretch and then lengthened his stride when Neeraj let him loose. Little John (Excellent Art – Alpha Centauri) joined the issue with Oliver inside the last furlong and pipped the latter close home. Oliver was clearly done in by the weight he had to concede to the winner. Diego Garcia and the odds-on favourite Manwar chased Oliver all the way but could not accelerate when it mattered most. A. Sandesh-piloted Manwar ran third while Diego Garcia ended fourth.
 
Manwar was not the only heavily backed favourite to lose, a few others including Mother’s Gift and Wings of Fury also suffered the same fate. Aman Hussain-saddled Mother’s Gift had beaten both Sequential and Sukoon in a mock race held two weeks ago and that performance may have influenced the betting trend in the Indiarace.com Trophy (Div-II). However, Ashhad Asbar-partnered Mother’s Gift failed to reproduce that effort as Sequential showed plenty of early speed to surge ahead from the barriers while Sukoon and Shamara went in hot pursuit. Antony Raj-ridden debutant Sukoon (Leitir Mor – Priceless Art) from Pradeep Chouhan’s yard stepped up the pace to challenge the leader in the final furlong and the ensuing battle culminated in the former prevailing by a short neck. Mother’s Gift was outpaced and so was Shamara as they finished third and fourth respectively.
 
With Sandesh to guide his fortunes, Wings of Fury was expected to avenge his narrow defeat at the hands of Dedication in the Hindu Trophy. These two runners cornered a major chunk of betting in the seven-horse field and following Dedication being declared a non-starter at the gates, punters believed that Wings of Fury’s path to victory was all but paved. However, Wings of Fury gave a disappointing show as top-weighted Tyrannus, though ignored in the betting, went on to defy the penalty incurred for his previous success. After tracking leader Emperor Roderic from the word go, Imtiaz Sait-schooled Tyrannus (Leitir Mor – Equine Lover) put in a resolute run in the last furlong to tackle the leader and post a comfortable win. Emperor Roderic retained the second spot ahead of Matisse and Axlrod while Wings of Fury ran a hopeless fifth.
 
The determination of Neeraj enabled Narendra Lagad-trained Red Lightning to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in the first division of the Indiarace.com Trophy. Red Lightning followed leader Chakar View into the straight and gearing up to challenge him when Queen Caroline, ridden by the lesser-known jockey SG Prasad, overcame a slow start and made rapid progress to come through the shortest way home. Both Queen Caroline and Red Lightning (Plumatic – Clementi) fought a fierce duel thereafter and the former appeared to have hit the wire first. However, the photo-finish outcome went in favour of Red Lightning, who won by the proverbial whisker. In a performance similar to that of Elysium earlier, joint favourite El Nino may have also failed to cope with the Pune track and ended third, stretching out his neck to beat Chakar View.
 
Another fine piece of riding from in-form apprentice Ramswarup saw Behram Cama-groomed Floyd carve a narrow win over Fire Away in the Mid-Day Trophy. Charisse set the early pace and was closely followed by Bright Button and Floyd while Algonquin and Avante came next. Floyd slipped into the lead after the field turned for home even as Fire Away and Avante inched closer while Yash Narredu-ridden favourite Legadema was just warming up. However, before Legadema could switch lanes and launch her assault, Ramswarup had already managed to stave off Fire Away’s threat and steer Floyd (Quasar – Artus) to a half-length victory. Legadema’s effort proved too late to change the outcome of the race as she finished a length behind the runner-up while Avante ended a neck away in fourth.
 
Aman Hussain-saddled Spotlight (Admiralty – Light Dubai) gave a speedy display to grab the lead after overcoming the wide draw and kicked on gamely in the home stretch as Asbar rode her out to a comfortable win in the Dopahar Trophy. Bohemian Rhapsody ran on late from the rear to edge out Believe for the runner-up berth while Mila was fourth.
 
Earlier in the day, Faisal Abbas-trained Flash Mob, having finished fifth when previously ridden by Sandesh, showed remarkable improvement to taste her maiden success. Entrusted to C. Umesh on this occasion, Flash Mob (Deauville – Star of Harmony) raced well up with the leader Phantasmique from the start and put in a strong run in the home stretch to foil the favourite’s start-to-finish bid close home. Remy Red ran third while Whisper was fourth. Royal Champ ran thereabouts before finishing fifth.