Lady Luck seems to have deserted jockey A. Sandesh on Sunday as he lost astride two potential winners, both saddled by Adhirajsingh Jodha and carrying the public’s purse. Time And Tide went into the Akkasaheb Maharaj Trophy with an imposing record having beaten both his nearest rivals Dream Seller and Miss American Pie during their previous encounters. However, Time And Tide was mowed down by Miss American Pie on this occasion. Dream Seller went into the lead with Time And Tide close on his haunches and Miss American Pie waiting for an opportunity to pounce upon them. Time And Tide joined Dream Seller as soon as the field turned for home, but he was made to sweat by his rivals before gaining the upper hand in the last furlong. Meanwhile, Mansingh Jadhav-trained Miss American Pie (Gleneagles – Reine Australe) unleashed a brilliant turn of foot when asked for an effort by NS Parmar and came with a devouring run in the final hundred metres to overwhelm Time And Tide by half a length. Dream Seller finished third, while Social Butterfly ran fourth.    
 
Malesh Narredu-groomed Abhyankar, who had graduated from the maiden ranks this season, achieved a hat-trick in the Pune Mirror Times Trophy. Apprentice S. Siddharth urged Abhyankar to take the lead when the four-horse field took off for the mile journey and the gelding relished running in the front ahead of Seneca and Caradoc, while Sandesh was content sitting behind them with favourite Wings of Fury. Abhyankar (Planetaire – Conscience) held the advantage, brushing aside both Caradoc and Seneca’s attempt to intimidate him and then braced himself to counter Wings of Fury’s threat. Wings of Fury hung in when trying to overhaul the leader, Sandesh having great difficulty in getting to race on an even keel. Wings of Fury eventually went down by just under a length at the wire. Seneca and Caradoc followed them home.
 
Siddharth went on to guide Chagall to a fluent victory in the P. Hadow Trophy, a seven-furlong contest for horses in Class I. Bottom-weighted Fighton showed the way to the field and had stable-mate Mojito and Chagall in pursuit. As the field led by Fighton swung into the home stretch, Siddharth brought Chagall on the outside and sent the Pesi Shroff-school chestnut hunting for the leader. Chagall (Cougar Mountain – Heather) gained ground with every stride to catch up with Fighton and then drew away for a comfortable win. Market King improved from the rear to finish third ahead of Mojito.      
 
Siddharth completed his treble with a facile victory atop Flash Mob later in the day. Despite running for the first time over a mile and a quarter trip, Faisal Abbas-saddled Flash Mob displayed his staying ability when claiming the Holy Smoke Plate, the day’s concluding event. Siddharth astride Flash Mob pursued Whisper, who tried runaway tactics but shortened her strides on entering on the home stretch. Siddharth swiftly spurred Flash Mob (Deauville – Star of Harmony) into the lead and sailed clear to win by a distance from favourite Royal Champ. Madison ran third ahead of Leo The Lion. Whisper stopped galloping close home as is reported to have been euthanized on compassionate grounds as the filly had broken her right fore fetlock joint.
 
Though running after a long gap of six months, trainer Prasanna Kumar’s ward Bravion showed no signs of rustiness as he justified the favouritism in the first division of the Portrush Plate. Trevor Patel had Bravion disputing the lead with Sequential in the early stages of the six-furlong sprint and soon took charge of the running. Bravion (Sporting Chance – Invicta) skipped away under pressure and kept the hard-ridden runner-up Taaqath at bay. Ironheart ran a fair third ahead of Sequential, who failed to keep a straight course in the home stretch.
 
Trainer Nirad Karanjawala got his first winner of the season when the enthusiastically backed Saint Sizzle scored a narrow victory over favourite Lumineer in the lower division of the Portrush Plate. Entrusted to the lesser-known rider K. Pranil, Saint Sizzle raced in the mid-bunch as Chakar View made the initial running, while Echo, Lumineer, and Tempo chased the leader. Lumineer was thrust into the lead by Yash Narredu as soon as the field straightened for home only to find Saint Sizzle gaining ground on the outside. Yash tried to keep Lumineer going under the whip, however, Saint Sizzle (Desert God – Saddle Queen), despite running a bit erratically, wore down the favourite a few strides away from the winning post. Tempo finished in the money ahead of Umeed.
 
Crimson Pirate from Aman Hussain’s stables defied the penalty incurred for his maiden win a fortnight ago and made it two in a row in the Royal Barbershop Trophy, giving Trevor his second winner of the day. Crimson Pirate (Air Support – Carmine) sprinted ahead from the gates and showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals all the way home. Savage warmed up late to finish second, while Ekla Chalo beat Hagibis for the third place by a nose.
 
Turned out in fine fettle by his master Behram Cama, Scaramouche gave a speedy display in the Atmosphere Plate, the day’s curtain raiser. Jockey TS Jodha seized the initiative astride Scaramouche when the starter’s flag came down and won almost untroubled thereafter. Emperor Roderic stumbled soon after jumping out of the gates, but Neeraj Rawal did well to gather him up before chasing Scaramouche (Roderic O’Connor – Isn’t She Special) in vain. Challenge Accepted, who was bidding for a hat-trick, improved towards the end stages of the six-furlong sprint but could not match strides with the winner and ran second. Emperor Roderic found the younger rivals a hard nut to crack when finishing third ahead of Bhairava.