Walk Of Life (Ikhtyar – Cape Vaticano) created a major flutter in the Racing Officials Trophy and produced a terrific burst at the finish to launch a swashbuckling attack from the wider outside to shock her rivals and followers of form alike and end her season’s campaign on a stunning note. What makes this victory even more astonishing is that Walk Of Life came alive from the dead end of the 16-horse field and also had to circle around the entire bunch taking the turn widest of all! The front-bunch was absolutely congested with horses packed close to one another and hectic jockeying for position was evident at the start of the straight.

The favourite Circus Ring was not exactly lighting up to the occasion and was fighting for survival. Tag Along Tommy, Atlantic Star, Banana Boy, Tell Me More and Silver Screen were all trying to wrest control and a step behind were Circus Ring, Deep Purple, Saddlers Rule and Marudhara Ratan also coming into the picture. Walk Of Life was unnoticed on the wide outside. A crack or two from jockey J Chinoy was enough to ignite Walk Of Life who simply rocketed to the front zipping past all in front between 300 and the distance post, within just 100 metres literally making the rest look absolutely ordinary. In that sensational burst, Walk Of Life flew to a three-length lead and the jockey punched his fist in delight passing the winning post well ahead of the rest.

A ‘tenner’ on the totes paid a kingly return of Rs 1,724, probably the highest of the season. Shabdeez (Brave Hunter – Gold N Honey) further burned the pockets of the followers of favourites when she shot ahead at a crucial stage when favourite National Ikon got momentarily stuck for room. That headway made by jockey Amyn Merchant come precisely at the right time as National Ikon had to switch to the outside and, in doing so, lost a bit of ground that proved fatal considering the margin of victory – half a length! Once Shabdeez galloped past McQueen, Amyn went all out to drive home the advantage and even though National Ikon put in a sustained gallop towards the finish, Shabdeez had enough to hold on and ward off the threat at the wire.

McQueen did well to hand on to place money while Absolute Reality improved to end in the frame. Trainer MK Jadhav had an electrifying start to the day as both his fancied horses scored decisive wins in the first two races. Lyrical Symphony (Placerville – Lyrical Fantasy) had Starfall as main adversary and the battle that unfolded was confined to the two. Starfall was off to a tardy start but did not lose too much ground and was quick to catch up with the bunch.

Eye Of The Storm set a friendly pace and had Floods Of Fortune, Lyrical Symphony, Starfall and Ashwa Puskar in the order until they turned for home. They maintained status quo in the first half of the race and as they hit the distance post, Starfall started to move past Eye Of The Storm. Soon Lyrical Symphony shifted gears and produced a brilliant finishing effort to force her way past Starfall who was clearly humbled. Eye Of The Strom did well to end third while Ashwa Puskar only managed to beat an off-colour Floods Of Fortune home.

Demonstrator (Alnasr Alwasheek – Star Concert) lived up to his last start sparkle when he ran a good second to Nefyn. Star Trainer settled to chase stable-mate Highland Music until the homestretch with Schnell and Demonstrator not too far behind. Highland Music stayed ahead for a brief while and soon Star Trainer and Demonstrator started to gather momentum. The final furlong saw an interesting battle between the hot favourite Star Trainer and Demonstrator with the latter certainly enjoying a slender upper hand. Demonstrator with CS Jodha aboard proved too much to handle for Star Trainer but he went down fighting.

Highland Music and Schnell were both completely outpaced. Salt (Diffident – Conqueress) finally had her day ending her season campaign on a winning note. She was due for a win beyond doubt as she had a couple of close finishes in her early days. With the field looking not too threatening, Salt was the shortest priced runner on the day. The Faisal Abbas-ward justified that faith and cantered to a ‘walk-in-the-park’ victory from the word go. Afsoon matched strides with Salt early on and stuck to the favourite until the turn. Once in the straight, Salt propelled herself to a comfortable lead and never looked like encountering any challenge. She coasted an easy five-length victory. Arctic Minstrel, who was not too far behind Afsoon, did well to grab the second spot. Soneeyo (Placerville – Difficult Doll) was another short-priced favourite to oblige but not without some anxious moments.

Hitting the front soon on start, Soneeyo build a huge lead coming into the straight and the runaway lead proved crucial at the finish. The race was confined to Soneeyo and the second-in-demand Skyway who was a debutante. At the distance post, Soneeyo was still about five lengths clear and showing no sign of slowing down, when Skyway warmed up and produced a fine turn of foot. Skyway managed to clear most of the deficit impressively and was on the tail of Soneeyo in quick time. However, Soneeyo was ridden out competitively by DK Ashish and to the relief of his backers kept the momentum going and held on by half a length at the wire. Thriller (Juniper – Forgotten Dreams) lived up to his name and thrilled his followers as he dashed down all guns blazing at the business end of the turf. Golden Kingdom and Money Flash shared the honours until the straight.

Sweet Nothings soon came to challenge past the 300m. Yet unspotted, Thriller was gathering momentum and approaching the distance post, unleashed a powerful burst of speed to easily sail past Sweet Nothings to score an emphatic victory. Fiery Fortune showed some gut to end earning place money. Cougar disappointed and ran a tame fourth. Oasis Gold (Iffraaj – Groves Rainbow) sparkled on debut and earned her victory the hard way. Highway Express led them in with Springbank showing up impressive into the straight. Oasis Gold started to warm up past the 400m. Springbank got the measure of Highway Express who did well to stay in the hunt until close home. Springbank and Oasis Gold battled grimly for the major part of the final furlong and in the end, Oasis Star showed more resolve to return with a memorable debut. Trainer MK Jadhav and jockey Dashrath Singh scored a double each.