Trainer Altamaash Ahmed combined with Ashad Asbar and the duo ended their Mumbai campaign on a memorable note scoring a lucrative treble on the last day of the season. While Lucky Misba and Born To Race were well-backed, Absolute Reality provided nourishing odds to make it a high windfall as returns to a straight treble. The treble included the feature event of the day – The May Day Trophy. Born To Race (Emerald Cat – Secret Charm) was the on-money favourite to win this race. She got straight down to business and led the field comfortably all the way into the straight. Bayblues and Afsaneh too ran green as they took the turn in an exaggerated fashion, drifting out of contention.

Born To Race galloped and was clear of the rest until the final furlong, when both Magan Singh trainees Fairy Queen and Royal Honour came up with a serious assault. The two devoured ground at a brisk rate and started to wear down the lead. Asbar rode with absolute determination and just managed to keep the tip of his nose upright to get the judge’s nod in the final say. Both Fairy Queen and Royal Honour pushed for victory and for Fairy Queen in particular, the winning post arrived a stride too early. Celsius was a big disappointment. She was in a good position at the top of the straight, but failed to raise a quality gallop.

Absolute Reality (Mr Mellon – Yes No Maybe So) started the roll for Altamaash and Asbar. Making a start-to-finish bid, Absolute Reality came into the straight with a handy lead and Asbar built on it beautifully. Unmindful of the threat looming a few metres behind from favourite Blue Mellon, Asbar kept Absolute Reality going and easily thwarted the favourite’s desperate bid with Sunil going all out to catch up. Absolute Reality was clearly superior on the day and won handsomely. Grant Park veered out under pressure and was galloping closer to the outer rails. She did show signs of putting up a fight, but wasted energy and ground by failing to keep a straight course, ending third. The rest were completely outclassed. Lucky Misba (Warrshan – Alice Charms) produced a scintillating gallop in the straight to easily out-run firm favourite Ashwa Gaurav who was sent on a start-to-finish mission.

Lucky Misba was in close chase of the leader until they straightened for home and quickly started to mount her challenge. Approaching the 300, Lucky Misba gathered momentum and with a terrific burst of speed shot past Ashwa Gaurav and looked the winner once in the lead. Lucky Misba bounded forward working up splendid acceleration and trounced Ashwa Gaurav convincingly to score in a delightful manner. Aflame ended a close third alongside Ashwa Gaurav; the rest were a distance away. Claim To Fame (Ikhtyar – Queenscliff) justified the overwhelming support he received in the betting ring and romped home to a facile victory without encountering any challenge. Marudhara Ratan charged ahead of a packed front bunch to take up the running and kept a swift pace going. Coming into the straight, Marudhara Ratan was just stepping on it when Claim To Fame started to pounce alongside effortlessly.

Claim To Fame soon surged past Marudhara Ratan and galloped away to score a decisive victory without much ado. Marudhara Ratan did well to secure the runner-up slot from the fast-finishing Golden Spurs and Silver Screen. National Ikon (Warrshan – Tempering) this time did not let his followers down and made ample amends for earlier disappointments surging home to an emphatic victory. It was Uproar and Reinstate who were matching strides to gain the initial upper hand and couple of lengths behind National Ikon eased himself waiting for the right moment to strike. That moment came soon on turning for home. However, National Ikon had to change course and switch from the rails as Uproar did not show signs of giving up at that juncture.

Once apprentice jockey Roushan showed him daylight, National Ikon gathered tremendous momentum and easily sailed past Uproar to launch himself to the lead. There was no threat in sight and the rest were left to take up what best they could after the winner. Tomorrows Dreams beat a few to wrest the runner-up slot while Macho Uno did well to run into place money. National Ikon, however, proved a cut above the rest. Fantastic (Burden Of Proof – Screen Play) won the opening event with the small-made mare making light of the heavy impost she was carrying.

Aleutian Zone and Rave On disputed the early lead and came into the homestretch with an appreciable lead. As both Aleutian Zone and Rave On began to tussle over the lead, Fantastic warmed up nicely and cleared the four-length deficit in quick time. Soon she surged past the fighting duo and sailed away to register a thumping victory, justifying the ‘favourite’ tag she carried into the race. Fantastic scored with ease and Aleutian Zone ended a decent second ahead of Rave On. Flying Spirit ended close fourth and Hannah Montana warmed up late to end a close fifth. Auraria (Bee’s Prospector – Miss Padmini) seemed to have saved her best for the last day posting an impressive victory with Champion Dashrath Singh in the saddle.

Attempting a gate-to-post tactic, Dashrath drove Auraria to the front soon on start with Tease Me and Gold Vault in hot pursuit. Rising Asset was next a length or two away. On straightening for home, Auraria showed even more alacrity and built on her lead, with Dashrath absolutely relentless in his pushing and goading the mare to further her cause. A late scare did come her way when Rising Asset threatened to make a race of it. However, Auraria soon called that bluff and stayed ahead comfortably to post her first win of the season in style.

The Rebel kicked on to claim place money as he has done so consistently this season. Born Destiny (Steinbeck – Oiseau De Guerre) produced a terrific finishing effort to score a breathtaking victory on the last stride. An equally determined effort from Kimaya was in vain as Born Destiny, ten years old, timed his run to perfection to win in a close finish. Arabian Rock shaped well past the distance post and was going for the kill when a sudden assault from Born Destiny and Kimaya pegged him back. Both Born Destiny and Kimaya raced together from the start of the race and rose from the mid-bunch midway into the straight.

Arabian Rock had a handy lead coming into the final furlong but could not press for victory. The mounting challenge from Born Destiny and Kimaya proved too hot to handle. Born Destiny, ridden by Zameer Sayyed, flew towards the end to score an impressive victory over Kimaya. Full Throttle too ran on well to end earning some place money coming from way back to finish a good third. The Season’s Champions were honoured and presented with exquisite trophies for their admirable run of successes. Mr Vivek Jain acknowledged their feat and did the presentation honours in the paddock. The Championship winners were as follows: Leading Owners – Wadhawan Livestock Pvt Ltd Champion Trainer – Pesi Shroff saddling 48 winners Champion Jockey – Dashrath Singh 33 winners Champion Apprentice – A Sandesh, 26 winners Champion jockey claiming Allowance saw a tie between two promising lads – MA Roushan & Akash Agarwal. Leading Stud Farm – Usha Stud with 51 wins garnering 175 points. Leading Racing Syndicate – North Star Racing Syndicate Leading Bookmakers – M/s Farishah (Mumbai) & M/s Latif Associates (Pune)