An eventful final day culminated the Pune Meeting 2010 in a grand finale. An elaborate eleven-race card saw some interesting finishes with Cabriolet winning the feature event, The Oxford Properties RWITC Gold Trophy (Gr2) in record time. There were awards galore with the O Awards and the customary RWITC awards for Champions in different categories being held in the Paddock between races during the latter half of the day. Film Celebrities Suneil Shetty and Jackie Shroff made their presence felt at the racecourse, both being cheered with the crowd getting vocal as Jackie played to the galleries much to their delight.

On the track, it was Cabriolet who stole the show with a truly awesome run to ensure that the home centre runner returns victorious. He thus avenged his defeat to Spark Of Gold in the Idar Gold Trophy (Gr3) and ended the Pune season on a high note. Cabriolet (Glory of Dancer - Highland Ghillie) overcame a disastrous start when he jumped out late from the gates. Jockey Prakash, however, was quick not only to make up the deficit, but also settle just behind the leader Sans Pareil. Youre So Beautiful came next and the rest were close behind. As they began to wheel round the turn, Spark Of Gold seemed under duress and was finding it hard to quicken as he is known to do. Sans Pareil was in charge till into the straight, but could not match the dazzling gallop that Cabriolet produced. The Pesi Shroff ward had returned to his old form and looked home and dry in the final furlong.

Youre So Beautiful tried hard to catch up but could only beat Sans Pareil for earn her sixth straight ’runner-up’ title, her third such feat in Pune. Spark Of Gold had raised much hope after his dominance in the Idar Trophy, but her journey back and forth to her home in Bangalore surely took a toll. Pesi showed his astute skill yet again, getting Cabriolet to peak at the right moment and win the prestigious Trophy. This is the second record for Cabriolet after he clocked the best timing for seven furlongs in Mumbai in 2009.

The Shroff-Prakash combination had earlier struck with Camacho (Razeen - Gourgandine) with an emphatic win in the Pune Cantonment Board Trophy. Sitting last of five, Camacho who shared the betting trends with Ocean Yarrman, sprang to the fore at the start of the straight and zipped past Ocean Yarrman making it look ridiculously easy. He simply bounded forward and none behind were up to it. He outclassed the opposition and won almost in a canter. Ocean Yarrman disappointed and ended a tame second barely staying ahead of Gauri.

Forever Young (Diffident - Caractere) pulled off a neat start-to-finish victory for the Delhi Race Club Trophy, in what looked a very open race. Forever Young was quick at start and went a cracking pace with Harmonica, Scholar and Sea Ruler in close attendance. As they turned for home, Forever Young upped the ante and jockey NS Parmar deftly goaded her on. The filly owned by Dr Shashi Jain, Vivek Jain and Rohit Patel, kicked on and galloped at a fiery clip giving no chance whatsoever to Scholar who tried hard to chase her down. Harmonica and Sea Ruler were prominent till they straightened but found it hard to keep up with the blistering pace. Jockey A Sandesh carried on his forward form and finished the last day with a superb treble.

He, however, almost lost atop Aliyana (Glory of Dancer - Dam I’m Gorgeous) owing to either over-confidence or sheer misjudgement. Aliyana took off as she did earlier and stormed ahead piling a massive lead in the straight. With being five lengths clear at the distance post and only the friendless Aflatoon in chase, many would have felt it was all over. Sandesh appeared to have thought so too, as he did not reckon he was gettable from there on and was not exactly riding hard. Aflatoon came with a competent burst in the final 100 and almost shocked Aliyana at the most.

Fortunately for Sandesh, Aliyana had just made it else he would have been in serious trouble. I sincerely hope that the concerned gentlemen counsel the young lads against the dangers of taking things for granted in a race and make them realise that the race is never in the kitty until they pass the winning post. A lesson learnt early will stay embedded and these lads are sure to apply more caution in future. Sandesh next rode Star Trainer (Storm Trooper - Tiddly Widdly) and this time he was flawless.

He sat in the mid-bunch and gradually improved position to be right next to San Rafael and the long time leader, Absolute Reality. In the straight, Star Trainer gathered terrific momentum and sped into the lead fluently to post an easy victory. Tell Me More, the other highly fancied runner, made a late appearance to save the place money finishing third behind San Rafael. Dream Talk (Senure - Speed of Light) provided Sandesh his third triumph on the day. Hitting the front soon on start, Sandesh set a good pace without exerting too much from his mount. Titleist fell back after taking a good jump. Always Smile, Forward Charge, Dictator, Crème De La Crème, blazing Spectacle and Macchupicchu were all closely grouped.

As they turned for home, Dream Talk quickened well and darted ahead. Dictator set about in chase and Forward Charge was also improving along the rails. Macchupicchu was not responding well and looked clearly short of a run. Dream Talk, however, sailed on to score her third successive victory this season thus ending her stint with a flawless report card. Moon Farer did little of consequence but improved a little bit in the straight. Macchupicchu would have badly needed a run and he surely is one for the Mumbai track.

Jockey PS Chouhan too made the most on the last day booting home a lucrative double. He started the day on a winning note guiding Reinstate (Inhabitant - Arcade) to a facile victory. Chasing the runaway leader and ownermate Rhythm Divine, Reinstate made steady progress to join the leader at the turn. Favourite Saddlers Rule was way too far behind. Into the straight, Reinstate sailed smoothly into the lead and Chouhan powered him to stretch further away from the rest. Sparkler moved to second and went all out in chase but found the winner too good.

Saddlers Rule came with a sustained finishing gallop to run a close third implying that the Mumbai straight will suit him better. Keep an eye on Saddlers Rule over a mile of more. Ashwa Prerna (Alnasr Alwasheek - Thanks A Lot) improved on his good fourth in his last start and compiled a sweet victory to earn her first winning bracket. Sitting well up in third, behind Ocean Fairy and Flashing Sword, Ashwa Prerna was quick to grab the initiative soon on turning for home.

Chouhan had timed his assault to perfection and once he accelerated to the front he had it all under control. The final furlong was a mere formality as Ocean Fairy was spent by then and there was no visible threat. Among the late finishers, Royal Prince caught the eye. Native Lady (Warrshan - Outtostealthescene), who had been knocking on the door, finally pulled one off in the last race to make her last chance count. Glorious miss showed good early speed and led comfortably well into the straight. Past the distance post, Glorious Miss was still in command, but had a way threat to her lead. Aqualina and Native Lady were reducing her lead at a brisk rate. She countered the one from Aqualina, but couldn’t answer Native Lady’s final flourish. Native Lady trounced Glorious Miss in the final 100 to surge past to score decisively. Saffron improved towards the finish and ended close on the heels of Aqualina.

Perfect Strength (Mr Mellon - Zarzuela) made up amply for his last start disappointment and came through a rough passage to emerge victorious in a race that was well fought. Jockey TS Jodha was keen to stay on the rails and this ploy looked vulnerable when the race reached the boiling point. The fortunes changed rapidly as Drama Queen slipped from the lead and Rapide took over at the turn. TS Jodha went for the gap created along the rails, as Eye of the Storm shifted out for a clear passage. He guided Perfect Strength through the rails and was moving up.

Rapide, Eye of The Storm and Drama Queen were abreast and Perfect Strength was stuck behind this wall. While still groping for room, Eye Of The Storm surged ahead and was trying to get away at full throttle. Soon Kalinga Star appeared from nowhere to make his bid. Jockey TS Jodha pulled the Subhag Singh-trainee over to the outside and made his charge between Eye Of The Storm and Kalinga Star. While Kalinga Star tired sooner, Perfect Strength lived up to his name and gathered momentum to get the better of Eye Of The Storm in the final fifty to spare a length at the wire. Star Symphony (Placerville - Symphony Of Fire) put in a lively stretch run to win comfortably from Glowing Star in the second race.

Constanza led them early on with Star Symphony and Hottie not too far behind. Star Symphony soon took charge in the straight and quickened nicely to establish a handy lead in no time. Glowing Star just couldn’t do much and ran on a tame second. Hottie looked like she would finish in the money, but Ocean Tern came flying towards the end to grab the third spot. For the professionals, trainers Pesi Shroff and HJ Antia saddled a double each while jockey A Sandesh scored a treble. Jockeys B Prakash and PS Chouhan ended the final day scoring a double each as well.