For the third successive week, outstation horses (read Bangalore) have returned victorious, picking up glittering trophies that come with the plum events on the Pune track. This success run started with Spark of Gold winning the Grade 3 Idar Gold Trophy which was followed by Atlantus winning the Nirmal Ruia Trophy last week and on Sunday, Sans Pareil (Burden of Proof – Sans Egale) struck a telling blow in the Fillies’ and Mares’ Stakes (GR3). Sans Pareil is owned by Dr Vijay Mallya and was bred at the Kunigal Stud Farm owned by the liquor baron himself.

The small field of six jumped out from the gates and Sans Pareil made rapid progress instantly to force her way into the lead. The favourite Youre So Beautiful settled into the second as the filly likes to be up with pace followed by Icebreaker, Ecstatica and the other two Mallya contenders, Astral Flash and Strelitzia matching strides well off the pace. One would have been forgiven for assuming that Sans Pareil was playing the role of a pacemaker, as the two other Mallya horses were more fancied. In fact, Sans Pareil was the least fancied in the fray at 20/1. They ran in the same order and they travelled at a good pace too. As the heads turned for home, Sans Pareil, from trainer SS Attaollahi’s yard, stepped on it, but Youre So Beautiful was inching closer.

Icebreaker was struggling to hang on while Astral Flash and the rest were not making any impact upon the pair in front. Youre So Beautiful got alongside Sans Pareil and the two fought a grim battle. Sans Pareil with J Chinoy in the saddle had enough left to go for broke in the final 100 meters and shook off the game challenger to spare 3/4 of a length at the wire. Sans Pareil pulled off a sensational victory and but for the fight put up by Youre So Beautiful, beat the rest comprehensively. Youre So Beautiful, it is learnt, lost one of her fore shoes and that may have caused her a wee bit of discomfort. However, Sans Pareil was brilliant right from the start and kept her good run going all the way home.

Jockey Dashrath Singh is enjoying a dream run. He is well in front to earn his first ‘Champion jockey’ title of his career among the bigger boys. With just six race days left for the ongoing season, Dashrath looks firmly in control and well ahead of C Rajendra who trailing by seven to date.

Dashrath was at his best on Living The Dream (Soviet Star – Hatheethah). Settling into the fourth position early on, Dashrath was relaxed keeping Living The Dream within striking distance from Sun Elegance, Apache Indian and Fire Vault. Snow Queen was following close on the heels of Living The Dream and Ariane, the other horse in the betting, was at the wrong end. Fire Vault had barely taken over from a listless Sun Elegance, when Living The Dream accelerated briskly to wrest the initiative but soon had Snow Queen breathing down his neck.

The pair then fought tooth and nail and surged clear of the rest. Snow Queen got closer but Living The Dream never put a foot wrong and prevailed narrowly sticking his nose out at the wire. Ariane ran a tame third. Earlier, Dashrath had a hand in driving Illustrious (Emerald Cat – Splendid) to a forceful victory, this time from the word go. Illustrious set out at a scorching pace and led comfortably all through. Awesomeness tried to put up a fight in the straight but just couldn’t match the brilliance of Illustrious. It was clear, as early as the distance post that Illustrious would win untroubled and Awesomeness, despite receiving the weight advantage, would not settle score with the Dallas trainee.

The Gruezi Plate for debutant two-year-olds was sort of a dampener, as the impressive Mountain Wind took the wind out of his rivals and scored a decisive victory. Only Snow Blaze put up some resistance if you could call it that. Taking charge soon on start, Mountain Wind (Placerville – Cambridge Ball) marched on ahead on his own terms and had only Snow Queen in close vicinity. The rest, headed by Word Of Honour were a good five lengths away as they straightened for home.

Snow Queen was running green and shifted out and lost whatever chances she had of making a fight of it. Mountain Wind also drifted out a bit, but was well in control. Mountain Wind stretched further away in the final 100 meters to score a convincing win on debut, with Snow Blaze finishing on well ahead of Word Of Honour to end runner-up. Scarlet Pimpernel could never recover from a slow start.

Star Invitation (China Visit – Invitation Only) finally managed to score her maiden victory, in the first race of the day. Last start winner Monk’s Ferrari shot into the early lead, just as he had done last time, but this time failed to carry on all the way. The friendly pace got hotter when Kalinga Star, the second in demand after Star Invitation, shot past the leader at the turn.

Star Invitation was ready for his onslaught and came up with a lot of steam to collar Kalinga Star midway up the straight. Once ahead, Star Invitation surged ahead and won ably. Kalinga Star hadn’t done too badly for one who had failed to figure on board in his previous three runs this season albeit competing in the higher class. The rest were clearly overwhelmed. Aliyana (Glory of Dancer – Dam I’m Gorgeous) made a mockery of her rivals and won without raising sweat.

Aliyana was the firm favourite on the basis of her last forward run, when she showed blazing initial speed over a seven-furlong race, leading until the final turn and a bit more. So over the shorter scurry and against a moderate opposition, the pundits were of the belief that she would pull it off with ease. True to that line of thinking, Aliyana shot ahead soon on start and made every post a winning one. In the straight, she bolted even further to post a fantastic victory by a very long margin. Hottie ran on to finish a decent second and looks to be coming to hand. Lyrical Symphony covered a lot of ground to peg back Wild Imagination to run into place money.

The Right Man (Forest Fair – Amorous Delight) pulled off a sensational victory in the last race, sensational, because he was slow off the blocks. Master Craft, Blades Of Glory, Walking Tall and Paper King comprised the front bunch. Into the straight, Blades Of Glory got past Master Craft with Paper King looming nearby. Walking Tall got stuck on the rails and faded out. As Blades Of Glory and Paper King were disputing the lead and the winning post fast approaching, The Right Man came alive with a tremendous finishing effort and was the fastest in the last fifty.

The first four all finished close together with Blades of Glory, Paper King and Wells Fargo all finishing within a length. In fact, even Musical Rhythm ended a close fifth. The pick in the straight, were The Right Man and Wells Fargo. Dashrath Singh was the lone professional to score a double on the day.