Samarkhand (Greensmith–Anthalia), owned by Keky Patell, A. Patel and Parvez Faramarzi, warmed up past the distance post and came up with a sizzling finish to surprise a speeding Rejuvenite to wrest the glory in the final few yards of the Playwin Challenge. That was the limelight of Sunday's races at the Mahalaxmi. The Hurricane, whose odds drifted from 16/10 against to 9/4 at race time, finished a poor fifth.

Rejuvenite hit the front as the ten-horse field sorted themselves out and set a scorching pace. The Hurricane (Belose) took his time settling down and brushed up to be third as they straightened up. However, the Altaf Hussain gelding just wouldn't quicken and looked beat with more than two furlongs still to travel. Dancing Diva was struggling to keep pace behind Rejuvenite (Ruzaan) and at 300 metres surrendered to Elmwood (Ashish). The Hurricane was getting nowhere as Samarkhand came up with giant strides to surge past and challenge the leader. Rejuvenite did not give up easily and the issue was settled a couple of strides from the winning post. Premier Star (Neeraj) impressed with a late gallop to snatch the place money. The Imtiaz-trained gelding was the second last to turn for home and in the straight moved fast after having to skirt around horses to come up on the wide outside. Samarkhand was most impressive and clocked the fastest time of 1 -23.10 seconds for the seven-furlong distance beating Strawberry Fields' record of 1-23.47.

The day began with an Uproar (pun intended). Sepia Tone set the tone early on, but could not sustain. The Magan Singh-ward packed up after bringing the field up to the distance post and finished in the rut. Uproar (Shelar) improved from the fourth to reach out to the leader at the furlong marker and sped ahead to hold on from the fast finishing duo, comprising of Habit and Sharapova both long shots at over 15 to 1. Sharapova was the one to catch the eye, coming in from the dead and wide to finish in line for the top spot.  A head, head, verdict separated the top three. Astro Boy got into the frame edging out Flying Rock. The bookmakers ring once again exhibited accuracy in gauging the trend as the odds dwindled alarmingly on Uproar while Sepia Tone's odds climbed upwards.

Arkhos and Cosmopolitan were the joint pre-race favourites. However, nearing race time, Arkhos overtook the latter only in terms of the odds. While Cosmopolitan remained steady at 1 ½, Arkhos was offered at 9/4 at race time – a 50 per cent shoot. On start, Native Strategy made the initial running, with Cosmopolitan, Arkhos, Siroco and Ming in that order. In the straight, Cosmopolitan soon took over from Native Strategy, Arkhos was not gathering momentum, and Siroco looked like quickening but deceived. Ming rose from the dead and nearing the distance post got into top gear and shot ahead like a bullet to win impressively. An encore over a similar distance is not ruled out. Cosmopolitan finished on well to stay ahead of Arkhos and Siroco and the trio finished in a line.

Star Crusader owned by the Tapias was making his appearance on the race track after Christmas day. The bay gelding had run third in both her previous outings this season. Asked why he hadn't raced for the past quarter, Trainer Imtiaz said, "Star Crusader had a setback and I had to hold him back. He had shoulder problems and had to be given time off to recover and rest. He responded well to the treatment and bounced back quickly enough. I had to nurture him delicately and ensure he felt no discomfiture. The moment he showed complete recovery I started to work him and he picked up very well. He was well prepared for this nine-furlong trip and his showing was very satisfying."

Star Crusader (Neeraj) showed no signs of discomfort whatsoever and dished out a superb victory in what could be termed a very open and competitive race. Star Crusader put in a gutsy performance, running well up with the pace and taking over soon on turning for home. At the 400 m, Star Crusader went ahead and the others seemed to be within striking distance. Da Vinci, Simply Smashing and Gatravat all looked threatening close behind the leader, but Star Crusader proved elusive as he kicked on to remain a safe distance ahead. Towards the winning post, no one looked good enough to catch up with him - even if there was another furlong to go. Such was his tireless finishing.

Rockefeller (Ruzaan) was in sublime touch and this he exhibited while cantering home to an authoritative victory in his last start. He conquered the Madras Race Club Trophy then, beating Samarkhand and this time it was the Hyderabad Race Club Trophy. He was equally clinical in his operations this time as well, the extra furlong notwithstanding. Sitting last of six Rockefeller improved steadily to be prominently poised at the turn to launch a sustained attack to prove his superiority in this set. Stablemate Totalitarian also moved into the front but there was never going to be a duel. In the betting ring, the price see-sawed between Rockefeller and Perpetuity. The latter, who ended the firm favourite, unfortunately bled during the race and petered out. However, the way Rockefeller dominated the race, I couldn't imagine the result would have been any different had Perpetuity ran a true race. Rockefeller accelerated tremendously, although under the frequent use of the whip, and stopped just 0.76 seconds off the course record. Royal Flash deserves a mention for his brave effort which got him the runners-up berth ahead of Totalitarian.

Dancing Glory (Glory Of Dancer-Tampico) from Todywalla's yard is perched on a hat trick after posting a well run victory in the JD & Peggy Banatwalla Trophy over a mile. Dancing Glory, owned by the Blue Grass Racing Syndicate, was well up with the pace and readily took charge early in the straight. Once in the home stretch, the bay gelding moved ahead in a 'no-nonsensical' fashion to snuff out any possible threat and bounded ahead adding distance between himself and his rivals. The only reason White Hart Lane and Manege got to a length of the winner was because the rider eased her after making sure that he was not going to be caught up. Manege was the one to cover most ground and seems on his way up. White Hart Lane also ran a good race. Debutant Aptiana looked gross in the paddock and will take time to make an impact. Apollotina disappointed. Bella was withdrawn.

The last race left the punters clueless. Form, records and past performances were all completely disregarded as Varun (15/1) confounded all the followers of form, besides the punters, while posting a start to finish victory over a mile! Having not even figured on the board in all his eight starts so far this season, Varun was certainly not the first choice for the race. 

Golden Orra, who was the first favourite going by the morning odds (18/10), drifted alarmingly to 5 plus in the ring. There was an even-money offer on a place bet as well. Not surprisingly, the filly finished up in the rut. The Stipendiary Stewards need to get their "IB" network (if there exists one) to be more effective and check on how the prices soar more than twice the price offered initially. There are far too many such fluctuations and the pulse of the ring is almost always precise. The horses in question most often justify the price shoot. There is also an intransigent belief among punters that 'it pays to back whichever horse that gets backed in the last minute in the ring'! Varun was a rare exception to the above but one could safely conclude by the indication that Golden Orra was 'certainly not going to win the race'. 

Varun, however, was easily at his best and pulled off an unlikely victory in a sensational four-horse finish. From racing point of view it was an exciting finish and the official handicapper's delight. Brezhnev was kept too far back for too long and considering his last couple of efforts, the jockey (Bandaal) should have known to keep him handy in the front bunch. The gelding came from way back to just miss out by a whisker. Cinderella Man was shoddy and slipped to a much worse finish than his promising last couple of runs. Fiery Future ran much better than his more hopeful stablemate House Prefect, who has fared much better than the former. It was a topsy-turvy race and all calculations went awry. And they call Cricket the game full of "uncertainties"!