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| Aristocratic (Daniel Grant up), winner of the Casino Royale Multi-Million |
Grant had earlier guided Sea Queen to victory, warding off a late threat from Star Alliance. Settling in the rear alongside Star Allinace, Sea Queen made a stead forward move past the 400 and easily shook off the leaders Baskerville and Deep Purple. Past the distance post, Sea Queen opened a gap between herself and her rivals and looked a winner approaching the winning post. Star Alliance warmed up far too late but covered tremendous ground to finish on the haunches of the winner. Grant is in sublime form and in great touch.
A surprise visitor to the racecourse was Mr. Rahul Bajaj, head honcho of the Bajaj group and a famous parliamentarian. He kindly consented to present the Kailashpat Singhania Trophy to the winning owners of Zarzaitine. In his address from the presentation, Mr Bajaj admitted that this was the first time that he had visited any racecourse. He also revealed that he loved horses and had a huge painting of a horse created by the famous artist MF Hussain. He said, “It is a unique painting depicting a two legged horse and we named it “Chetak’, the name of our largest selling brand of scooters.” He also wished the RWITC for the future and before concluding his address advised the Club to ensure the open space of the racecourse is kept so and not to yield to any political pressure obviously referring to the latest talk on plans to use some of the racecourse ground for a flyover or any such ideas.
Zarzaitine (Diffident – Sensuality) won the race end to end. Setting up a comfortable pace, Zarzaitine entered the straight with a comfortable lead which proved to be decisively handy in the end. Zarzaitine (Imran Chisty) passed the distance post clear of the field and there seemed no worthy threat to her march towards the winning post. Ambrogio warmed up far too late but put in a fast gallop. However, she could only narrow the margin of victory. Siroco finished an eye-catching third and is one for the note books, to be followed in Pune.
Imran Chisty rode a well-planned race and Zarzaitine was his third winner of the day. He started his day’s assignments with a impressive victory astride Viceroy (Twist And Turn – Vibrance) from the stables of Hormuz Antia. Sitting well up with the front runners, Viceroy took charge midway up the straight and once in charge never looked like surrendering his control over the race. The significant one to move up from the rear was Nara, who was the most impressive from amongst the beaten brigade despite ending behind Elementto Trance. Nara and Can Can were at the tail end of the field even as they turned for home. Both made rapid ground in the final furlong to end within touching distance of the runner up, and not too far from the winner.
Wahy (Alnasr Alwasheek – Armetta) enjoyed heavy support in the betting and won without causing any anxiety to her backers. Unperturbed even as Medtias Pride opened up a huge lead at the turn, Wahy (Imran Chisty) bridged that gap effortless and passed the leader to notch up a sizable lead and win easing up in the last few metres. Catalyst came from behind to take the runner up berth while Encouragement earned the place money.
The Karl Umrigar Trophy Div I was won by Shroff-trained Snowden. Slickkit did put up a challenge as they raced together into the straight, but Slickkit ran slightly erratic and shifted under pressure making it a lot easier for Snowden to run away. However, Snowden was finishing on powerfully and no one should take away any credit from the daughter of Placerville and Snow Dew. She showed remarkable improvement on her last run and the filly is truly progressing well. Theodoros improved to come into place money. Slickkit will live to fight another day.
It was a pleasant sight watching son Yohan Shroff present father Pesi Shroff the karl Umrigar Trophy – named after Yohan’s uncle. Karl Umrigar’s accidental demise on this very racetrack years ago is perhaps the most tragic occurrence on the famous Mahalaxmi racecourse. Just in his teens when the dreadful mishap occurred, Karl had won many hearts as a champion jockey and the entire racing industry mourned his untimely demise.
The Div II of the Karl Umrigar Trophy was won by Marine Zone (Warrshan – Halos And Horns) in a thrilling finish. Ran Banka had stolen a march in the straight and past the distance post still held a sizable lead. Inside the last 100 metres Marine Zone came up with a splendid gallop and breezed past Ran Banka in a flash. Golden Kingdom did not quicken as he would have liked but managed to put his nose in front to push Ran Banka to the third spot.
Trainer Nirad Karanjawala who had been knocking on the doors finally scored a good victory when his ward Solid Rock returned triumphant in the opening race of the day. Chasing Molto Bella all the way into the straight, Solid Rock shot into the lead soon after. He however, was under constant threat from the sustained challenge from Secret Agenda. The pair fought hard but in the final stages Solid Rock (Barood – Sonalika) showed a lot of grit and surged ahead to compile a well fought victory.
Tsesebe (Indictment – Estonia) turned up in the final stages as if equipped with a pair of wings to fly past a grimly fighting duo - Born Special and Alexus. Born Special had built a good lead as they straightened up and Alexus came in full of running to challenge. Tsesebe was out of the picture at this moment, and if she was making any progress it was stealthily as the focus was on the front pair. Favourite Grand Warrior was not sighted and was never in the hunt. In the final furlong, Tsesebe burst on the scene, full of running to simply trounced Born Special and Alexus in a scintillating burst of speed.
The day provided a great package for the race goers. The Casino Royale group had specially erected an air-conditioned hangar for the members and various gaming tables had plenty of members trying their luck at the roulette and Black Jack corners. Russian Dancers enthralled the patrons with some lively performances that had the crowds screaming for an encore. The Casino Royale Multi Million, despite only three runners saw an electrifying finish from Aristocratic. A motor cycle and an LCD were special prizes given to the patrons from the 1st enclosure and the Members prizes comprised of a free trip to Goa with betting coupons worth thousands of rupees promising a thrilling and adventurous night at the Casino Royal vessel off Goa.
