Jasbir Singh-trained Quaoar lifted the Noble Fairy Cup in great style as other fancied runners failed to match strides with him in the straight. Despite a slight check after the jump-out, P. Chouhan hit the front almost immediately astride the joint property of Rahul Chopra, Y.J. Dastoor and D. J. Bulsara. In the straight, the speedster lengthened his strides even as B. Prakash astride Super Flash tried his utmost to narrow the gap. Quaoar closed in the ring at 6/4 while Super Flash was available at 5/1, as was third placed Leopardino.
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Sangoma was the first of two winners to produce an encore during the day. The Deepak Karki-trained runner made every post of the 1800 metres race for the Amazing Handicap a winning one. Apprentice Kishore Kadam had him racing up front from the word ‘go’ and staved off the challenge from the favourite Romantic Quest without too much fuss. Sangoma closed at 18//10.
Darius Byramji-schooled Bid For Gold was the half-money public choice in the race for the Mossy Bear Handicap but C.Alford atop the grey filly was in for a surprise as Embraceable kicked on in the straight under the Prakash’s hard riding. The rest of the six-horse field were also-rans.
A fascinating gamble on Ardent Prince came good as apprentice Arman Khan made every post of the Winfree Handicap a winning one. This was a non-winners field and the Errol Bhungard ward had been well prepared with a mock race. Little Mombo once again occupied the minor placings while Betelgeuse was seen to finish on well.
Validate produced a match-winning performance once again. The filly won the Metallic Handicap by almost four lengths after C. Alford had eased her up. She was available at ten-to-eight-on. Flaming Comet was outclassed but nevertheless finished runner-up. With this win, the Vijay Singh ward has three wins from as many outings - two of which are during this monsoon season. It will be interesting to see where she is placed next.
Pesi Shroff-trained Diyena was the rage of the ring in the last race of the afternoon but she struggled from the outset on the wet surface. Artistical collared Cromwell and appeared to be on the way to victory but Afzal Khan on Bath-trained Synergetic had other ideas as he brought the property of Mr. and Mrs Sol Noah with a fluent run on the outside. The winner was the biggest outsider of the day.
SAMARKHAND DISQUALIFIED: Samarkhand, the winner of the Bhishma Cup on July 25, 2009, has been disqualified for testing positive for caffeine.
