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The champion jockey scored again in the very next race of the day. Riding Neil Darashah's Brothers In Arms, Suraj rode a patient race on this favourite. The horse is known to be dickey legged and is raced sparingly by his master. He had finished a late second in his only start this season. With an extra furlong to travel, he was an obvious first choice today. While Pal Joey, Mystic Star and Oro Neiro set a strong pace in front, Suraj was in no hurry to catch up with them. Brother In Arms was seen racing in mid-group till well into the straight. Pal Joey was more than three lengths clear at the bend, but began to send distress signals at this stage. Brother In Arms and Hidalgo made a strong charge from the back and collared the frontrunner. The favourite scored by a length from the latter. Pal Joey ran a close third.
The Datta Jewellers Gold Trophy was split into two divisions. The first division saw one-sided support for Sharat Kumar's Voice Of India. With a couple of smart performances in his last two starts, the four-year-old had the credentials to score in this modest set. His job was made considerably easier by the fact that jockey Jagadeesh was not at his best on runner-up She's A Diamond. The boy lost his stirrups at the gates and regained them after a couple of furlongs. This made a huge difference to the chances of his mount. Voice Of India raced in his usual style. He was raced off the pace till the bend and was shown daylight thereafter. He galloped strongly and pulverised his opposition. Afsar rode a confident race on the winner, and by doing so, shared the professional honours with Suraj Narredu. Both the boys rode a couple of winners during the afternoon. Everblazing came with a long stretch run to finish close behind She's A Diamond.
The lower division saw a magnificent performance from Tejaswi's Bullish Luck. Satish Narredu's Burning Ambitions cornered most of the support and started as a 70/100 favourite in this race. Despite Suraj's efforts to get him into some sort of an advantageous position in the backstretch, Burning Ambitions was totally disinterested in the day's proceedings. He took down a lot of money by finishing more than ten lengths behind Bullish Luck. The winner tracked his stablemate Pokemon Master into the straight before assuming command of the situation. Bullish Luck was never off the bridle, and jockey Ashok Kumar had to look back repeatedly to realize that he was more than a distance clear of Pokemon Master.
The day's proceedings started with the two divisions of a sprint event framed for horses in the lowest class. Well-supported Wellington scored a long overdue success in the first race of the day. The nine-year-old is at the fag end of his racing career. It is unusual to see nine-year-olds being given a lot of work on the training track. Wellingtons trials indicated his well being and readiness to strike. Afsar Khan settled him nicely in third spot behind the leading pair of Gati Power and Son Of The Sun. He flew in the last furlong to get the better of Son Of The Sun near the winning post. Favourite Stillato ran on liesurely to take the third spot.
The other division saw a nice gamble being landed on Sirajuddin's Freedom Fighter. The four-year-old had been steadily brought down in weight and was known to possess a lot of initial speed. Sustained support for this runner saw him climbing right to the top of the betting boards. Jockey Vivek took a smart jump with this favourite and went into an early lead. He came into the straight with a distinct advantage over the other runners. Freedom Fighter was good enough to keep responding to his jockey's urgings and lasted out to win from a hard ridden Mexican Wave. Spread A Smile made a late charge from the rear to run into third place.
The afternoon concluded with a win for Ravi Shanker's Firey Business. This inconsistent performer is a slow starter and likes to gallop on the wide outside. She had no such problems today, as she took a good jump and occupied an advantageous position on the rails. She saved ground for most of the way before Shafiq decided to pull her out. Firey Business picked up momentum on the centre of the track and sailed past favourite Everlasting Joy. The latter was making a bold bid to carry the top weight to a start-to-finish victory. Peace Talks succeeded in pushing Everlasting Joy into third position.
