The day started well for followers of money as Jasbir Singh-trained Rithambhra closed as the favourite in the Citibank Handicap. The filly, which had tasted success in Mohit’s hands a couple of days earlier, carried her mandatory penalty of 5kg to a hard-fought triumph. At one time, it looked as if Royal Dance may pull off an upset victory but Mohit kept pushing Rithambhra and she fought back admirably to win by a head.

Patrick Quinn-trained Ocean Element was backed to the exclusion of all others in the Maidens race for the Alaskan Handicap. It was a bold gamble on a filly in her maiden start. Imran Chisty had to pull out all stops to land the spoils as David’s Pearls Of Wisdom threatened to make it a start-to-finish affair. The rest of the runners were never in it.

Twelve-year-old Magic Mantra displayed that he still has a zest for racing when he won the Sholay Handicap close home after staving off a great challenge from top-weight Sea Sprite. That was the closest apprentice Mahesh got to becoming a full jockey as he ended the season with 39 winners – one short of full-jockey status.

The favourite Smiles had all the chances but failed in the run home. Trainer R Alford was more than a little disappointed with apprentice Srinivas Rao’s soft handling of the favourite. It must be said that trainer Vikash Jaiswal has maintained Magic Mantra in tip top condition as the aged runner had gone down narrowly to All Time High a couple of days earlier.

The second half of the afternoon saw all three favourites from the Daniel David stable bite the dust. Celtic Charm had no answer to the pace of Palme Dor as the latter made every post a winning one. Top-weight Cameo came with a run in the straight to occupy the runner-up berth.

David’s Legendary Emperor was well backed in the Colonial Handicap and he looked as if he might pull it off at the top of the straight but alas, he just doesn’t seem the sharp sprinting type. Neeraj Rawal brought Pine Valley with a stupendous run opposite the grand stand to register a brilliant win for his stable.

Last but not the least, came the afternoon’s biggest shocker in the form of Glorious Knight. The even-money favourite Whispering Wind appeared to have shaken off his nearest rival Highland Prince and was cruising along to what looked like a comfortable win till Glorious Knight was brought win a great run by jockey M Krishna.

WINNERS AND RUNNERS-UP
Trainers’ championship:	Winner: Vijay Singh; Runner-up: Daniel David
Jockeys’ Championship:	Winner: Christopher Alford; Runner-Up: A Imran Khan
Leading Owner :	Mr Deepak Khaitan
Horse Of The Season:	Aamar Kaku (trainer Javed Khan)
RCTC Tipsters Cup:	Winner: The Times Of India; Runner-Up: Racing Guide (Fonn & Co)
RCTC Tipsters Tally:	Winner: Racing Guide (Fonn & Co); Runner-Up: The Telegraph