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Oyster Blue (Tirol – Marathon Maid) was made to sweat for his victory by Enticement who evidently has benefited from the mock race that he had as a lung opener fought through the latter half of the homestretch right up to the wire. Whispering Willows went past Rising Glory and Oyster Blue to snatch the lead as the field began to settle down. He held on until the last furlong before fading out of the picture. Oyster Blue got down to serious business early in the straight but had Enticement always lurking on his haunches, waiting for one false move. However, jockey DK Ashish was spot on with his guidance and gave no quarter. The pair easily passed the tiring duo and in the last furlong it was a thrilling battle which saw the on-money favourite sighing in relief at the arrival of the winning post. Enticement was rather unfortunate not to put it across the favourite and will live to fight another day. It was a brave performance by both, the winner and the runner-up as only a short head separated the two.
Ocean And Beyond (Kingsalsa – Sayuri) made a successful debut and thrilled his followers with a runaway victory. Second behind Twin Spice, Ocean And Beyond did not wait long to pass the leader and once in the lead he upped the ante and kept increasing the gap between himself and his rivals. Dignity Amplified went all out but was making no impression on the winner. She kept on going and Neeraj had to keep working till the end to take the next best position ahead of Star of Deccan who did well to run into place money.
Highland Flame (Glory of Dancer – Killarney) cut through horses and wove his way to an emphatic victory beating favourite Smoking Aces in a close finish. Unfortunately, Smoking Aces was found to have bled. That’s nothing to take away from Highland Flame as the Sunderji-trainee was resolute at the finish. The front bunch was closely huddled together with Highland Music, Scenic Silver, Fiery fox all going at full clip. Smoking Aces collared them all and dashed ahead. Meanwhile, Highland Flame was gaining on the inside but was waiting for a clear passage. The moment we saw daylight, jockey Imran Chisty poked through and Highland Flame came through with a gallant effort. In the final couple of strides, it was clear that Highland Flame was travelling better and Smoking Aces was fighting a losing battle. Estevez seems to have changed his tactics of hitting the front, but, in my opinion, this has not been as effective as he was in the past when he ran in the front.
Apache Indian (Burden of Proof – Star of Nature) lived up to the promise he had shown in his last outing while running a notable second to Fire Vault over an extended trip. He had, then, led the field into the straight before Fire Vault outpaced him in the final furlong and a half. This time he encountered no challenge and when the heavily backed River Minstrel moved to challenge him, Apache Indian got stronger under the able handling of jockey Samuel Fargeat and galloped further away from the favourite. Apache Indian looked in no trouble and walloped River Minstrel by a convincing margin. Prince Brijendra came from behind to earn the place money.
Cambiasso (Razeen – Gourgandine) put in a gutsy display and came with a power-packed finishing effort to grab the race out of Tyumen’s clasp. Alaska brought the field homeward and soon retired. Tyumen bounded forward to take charge with less than 300 to go. Past the distance post, Tyumen was looking good and Cambiasso seemed too far back to make an impact. With the winning post drawing nearer and Tyumen still galloping at a good clip, it needed an Herculean task to topple Tyumen. In the final 100, jockey Neeraj Rawal got Cambiasso to accelerate at a tremendous rate and timed his finish to perfection. Cambiasso came up full of steam to get to wire sparing just a neck to the gritty Tyumen at the winning post which never came too early for Cambiasso. Strauss ran a decent third just ahead of Blessings who didn’t do too badly either. Torcello surprisingly ran below par after being in a prominent position entering the straight.
Flaring Sun (Alnasr Alwasheek – Sure Future) showed that his last victory over the speedy Chancellor was no ‘fluke’ and powered his way to a fantastic victory, this time a better suiting distance of seven furlongs. Just as he did the last time, Flaring Sun came from the dead with a startling rush to collar the front runners in the last 100 metres. The Himmat Singh ward was closer to the rear end of the field on straightening up. Bright Future was going in full flow and Sea Queen was providing the leader with a stiff challenge. These two going stride for stride and were engaged in a grim battle with the winning post in sight. Flaring Sun moved up from the rails and cut through the gaps to join these two and immediately stride away to post an authoritative victory. Midsummer Knight disappointed, as he was expected to fight his way at the front after his awesome victory last time.
Track Thunder (Burden Of Proof – Track Charm) finally drew first blood over a mile after a couple of failures as a favourite. Racing in the rear for the most part of the journey, Track Thunder moved up swiftly midway up the straight. Bluebird had taken the lead early in the straight and was fighting off a determined Solor at the 200. Solor then got the measure of Bluebird who was clearly fighting a losing battle. Solor had barely taken over when Nana Raghunath’s Track Thunder came up with menacing strides and passed the duo with ease to register a well-earned victory.
Violetta (China Visit – Perpetual) provided some relief particularly to jockey Paul Mulrennan who had just lost out in two close finishes leading to the last race of the day. Paul snatched the initiative early in the straight and stepped up the pace in the final furlong. Royal Gesture brought the field home and was going well until the distance post. When Violetta appeared on the scene, however, he surrendered meekly and went out like a bulb. Silver Sands ran on to finish second. Red Tabasco covered ground to wrest the third place from Royal Gesture.
Among the professionals, besides trainer Sunderji’s treble, trainer Pesi Shroff saddled a double as did jockeys Samuel Fargeat, Neeraj Rawal and Imran Chisty.
