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Jockey Vikram Jodha took a nice jump with the favourite and led on the rails from Loremo, Nice Guy, The Rolls and Much More. For no apparent reason, he allowed the favourite to fall behind her four pursuers as the runners made their way towards the final bend. The wide false rails saw the leading group race on the outer portion of the track, and the four of them were seen racing close to each other. Vikram Jodha ducked towards the inside rails and made his move at almost the same juncture. Rising Queen rallied under pressure, but was unable to handle the pressure of those on the wide outside. 50/1 rank outsider Much More stormed away to an unbelievable victory. R Ravi rode this winner for trainer Bobby. The Rolls and Nice Guy managed to pip the favourite for the minor slots.
Bobby had won the preceding race with Place Her Well. In a race which seemed confined to Native Strategy, Miss Ruby and Yankee Lane, this result was another "shocker". Hyderabad based Deep Shanker made the trip to ride this winner. The speedy pair of Miss Ruby and Yankee Lane set a scorching pace till the bend, and were almost abreast as they entered the straight. Place Her Well was noticed to be travelling comfortably at this stage. She made her move near the distance post and managed to get the better of Miss Ruby near the wire. Yankee Lane got exhausted after his initial efforts, and was the first to disappear from the scene. Super Sha ambled along to finish third. First favourite Native Strategy ran a pathetic race and was never in the hunt.
Trainer Kishore started the afternoon with a pair of winners. Romantic Design, who had flopped miserably as a favourite last week, sported a pair of wings and ran away from his opponents. Chandrasekhar pressed the button in the straight and the horse was quick to respond to his call. He sailed away from Bold Success to score an overdue victory. The double was completed when last outing winner Masurathi scored an encore, and managed to win by a nose from Witch Doctor. The two of them battled it out in the straight, and it was the bobbing of heads which decided the final outcome. Solitary Champ came from way off the pace to take the third spot.
Md Sajid's Good Speed had served notice of an impending victory by running a fair second to the speedy Miss Ruby in his last start. The seven year-old could not find anybody faster than himself, and had to forcibly set his own pace today. John rode him with a lot of care and understanding while achieving this success. He used his whip in the final furlong to win by a widening margin. He was more than five lengths clear of Secret Fury and Ahira at the finish. Favourite Winning Tale was unable to handle the stiff penalty that she had received for her earlier efforts.
The day ended on expected lines, as Sajid's Red Dawn justified the favouritism and scored a runaway victory. He had been running into some good opponents in recent months, but was managing to figure consistently on the board. The set was quite modest today, and his chances looked extremely bright. He ran on expected lines and came flying at the end to win from Tina's Triumph, Cannon Scot and Eona. The heavily backed Gris Rapide ran like a damp squib and finished in the ruck.
