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The speedy trio of Desert Rule, Blink and Cielo Rey set a good pace in the backstretch, but were unable to improve any further after taking the final turn. Imran Chisty and Polish Patriot remained in touch with the leading trio and the pair was a couple of lengths ahead of Shotgunn and the others. Imran chose the better ground towards the centre of the track, and eased his mount into a comfortable lead as the runners straightened for home. Sampson urged Shotgunn to go in chase, and the two market leaders began to tear away from the others. It ceased to be a contest thereafter, as the front runner was getting stronger and stronger. Polish Patriot maintained his hold on this event and kept a heavily whipped Shotgunn at bay. Equidae rallied late to finish a respectable third. The runner-up will surely get his turn to pick up a similar race in the very near future.
By scoring the above mentioned victory, Imran Chisty became the only jockey to score a double for the day. He had already steered Arjun Mangalorkar's Sky Glider to a pillar-to-post win in The Chaitanya Chakram Trophy. This scurry for maiden Indian horses was considered to be a match race between Prasanna Kumar's Spark Of Desire and Ganapathy's Elite Land. The two of them had run some forward races in recent weeks while figuring on the result boards. Sky Glider's last effort was extremely poor. She had ended a poor last of eight runners, and her rider had reported that she had been "scratchy throughout the race". Spark Of Desire was noticed to be swishing her tail in the paddock, and the favourite looked distinctly uncomfortable on her way to the starting gates. An upset looked possible, and that is exactly what happened. Sky Glider went to the front and stayed there. Elite Land challenged in the straight but his efforts looked feeble. Spark Of Desire had little interest in the proceedings as she continued to move her tail while racing in the rear. She made up ground in the straight to end on the haunches of Elite Land and took the third slot.
Trainer Irfan Ghatala was the only other professional to score a double. He was assisted by Suraj Narredu in his efforts to win the day's opener. It was another maiden's event, but over a much longer seven furlongs. Debutant Sunstone made all the running, and lasted out to win by a head from the late finishing Love Me Tender. A better jockey on the runner-up could have reversed the verdict, as Ranjeet Singh's finishing efforts looked very feeble. The heavily backed Americus flattered till the bend before getting tired in the straight. The well-bred winner is a nice looking specimen and has a lot of scope for improvement.
The other winner for Irfan came in the form of Logan's Run, who capitalized on the situation by winning his first start on demotion. The trainer pitched him amongst horses of his own age group, and Logan's Run proved to be better than them. With Poetic and the favourite Spark Of Isis setting a strong pace in front, jockey Paswan decided to bide his time. He managed to hold back Logan's Run till they came into the final furlong. He released his brakes thereafter, and the response was immediate. Logan's Run bounded forward to win by a widening margin from Poetic and a tired Spark Of Isis.
A sprint race for horses in Class IV witnessed a popular victory for A Move To Remember. Apprentice Gautam Raj was declared to ride this top-weighted runner. The boy reported sick and in a strange occurrence, the stipes replaced him with a full jockey. The three kilo allowance suddenly vanished. It isn't clear as to how this was allowed. This sort of precedents can lead to further complications, as other stables can ask for similar replacements in future. However, the colt was too good for his opponents, and this he proved by his front-running performance. A Move To Remember led from the start, and under the vigorous urgings of P Mani, managed to hold the late charge of Ice Mint and Sparkling Cat.
Puttanna'a Lester shocked the followers of form by sailing past Kingdomofdreams and Time Flies in the final furlong of The DS Ranganath Memorial Cup. Rookie jockey Harsha was sitting comfortably in seventh spot before this 100/1 outsider began to gallop. He picked up a bunch of tired front-runners and won on the outer strip of the track. Lester's ultimate acceleration took everybody, including his rider, by surprise. The shocked rider was seen jubilantly waving his arms in utter disbelief.
The day ended with another outsider picking up the last race in the day's card. Astounding Blue and Bid For Glory were installed at the top of the betting boards. The two of them were considered to be a cut above class in this group, and both the camps were equally confident of their charges in this race. With Astounding Blue refusing to take a level start, and virtually walking out of the gates, racegoers began looking for Bid For Glory. The five year-old was struggling to keep pace with the leaders and was languishing in the rear. The front-running pair of Perfect Analysis and Vayuputra was soon passed by a free striding On a Roll. He came with a flourish and established a winning lead over the others. John made free use of the whalebone to guide him past the final post. Astounding Blue made up acres of ground from the rear to dislodge Vayuputra from the second spot.
