Trainer Pesi Shroff stole the limelight on Sunday at Mahalaxmi on the occasion of Zavaray S Poonawalla's racing carnival celebration.
Mahalaxmi racecourse in Mumbai. Pic/Shadab Khan
Trainer Pesi Shroff dominated Sunday's race card at Mahalaxmi racecourse in Mumbai, showcasing his exceptional training prowess across multiple graded events.
In the feature race, the CN Wadia Gold Cup (Gr 2), powered by Zavaray S Poonawalla, Shroff's horses swept the top three positions. Kings Gambit, ridden by A Prakash, registered an easy victory, pulling clear to win convincingly. Stable companion King Ke (Vivek G up) finished second, while Red Bishop (P Trevor up) secured third place. Both the winner and runner-up carried the colours of owner Vijay Shirke.
Mile record rewritten
Earlier Shroff had won the supporting graded event, the Maharaja Sir Harisinghji Trophy (Gr 3), also powered by Zavaray S Poonawalla. Zuccaro (Yash Narredu up), returning after more than a year off the track, stunned the field by setting a new track record for the mile in 1:33.96 seconds. The six-year-old, carrying the silks of KN Dhunjibhoy, produced a remarkable late surge. He raced last early on, then exploded on the outside in the final furlong with gigantic strides to nose ahead at the wire. Shroff's other entrant, Psychic Star (Vivek G up), the pre-race favourite, accelerated brilliantly in the homestretch, and looked like running away with the race, only to be overhauled by Zuccaro in the final stride.
Shroff also bagged another grade 3 race with D'Artgnan (Vivek G up) who posted a stylish victory in the Shapoorji Pallonji Breeders' Juvenile Colts' Championship; however, his Angelisa failed to collar trainer Shazaan Shah's Vortex (P Trevor up) in the Forbes Breeders' Juvenile Fillies' Championship.
In the Zavaray S Poonawalla Sprinters' Challenge over six furlongs, Dream Seller (trained by PS Chouhan, ridden by P Trevor) produced a strong performance. He moved up menacingly to overtake Social Butterfly (A Sandesh up) and drew away for an authoritative victory.
Trainer Sait honoured
In a special ceremony veteran trainer Imtiaz Sait was felicitated by the race club for completing 50 years in the profession. A specially created short film about Sait's successes was screened on giant screens in front of a huge crowd, as Sait, with wife and daughter by his side, was offered pagdi and shawl as a mark of respect by the RWITC chairman Surendra Sanas.
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