25-to-1 shots Break Point, Pyrite win championship races

Mahalaxmi racecourse in Mumbai. Pic/Shadab Khan

Two rank outsiders, colt Break Point and filly Pyrite, stunned their respective rivals to bag the two championship events--the Shapoorji Pallonji Breeders' Colts Championship & the Forbes Breeders' Fillies Championship (both grade 3), which were slated as the prime events of Sunday's seven-race Mahalaxmi card.

Both winners scored at the astronomical odds of 25-to-1, but the victory of Break Point was more sensational. The SK Sunderji-trained three-year-old colt, bred at the Kehar Singh S & A Farm (Dreamfield - Sweet Caroline), suddenly veered out to the middle of the track approaching the 1200m marker, but jockey R Ajinkya did well to bring him back to the inner rails, and thereafter, saved every inch of ground he could, by sticking to that path all the way. When the piping-hot favourite The Panther (P Trevor up) could not quicken at a crucial stage, and Divine Hope (S Saqlain up) looked like stealing the race, Ajinkya deftly and stealthily picked up gaps between horses, and ably passed the leader from inside to corner the glory.

Also Read: The Panther, Running Star fancied for championship races

By contrast, Pyrite, ridden by Vivek G for trainer S Waheed, posted a stylish wire-to-wire victory to emerge as the champion filly. The Leitir Mor - Grey Allure filly bred at the Poonawalla stud jumped out quickly to lead the way. Jockey Vivek G, showing excellent judgment in controlling the pace, brought them all into the straight, and Pyrite then simply swept her rivals off their feet. All the three fancied runners--Running Star, Earth and Spanish Way--could not get anywhere near her despite the best efforts of their riders, the last-named managing to take up the runner up berth, but a respectful distance away from the winner.

The J Rustomji Sopariwala Trophy for maiden 3y old horses was won by Fast Approach who made every post of the five furlong sprint a winning one. Jockey P Trevor astride the winner stepped up speed to skip away at the two-furlong maker to work up a three -length lead, a move which helped the Fiero - Findlerhof colt trained by Sanjay Kolse to stay clear of both Celestial (PS Chouhan up) and Touch Of Gold (G Santosh up) who tried to close on him in the final furlong.

In the opening race of the day, the Pronto Pronto Trophy for class II horses, the Imtiaz Sait-trained Geographique (Neeraj Rawal up) sailed away for a comfortable victory over Vincent Van Gogh (P Trevor up). The father-son duo of trainer Malesh and jockey Yash Narredu claimed the J P Vajifdar Cup with Bubbly Boy; and Malet Spring, very well handled by jockey HM Akshay, won the Mogadishu Trophy for trainer Adhirajsingh Jodha. Jockey R Ajinkya and trainer Sunderji, who won the feature with Break Point, also won the Lahinch Trophy with Walter to end the day with a double each.