Believe bags FD Wadia Trophy

Representational Image. Pic Courtesy/iStock

Believe (Planetaire - Noble Lady), trained by S Waheed and ridden by Vishal N Bunde, stunned his more fancied rivals in the grade 3, F D Wadia Trophy, the feature event of Sunday's seven-race card. The three-year-old son of Planetaire (15/1) was summarily neglected in the betting ring as Misty (P Trevor up) received overwhelming support to end up favourite at 6/4, causing the odds on the ante-post favourite Time And Tide to drift from 12/10 to 9/4. In the homestretch, when Time And Tide (PS Chouhan up) overhauled leader Chilly Lady to assume command, Bunde immediately set alight Believe to eclipse the new leader, and went on to win almost unchallenged.

Just an hour earlier, trainer S Waheed all but won the Petronia Plate with another 15/1 shot (Star Gallery ridden by apprentice Haridas Gore), but PS Chouhan astride the Pesi Shroff-trained Rush, who was badly held up behind a wall of horses, managed to get up just in time to sneak along the rails, and tricked Star Gallery to win a "nose" verdict in photo finish.

Also Read: Quadrangular contest for FD Wadia Trophy in Pune

In the Mysore Race Club Trophy, the supporting event for class I horses over ten furlongs, trainer Adhirajsingh's Golden Kingdom posted a stylish wire-to-wire victory in the hands of PS Kaviraj. Rasputin (Akshay Kumar up) moved up too fast but too late to pose any effective threat to the winner, even as the hot favourite Supernatural (P Trevor up) failed to quicken at a crucial juncture.

The in-form apprentice jockey Mustakim Alam rode his 30th winner when steering popular choice Prince Igor first past the post in the lower division of the Secret Romeo Plate. He will now be entitled to only 1.5 kg allowance until he rides his 40th winner, and attains "full jockey" status. Jockey P Trevor was the sole professional who won more than once on the Sunday card, winning the first race with the Bezan Chenoy-trained Cellini and the last race with the Malesh Narredu-trained Adamas.