I was confident Treat would win: Trainer Sait

Jockey Neeraj Rawal powers Treat to victory in the mid-day Trophy at the Pune racetrack on Friday, beating Black Thunder (TS Jodha up) and Rush (SG Prasad up). Pic/RWITC

Treat, the property of Equus Racing owned by Shyam Ruia, won the mid-day Trophy at the Pune racetrack on Friday. The three-year-old bay filly trained by Imtiaz Sait was given a clever ride by jockey Neeraj Rawal.

After a clean jump from the mile marker, Neeraj settled Treat in third position, behind Gimme and Distinguished, who set the pace for the mid-day Trophy. Opposite the clubhouse, Neeraj Rawal quickly made a dash for the lead, successfully sneaking in from the inside rails to take charge as the heads turned for home.

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This clever move ensured Treat gained a crucial two-length lead, and was never seriously threatened in the homestretch despite Rush (SG Prasad up) and Black Thunder (TS Jodha up) making desperate attempts to get level with Treat. The daughter of Moonlight Magic out of Plum Sugar thus won her second race from three career starts.

"She [Treat] had surprised me at Mumbai by beating a good horse [Knight Crusader] from my own stable," trainer Sait told mid-day in a post-race chat, "she also put up a good show in her first run here (at Pune), and then she worked very well on the trial track leading up to this race - so I was very confident Treat would win the mid-day Trophy."