Juliette stamps her class, likely to race abroad

Representation Pic

Super mare Juliette (trained by Karthik G and ridden by CS Jodha) completed the formality of winning the Threptin Fillies' & Mares' Stakes (Gr 3), the feature event of Sunday's seven-race card. Lying last in a five-horse field as stable-mate Trinket set the pace, the seven-year-old property of Zavaray Poonawalla and his family swept past them all before passing the final furlong marker, and bounded away to a glorious victory. "This was her last run in India," trainer Karthik revealed in a post-race interview, hinting that the owners will be exploring options to race Juliette in Dubai next year.

The day began with a close photo finish affair, involving three horses, in the lower division of the Rao Saheb Kedari Trophy. The verdict went in favour of the Imtiaz Sait-trained Silver Spring (Akshay Kumar up) who spared a neck to Lord Fenicia and India Strong. The favourite, Fancy Nancy, also trained by Sait, finished fourth, losing all chances when her rider Neeraj Rawal failed to force his way between Tess and India Strong at the the 400m marker.

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The upper division of the same race was won by the Pesi Shroff-trained La Belle (Kirtish Bhagat up), a three-yaar-old filly by Excellent Art out of Goldilocks, who outclassed her ten rivals. La Belle also sported the same silks as Juliette. Apprentice rider Haridas Gore gave an exemplary ride to Maysara who won the Betbricks7 October Handicap, setting her own pace and refusing to give in when veteran jockey YS Srinath astride Pure For Sure made an all out bid to challenge her. Maysara was trained by Hormuz Antia.

The Sunderji-trained Own Voice posted an authoritative victory against the small field she faced in the Yogender Singh Trophy, a class III contest over the mile trip. Trainer Imtiaz Sait, who had led in Silver Spring, also saddled another winner in Pyrrhus (C Umesh up) who defied his long shot status (10/1) to stun the field in the Pune Cantonment Board Trophy. The five-year-old mare Nairobi, trained by Nirad Karanjawala, made light of the 6.5-kg penalty she incurred for her last victory. She won the Chef D'Oeuvre Plate in the hands of SG Prasad.