Mi Arion wins mid-day Trophy

Mi Arion (PS Chouhan in red shirt) winning the mid-day Trophy from Toscana (R Ajinkya in green shirt) at the Mahalaxmi racetrack on Thursday [pic: RWITC]

Despite racing near the wrong end of the field until turning for home, the Dallas Todywalla-trained Mi Arion responded magnificently to jockey PS Chouhan's call and moved up with swift strides to thunder onto the scene in the mid-day Trophy, and before the front runners knew what was happening, Mi Arion dared the favourite Toscana who was being put into top gear by his rider R Ajinkya. A brief battle of wits and muscle ensued between the two going all out opposite the grand strand. Finally PS Chouhan and Mi Arion surged ahead for a decisive verdict of a length-and-a-quarter.

"This is my first mid-day trophy," trainer Dallas Todywalla was happy to share after the race.

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"I was badly placed," jockey PS Chouhan said in a post-race interview, "but the moment I asked him (Mi Arion) to go, he responded instantly."

In the opening race, the Race Mirror Cup, hot public fancy Leo The Lion (Mustakim Alam up) was the first to pass every post of the 2000m trip except the all-important one. The Vinesh-trained Galloping Glory, who was given a confident ride by jockey Bhawani Singh, swooped onto the leader in the final furlong to gain a half-length verdict. Another hot favourite bit the dust in the next race when Kimiko, trained by Karthik G and ridden by CS Jodha, beat favourite El Greco (C Umesh up) to claim the Indiarace.com Trophy.

Also Read: Coeur De Lion for RN Kanga Trophy

Baklava (Planetaire - Simply Sweet), who was the medium of a heavy gamble that saw him getting installed as race-time favourite, justified the confidence of his backers when he easily passed Ocean (Neeraj Rawal up) and won the Times Of India Trophy from the late-finishing Doron (J Chinoy up). Baklava was saddled by trainer Narendra Lagad and ridden by Mustakim Alam.

The Hindu Trophy saw a thrilling three way photo finish, but the hottest favourite on the card, the Pesi Shroff-trained Reminiscence (PS Chouhan up), was not among them. An inspired ride by R Ajinkya enabled Outlander to put his neck ahead of Portofino Bay (P Trevor up) and Majestic Warrior (Mustakim Alam up), with Reminiscence finishing fourth. Outlander was trained by SK Sunderji

Fontana (Kirtish Bhagat up) easily got the measure of Lion King (P Vinod up) who cut very fast fractions to set the pace for the Racingpulse.in Trophy. Fonatana was trained by Pesi Shroff.