Outlander wins mid-day Trophy in a thriller

Representative Image

Four-year-old Outlander, ridden by apprentice rider Haridas Gore, won the mid-day Trophy at the Mahalaxmi racetrack on Thursday. Trained by Rehanullah Khan, the property of Jatin L Trivedi and Nitin H Jain scored a thrilling, last-stride victory over favourite Queens Pride (P Shinde up) as both of them flashed past the post locked together. The judge consulted the photo, and declared Outlander as winner. Outlander stopped the clock at 59.155 seconds, while Queens Pride logged 59.173 seconds to cover the 1,000m trip.

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Mirae and Mojo vied for lead as the starter flagged them off for the mid-day Trophy, closely followed by the favourite Queens Pride who met with some interference when she looked for a gap between the two. Outlander raced fourth or fifth at that stage, but started gaining ground after crossing the two-furlong marker. P Shinde put pressure on Queens Pride who moved up fluently to grab the lead, but Outlander and Haridas Gore went after her crossing the 200m marker. A neck-and-neck battle ensued, both going hammer and tongs, the lead alternating with every couple of strides all the way up to the winning post where Outlander managed to decisively nose out Queens Pride in the last stride.

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In the absence of senior jockeys who had refused to ride on the Thursday card (refer Jockeys' protest hits Thursday races, mid-day, March 8), apprentice riders Mustakim Alam and rookie Gagandeep Mann excelled in the saddle by riding two winners each. Mustakim won the first and the last races with the Imtiaz Sait-trained Rasputin and the Altaf Hussain-trained Mount Sinai, both mounts receiving strong support in the betting ring. Gagandeep Mann rode the 8-to-1 Marlboro Man to victory for trainer Subhag Singh, and followed it up with the SK Sunderji-trained Midsummer Star. Among trainers, Imtiaz Sait scored a brace with Rasputin and Supreme Spirit, and his feat was matched by SK Sunderji who led in Midsummer Star and Superlative.