Santissimo bags A Campbell Trophy

Representation pic

Offered at the unplayable odds of only 12 paise to a rupee, the Pesi Shroff-trained Santissimo set his own pace to bring the small field into the homestretch, and then ran away from his three hapless rivals to win the A Campbell Trophy, the feature event of Sunday's eight-race Mahalaxmi card. Owned by Gautam Lala of Gainsville stud in partnership with KP Rungta, JD Gupta, Saleem Fazelbhoy and A Siddharth, Santissimo was ridden to victory by jockey P Trevor.

The same trainer-jockey pair also won the lower division of the Dr Jagjit Singh Trophy for Class IV horses with four-year-old Colt Chagall in the orange and black silks of Mr & Mrs CF Palia. After combining to win the double, both Shroff and Trevor also separately notched up one more point each, ending the day with three winners apiece.

Trevor's third win came when he posted a stylish victory in the Class III Gateway Of India Plate with Shambala (Planetaire - Ice Cube Baby), trained by Ms Nazak Chenoy who owns the three-year-old colt in partnership with JH Damania.

Also Read: Dream Seller bags RCTC Cup

Win to lose

The father-son pair of trainer Malesh Narredu and jockey Yash, who had a forgettable Pune season with only one win, got off the mark on Sunday when Among The Stars won the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy (VI Bart) Trophy for maiden two-year-olds on the racetrack, but their joy was short-lived. Jockey Vivek G astride the Pesi Shroff-trained Matisse, who faced interference from the winner in the final furlong, lodged a protest with the stewards who, after due deliberation, upheld the objection and reversed the order of placings. Matisse was Pesi Shroff's third winner of the day, but due to the unique circumstances, neither he nor owners KN Dhunjibhoy, ZK Dhunjibhoy, Ms Anosha Meyers & Vispi R Patel could lead in the Kingda Ka -Darinza colt.

Spectacular Suraj

The supporting event of the card, the Director General Of Police Trophy for Class III horses, saw three-year-old colt Inquilab getting a spectacular ride from jockey Suraj Narredu who managed to galvanize the Imtiaz Sait-trained Planetaire - Sapphire Rose colt to surge ahead with a decisive dash at the most crucial juncture of the race. Inquilab is owned by filmmaker Milan Luthria and his wife Liane, in partnership with Mr & Mirs Homi Mehta and Jehangir Mehta.

The Sunday card opened with an effortless victory by Floyd (TS Jodha up) in the VR Menon Plate for four years & older horses in Class V. Trained by Behram Cama for owner Jaydev Mody, the son of Quasar treated his rivals with utter contempt. The upper division of the Dr Jagjit Singh Trophy was won by Earth, owned by Vikram Bachhawat and trained by Sanjay Kolse, in the hands of jockey A Sandesh.

Jockey R Ajinkya astride three-year-old Desert Classic (Phoenix Tower - Evelyn's Dancer) stunned his more fancied rivals in the Captain G Hall Trophy at the lucrative odds of 8-to-1. Desert Classic was recently transferred to trainer PS Chouhan's stables after change of ownership to MN Mirza.