The Imtiaz Sait groomed filly Zafayona (Mr Mellon – Zarzuela), who has inherited stamina from her grand dam Little Cinderella whose son Protégé won the Indian St. Leger in 2004, played the waiting game to perfection which allowed her to lift the Jewel Square General Rajendrasinhji Million, the feature event of Sunday`s races, in style.

In her previous run Zafayona`s had gone down by a whisker to Amoresque, who foiled her pillar-to-post mission over a seven-furlong journey. But Suraj Narredu had clear cut instructions to bide his time in the rear as Blue Mellon and Ocean Admiral took turns to show the way to the pack. At the final bend Amouresque took charge briefly but Ruia Stud Farm bred Zafayona produced a tremendous burst to flash past and stayed the on course till the end. B. Prakash, who has played second fiddle on twice the number of wins he has collected this season, appeared good on Beautiful Stranger before Suraj slammed the door in his face. In the end, the Saeed Shah trained favourite found the leeway too hard to bridge. Zillionaire, who is showing gradual improvement, finished third ahead of Ocean Admiral, who was squeezed out following a chain reaction initiated by Suraj Narredu when alerting Zafayona to her task at the bend. Amouresque was a major disappointment and probably found the extended beyond her compass.

	Zafayona (Suraj Narredu up), winner of the Jewel Square General Rajendrasinhji Million, being led in by trainer Mr. Imtiaz A Sait (left)

Imtiaz, whose candidates have not been as conspicuous as the hotly-fancied runners this season, bagged another winner right at the start of the day when Dashrath Singh piloted Forever Amber (Razeen – Romantic Alliance) shocked the on-money favourite Fire Vault in the dying moments of the derby trip. However, the sudden drop in Fire Vault stamina and going down to a horse whom he had beaten by a good fourteen lengths just two weeks back. If somebody wants to attribute Forever Amber`s victory to the handicap difference and the extra two-furlongs then it can be nothing but pulling wool over his own eyes. Yeah, the defeat of Fire Vault can be digested if somebody asks you to list it in the vagaries of the sport.

Well that blur aside and after riding Zafayona to victory, Suraj partnered Perpetuation and River Divine to complete a hat-trick. Perpetuation (Ontario – Analonarose) finally found her mark in the eleventh outing of his career. The Mansoor Shah trainee obviously got all the attention she deserved from her connections and winded up as the firm favourite before race time. National Glory unexpectedly broke away to build a lead of over a distance before the race took a serious turn and not surprisingly did the Lagad trainee blew up allowing Perpetuation to the get the better of him. Lunar Quest, the joint favourite, finished her forty winks only when the race was in the safe-keeping of Perpetuation and certainly saved her best for some other day. Prince Cyrus saved place money by the skin of his teeth from Only White, Splendid Secret and Solid Rock, who finished in that order.

Suraj had to pack a punch in his riding aboard River Divine (Royal Kingdom – La Tour D`argent) to wear down Stephane Ladjadj ridden Suzy Wong, who looked good to last the journey after taking over from Roses All The Way. But the S. K. Sunderji trained favourite, who recently got transfer orders from Robert D`Mellow`s yards, put in a resolute gallop to frustrate Suzy Wong. Hi Dolly and Wings of Angel finished behind them. By the way, Suraj got a chance ride on the winner as C. Rajendra reported sick earlier.

All the hard work done by Rajendra astride Star Treasure, who called the shots right from the word go, proved worthless when the long shot Berlusconi (Ikhtiyar – Highland Ghillie), the Nanoli Stud half-brother to Cabriolet, flourished under Malcolm Kharadi`s guidance to surprise the favourite in the last couple of strides. Star Treasure veered out under pressure leaving open a window of opportunity for Berlusconi. Even Freany blew up her chances by drifting out and eventually racing on the outer sand track. Satyamev Jayate ran on leisurely to finish third ahead of Freany.

Sanjay Kolse schooled filly Harmonica (Gaswar – Titanium) survived the fierce onslaught of Flaming Arrow only because of Imran Chisty`s strong handling which helped her keep her rival at bay. Sea Value was unable to reproduce her last-outing brilliance as she plodded to finish third.

The Rehanullah Khan trained and apprentice A. Sandesh ridden Soophie (Pennine Ridge – Ganadora) went wide at the bend yet proved far too superior for favourite Highland Vision, who ended up playing bridesmaid after a late rally.

Despite being tightened by stablemate Watch Out in the initial stages of the race, Trevor Patel aboard Chingari (Ontario – Miss Formidare) held his nerves to recover from the setback and brought back Narendra Lagad`s ward into contention. The filly literally flew in the final stages of the race and snatched the race from right under the nose of early leader Towering High, who is reported to returned home with burst blood vessels. Prince of Troy, Ijlal and Fantastic finished in close proximity of Chingari and Towering High.