Pesi Shroff trained Circle of Bliss romped home in the Gr 2 Irish Thoroughbred Marketing and Goff`s RWITC Ltd Gold Cup, the feature event of the concluding day`s races of Pune on Sunday. Pesi Shroff emerged as the champion trainer while Sandesh was the leading jockey. Yash Narredu, with 20 winners was the leading apprentice.

This year`s track contributed a lot to form going haywire as the character of the track was inconsistent with the underfoot conditions varying violently at different points especially where the monsoon track merged with the regular track. This year the entire track had been converted as a monsoon track but the soil underneath had not settled well causing the track to be slippery at several places. Horses were finding it difficult to get a firm foothold, with several of them slipping hurting their chances. One can only hope for a better track by the time the next year`s season comes around. Surely lot of work needs to be done to get the track to acceptable standards.

Be that as it may, Circle of Bliss had outstanding credentials to win the feature event with the terms of the race making things absolutely difficult for Bangalore challenger Agostini to have a realistic chance. Agostini was set to concede nine kgs to classic placed Circle of Bliss who was unlucky at least on a couple of occasions not to have won a Group 1 race. Jockey Sandesh relaxed Circle of Bliss in the rear as Clinton did the job of pace setting. Approaching the final bend, Agostini was cramped for room along the rails and had to be checked by Srinath. Agostini fell behind and had to circle round the field which robbed whatever faint chance the horse had of extending the favourite to the hilt. Starry Eyes had the first run on her opponents as she shot into the lead at the top of the straight but Circle of Bliss cruised up and easily collared the filly who had beaten her in the Indian Derby with the minimum of fuss. Circle of Bliss went away for an effortless win with Agostini covering ground in the straight and nosing out Starry Eyes for the runner up berth. The other runners in the fray only made up the numbers.

The season`s only two year old race, the 1000 metres TRM-GNP Million was won by Dallas Todywalla trained Polished Chrome who is by the first season sire of Poonawalla Stud Farm namely Arazan. Dallas has the distinction ofwinning the first juvenile race of the season for the last several seasons. Another ward of Dallas, Golden Belle was the firm favourite with the others in fray available at nourishing odds. Polished Chrome chased Golden Belle into the straight before bouncing clear to win in impressive fashion. After the failure of Ace to fire to expectations, the hopes of Poonawalla Stud Farm rests on Arazan and the success of Polished Chrome should be good news for the leading nursery of the country. Spirted Touch ran third but the one who showed promise while finishing fourth was the progeny of another first season stallion Admiralofthefleet namely Captain Courage.

Mansoor Shah trained Polydences who had disappointed in her last two starts after a smashing debut at Mumbai came good in the 1400 metres Coolmore Million, a race for three year olds, with a start to finish dash leaving the rest stranded behind. Speed King rallied well to get the second place ahead of Dramarama. Your Royal Majesty who was widely expected to win on the basis of his third to Bold Majesty in the Deccan Colts Championship, disappointed finishing a poor fourth, unable to handle the adverse underfoot conditions, losing the foothold midway through the race.

Trainer Amjad Khan led in a winner perhaps after an eternity when Free Speech thrashed the field at long odds in the 1000 metres Red Mills Committed to Indian Racing Trophy (Div I), a race for three year olds. Free Speech proved so superior that he had the race sewn up long way from home. Favourite Beach Game found himself out paced and all he could do was to finish a tame second. B Prakash trained Sunny Sea held off Statuesque to bring off a big upset in the lower division of the race which was also the day`s opener and set the tone for the rest of the day`s proceedings which saw several favourites being eclipsed.

Frankanella and An Jolie were both supported heavily in the betting ring to win the 1600 metres Democraticus Plate, a race for horses rated 40 to 66. Frankanella went on a start to finish mission and though she was strongly challenged by An Jolie, the front runner managed to keep the initiative till the very end.

C Rajendra trained Shaughnessy slipped into the lead inside the final 300 metres and skipped away to win the 1400 metres K-Club Vase (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 46 at nourishing odds. C S Jodha did not give a good helping hand to his horse as the Imtiaz Sait trainee was left to cover lot of ground in the straight having been positioned in the rear. Helping Hand improved along the rails with a rattle but it became futile as the lead conceded was too much to bridge and had to settle for the third slot behind Troppa Bella. S S Shah trained Feast of Love was an upset winner in the lower division of the race refusing to budge her place in front by fighting resolutely and staving off the strong challenge of fancied Summer Express and Brown Dynamite in a three horse finish.

Hoshidar Dajee trained Pappillon circled round the field at the final bend and then sped away to win the 2000 metres Assessed Plate, a race for horses rated 20 to 45. Oxbridge warmed up to the task late and had to settle for runner up berth.

Srinath drove out Minister on the wide outside to win the 1200 metres Thundering Power Plate, race for lowest rated horses at odds of 10 to 1 to end the day`s proceeding exactly the way it had begun. Clouds of Glory shot into the lead on turning for home but could not sustain it till the post.