Pesi Shroff trained Costa Del Sol slammed the opposition in style to claim the Gr 1 Poonawalla Breeders` Multi-Million, the richest race for juveniles, which featured the long card of 10 events that were framed for Sunday`s races. The Manjri Stud Farm bred Cost Del Sol enhanced the growing reputation of his sire Phoenix Tower with a dominant performance.

In the absence of an imposing performer in the fray, the mantle of favouritism fell on Kolkata challenger Multitude who had three wins to his credit. Outstation juveniles have found it hard to make a mark straightaway without a run benefit as they fail to get adjusted to the pace of the race which is a yard faster than what they are used to. This has a bearing on their performance. It proved so as Multitude who had every chance having been positioned well for the final assault, failed to produce sparkling acceleration and found himself outpaced to eventually finish fourth.

Costal Del Sol who had gone down to Bangalore challenger Eternal Flame was the second favourite with ante post favourite Phoenix Tiger being withdrawn from the fray. Marine One who played up after being stalled was withdrawn. Golden Belle did the job of a pace setter with Columbiana in close proximity ahead of Multitude. Costal Del Sol was in about the seventh position with jockey Trevor Patel choosing to come little wide to get a clear run. Columbiana shot into the lead with about 300 metres left in the race, with Multitude unable to change gear. The complexion of the race changed within the next 100 metres as Costa Del Sol came home with a lightening run and sailed clear of Columbiana to record a facile win. Oxford Opinion moved a place in the closing stages of the race necking out Multitude to finish third.

The usual buzz about the race was missing as some of the juveniles which had impressed not being in the fray as they were not entered for this race. There is no provision for final entries for this particular race in Mumbai as the bulk of stake money is intended to come from entry fee though it is the largesse of the Poonawalla Million which is responsible for the huge stake money. Possibly some changes could be made either by postponing the race to second week of March or having provision of final entry with a whopping fee. Since the race is held in the third week of February, many of the first season runners come into the fray rather late in the day for them to make the cut for this big race. As a result, it is possible that breeders are also wary of entering their wards in this race when they are not sure whether they would be precocious or not.

Another Pesi Shroff ward Adam recorded a hat-trick of wins by winning the 1400 metres Rusi Patel Trophy, a race for horses rated 80 and above. Adam easily had the measure of front running Mykonos and One Kept Secret to post a comfortable win. Papakura finished late coming within striking distance of the eventual winner. One cannot gauge the depth of Adam as he has been confined to handicap races only and his real worth will be known when he graduates into graded race company.

Prakash trained Merchantofvenice who had gone down in the closing strides of the race in his last outing, justified the favouritism in the 1000 metres Serum Institute of India Trophy, a race for horses rated 60 to 86. Jockey Sandesh let Ravello to expend his energy in front before pushing the favourite to take charge in the final furlong. Merchantofvenice easily bounced clear and had no problem in staving off the late bid of Jimbo.

Altaf Hussain trained Imperial Princess won the 1200 metres Satinello Trophy (Div I), a race for maiden three year olds, despite drifting out to the outer rail. Aliboxer looked like he could benefit from the wayward drift of the fancied runner but Imperial Princess proved too good in the end. Rajendra trained Dancing Lord produced a strong effort in the closing stages of the race to measure favourite Confiance to win the lower division of the race. The odds on Bulldozer drifted out dramatically and his poor performance was in keeping with the market expectations.

While Bulldozer failed to oblige, another Faisal Abbas trainee literally conned the punters to deserting him and opt for Magic Vision in the 1200 metres Hong Kong Jockey Club Trophy (Div I), a race for lowest category horses. The odds on Con Man drifted out resulting in Magic Vision getting one sided support. Magic Vision shaped to win when she opened up a good lead in the final 200 metres but was floored by the late burst of Con Man who managed to put his neck in front at the finish. Rock The Turf overcame a none too impressive break from the gates and collared the front runners with a powerful run in the homestretch to win the lower division of the race from Secret Oath.

Mansoor Shah trained Midnight Dancer completed a hat-trick by winning the 1600 metres Sir Victory Sassoon Gold Trophy, a race for horses rated 40 to 66. Though the filly was coming back in distance, she covered the leeway on the front runners swiftly in the straight and opened up what turned out to be a winning lead. Another horse which was also coming back in distance, His Highness, took a long time to warm up and though he finished with a rush, he fell short by a whisker. Shining Path ran on to finish third.

The easiest win of the day was achieved by Noshir Cama`s Zazou who recorded her second straight win by a distance. She left the field stranded in the straight to claim the 2400 metres Intervalve (India) Ltd Trophy, a race for horses rated 20 to 46. Marcos was second. In the form that she is in, Zazou should bag a few more races.

Colm O`Donoghue drove out lesser fancied Soul Speak to contain the challenge of Nirbhaya to win the Dr Goolam E Vahanvati Gold Trophy, a race for horses rated 40 to 66. Satellite once again attracted solid support only to let down all over again. The race is named after the former Attorney General of India who passed away last year. Goolam as he was known in his friend`s circles was a great racing enthusiast with vast knowledge of horse racing and had huge collection of books on horse racing.