Nazak Chenoy trained Commander fought resolutely with favourite Congressional before putting his neck in front at the all-important end of the 1600 metres Southern Command Gold Trophy, a terms race for four-year-olds and over, the feature event of Sunday`s Pune races. Quite a few long shots spoilt the day for punters.

Commander is an erstwhile winner of the Pune Derby and his last performance was indicative of an early success. However, Congressional enjoyed more support for the simple reason that the Bezan Chenoy trained progeny of Multidimensional had run Dancing Prances close in his last effort over seven furlongs. And that effort certainly had come against more accomplished runners. As such, Congressional was widely believed to be better than Commander who was long in the tooth. Jockey Neeraj Rawal took Congressional on a start to finish mission, with Brahmachari for company, followed by Strategic Move, Commander and Rule Down Under who was yet again sluggish at the start. Congressional held the lead deep into the straight and was strongly challenged by Commander even as the others faded out of contention. Suraj Narredu was able to extract that bit extra from Commander who managed to put his neck at the all-important end. Brahmachari ran on to finish third.

Narendra Lagad trained Valentino had been running consistently without winning. She had a fair chance to win the 1200 Change of Luck Trophy, a race for horses rated 40 to 66 but the market favoured Vistana and Dazzling Dancer more than the rest. My Freedom and Vistana were engaged in a stiff battle for supremacy in the final furlong when Valentino joined issue on the wide outside and sped past them to record a narrow win over late-finishing Dazzling Dancer who ran out of ground in the end. My Freedom nosed out Vistana to get the third place.

Imtiaz Sait trained Day Dreamer proved too good for the opposition in the 1600 metres Sweet Memories Trophy, a race for horses in the lowest category. Suraj Narredu had Day Dreamer dictate the pace from the start and the progeny of Phoenix Tower proved so superior that he finished well clear of the rest by a margin of four lengths over Glorious Hymn and Samurai.

The 1800 metres Damodharan Pillai Trophy, a race for horses in 20 to 46 category, saw Unforgettable You being backed strongly to land the spoils ahead of Frosty and the rest. Unforgettable You led in earnest on turning for home and had the lead till the final stages of the story. Striking Story who took his own time to warm up in the straight finished powerfully and managed to get the better of favourite in the shadow of the post. Frosty failed to pick up speed when the race came on the boil and ended up a tame third.

Suraj Narredu had it easy on Quixotic in the 1200 metres Pelican Trophy (Div I), a race for maiden three-year-olds. The favourite went on a start to finish mission and though Quixotic cut an erratic course in the final furlong under pressure, he had the race sewn up a longway from home. Firenze chased in vain and was unable to bridge the lead established by the eventual winner. Beneficial was third. The lower division of the race was won by the well backed Forward Thrust who overcame a sluggish start and made a powerful dash in the final furlong to land the spoils with a fair degree of comfort. Firebolt was second ahead of Trevelyan.

Dallas Todywalla trained Art Deco shaped like a winner all the way in the straight except the final few strides of the 1000 metres Warsaw Pact Trophy (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 46. Art Deco slackened in the shadow of the post and Gran Paradiso who warmed up to the task in the final furlong, managed to surge ahead in the final moments of the race to win at fancy odds. Altus held off Spark of Trium for the third place. The lower division of the race turned out to be an anti-climax with the favourite Motherland who was expected to record an encore, losing her chances at the gate itself. Thereafter she swiftly improved position to come into contention but the effort had taken its toll. Motherland weakened to finish last. Longshot Bidstone Hill who held the lead all the way in the straight just about lasted out to win from late-finishing Ame and Riot of Colours in a three-horse photo finish.