Pesi Shroff-trained Costa Del Sol finally bounced back to winning form, claiming the Gr 2 Aquaguard Championship RWITC Ltd Gold Cup, a terms race for four-year-olds and over, the feature event of final day`s Pune races held on Saturday. Costa Del Sol got a fortuitous opening inside the final furlong when Azzurro shifted out and the progeny of Phoenix Tower seized the opportunity with both hands and spurted ahead to win quite capably. Azzurro ran on strongly after spoiling his chances by veering out but nevertheless finished full of running to take the second spot ahead of B Fifty-Two.

Costa Del Sol can be deemed as a lucky winner as Trevor Patel on Azzurro was found wanting. He rode a strange sort of race. After being in a striking position, he lost ground as he was unable to correct the outward drift despite having ridden the horse so many times in the past. Costa Del Sol was provided with a dream opportunity after struggling to force a passage. Costa Del Sol shot into a decisive lead thereafter and won comfortably. Colombiana had a lot of supporters but the four-year-old put up a dismal performance.

Sandesh who emerged as the champion jockey of the season signed off with a fluent win astride Star One who had been knocking on the doors of success. Star One`s last run under an apprentice was best ignored but still the M K Jadhav trainee ran at lucrative odds. Sandesh had Star One lead the field from the start and the progeny of Stern Opinion stormed clear in the final furlong for a decisive win in the 1200 metres Shamu Chavan Trophy (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 46. Power Shadow got the second place in a tight finish with Ladislaus finishing third ahead of Country Music by a whisker. M P Jodha rained Mt Tianmen brought off a big upset in the lower division of the race. Mt Tianmen raced alongside of favourite Honey Dew till turning for home and then broke away to establish what turned out to be a winning lead. The lead established stood in good stead as Time of My Life came up with a late flourish only to find the front-runner reach the safety of the winning post. Isinit was a close third. Honey Dew disappeared a sight in the final furlong.

Jockey Neeraj Rawal drove out Harvey to stave off the late bid of Renee to win the 1200 metres Delhi Race Club Trophy, a race for horses rated 80 and above. Harvey got stronger in the final furlong and shook off Deep Diver to surge clear. Renee came up with a big run on the wide outside which could fetch the fancied runner the second place ahead of Deep Diver.

Rehanullah Khan trained Rising Brave pulled off a surprise in the 1400 metres Cielo Rey Plate (Div I), a race for maiden three-year-olds. Under S Mosin whose last win one does not remember when he achieved, Rising Brave hit the front from the start and held off a strong challenge from Shylock and late finishing House of Commons to win at big odds. Favourite Brabourne had no problem in winning the lower division of the race. Brabourne came into strong contention midway through the straight and bounced clear. His Master`s Voice showed intent with an aggressive effort but the favourite was always in control of the situation. Domination was warming up to the task when the issue was well settled.

Sanjay Kolse trained Victorio was guided to a narrow win by apprentice A Gaikwad in the 1000 metres Democraticus Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 46. Victorio led from the start and just about lasted out to win from late finishing Charging Tigress and Free Speech. The lower division of the race went the way of long shot Undisputed who got the measure of front-running Abbey in the closing moments of the race. Abbey shaped like a winner by going into what appeared a healthy lead in the final furlong but slackened close home which enabled Undisputed to get the better of the front-running favourite. Art Deco nosed out Bidstone Hill to get the third place.

The season`s only race for two-year-olds, the 1000 metres Tattersalls Million saw Malesh Narredu trained Sweet Music being backed down as if his defeat was out of question based on workouts. This race has always seen upsets as it is always difficult to predict how the first timers would convert track work into performance. Sunderji trained Elysee got the better of Sweet Music to land the spoils at long odds. God`s Own was third.

The well backed Diablo tracked Avakraz till turning for home and then broke clear of the rest to win the 2000 metres Hugo Plate, a race for horses in the lowest category in great style from Windhoek and favourite Morag.