Trainer Raunak Banerji`s top-weighted runner, Mr Gorgeous (Christopher Alford-up) scored a thumping victory in the 1,600m Governor`s Cup, Saturday`s feature event. The victory of the 3/1 shot was made easy by the morning withdrawal of Commander – on veterinary grounds, leaving Bharath Singh`s charge, Captain Cook (Trevor Patel), start as a firm favourite, at 11/10. Alford finished the day with a good treble, having also guided James Mckeown`s Occitan and Arti Doctor`s Taygetus to victory early in the afternoon.

Mr Gorgeous was ridden well off the pace while Captain Cook tried to win from the start, the horse`s usual tactics, with Vijay Singh`s Falcon (Munna Alam) in a hot chase. The winner joined the frontrunners, no sooner the field turned for home and was in driver`s seat well before the distance post. The battle, in fact, became fierce for the minor placings, which, ultimately, was won by another late finishing horse Copernicus (Akash Rajput) while Shourisha (Dashrath Singh) nosed out the favourite for the third slot.

Mckeown`s 6/1 shot, Occitan (Alford) displayed a good turn of foot on her way to winning the upper division of the Nahoum Karanjawalla Cup. Galloping sixth or seventh, and on the wide out, the Win Legend daughter dashed hopes of a heavily fancied first timer, Gloaming (Dashrath), from Javed Khan`s stable, who looked like delivering the goods.

An hour later, Alford was back in the winner`s enclosure when Taygetus recorded his fourth straight win while claiming the 1,400m RTCT Riding & Apprentice Jockey School Cup. It was Alford`s courageous demonstration of horsemanship which helped the champion jockey score on the 14/10 favourite. Hemmed up behind the fighting leaders – Splash Proof (Neeraj Rawal) and Murlough Bay (Anil Baandal) -- inside the last furlong, Alford bisected a risky gap, offered by the fighting pair, to score easily.

The lower division of the Karanjawalla Cup was picked up by Vijay`s hot favourite He Calls The Shots (Neeraj). The shade under two-length victory of the Multidimensional colt, however, hardly complimented his crammed odds of 4/10. The favourite had to be ridden hard to beat by Javed`s debutante, Sanvi (I. Khan) and Bharath`s Diamond Creek who made most of the running. Quite understandably, He Calls The Shots found the 1,100m scurry too short to his liking.

The performance of Vijay`s other charge Drops Of Jupiter (Neeraj), in the 1,400m Dasho Lhendup Dorji Memorial Cup, on the other hand, was impressive. The filly was a 6/1 chance in the betting, thanks to his poor last run after winning three races in a row. The Rebuttal daughter was a handy fourth till turning for home but was quick to join the 11/10 favourite – the long time leader – early in the stretch run. Taking over the running after a brief resistance, Drops Of Jupiter scored despite being erratic in the final stages of the race, allowing the two late finishers -- Raunak`s Arminius (Alford) and Manvendra Singh`s Theo (Hindu Singh) – look impressive in defeat.

Alford, riding Arti`s 14/10 favourite, Washington, and Neeraj atop Harivinder Bath`s Dixie Diamond, also came close to winning but their efforts were foiled by Javed`s almost equally fancied Francina (B. Mahesh) in the 1,600m Mauritius Belle Handicap. It was Francina`s late but electrifying gallop that sealed the fate of the two front runners and their jockeys.

Early in the afternoon, Javed`s Star One (apprentice Nikhil Naidu), had an easy measure of the opposition in the 1,100m Radio One Cup.

Trainer Vikash Jaiswal also fulfilled his daily quota of a win, albeit early in the afternoon. In the curtain raiser, the 1,600m Zelda Handicap, Vikash`s Native Speaker, ridden by brother, Vinay, raised a winning gallop in the stretch run to beat his stable-mate, Uptown Girl (Akash Rajput).