Rajesh Narredu trained A Star Is Born was driven out by jockey Suraj Narredu to get the better of long-priced Taimur in the final stride of the race to win the Gr 3 Zavaray S Poonawalla Eve Champion Cup, a terms race for four-year-olds and over, the feature event of Saturday`s races. A Star Is Born was widely expected to have it easy but, in the end, A Star Is Born nearly looked beat one stage but rallied like a champion to oblige expectations.

Apprentice jockey A Prakash once again excelled in the saddle to boot home a treble.

The pace of the race in long-distance races often has an upsetting factor if the jockey on the favourite leaves things late. In the small field, Victorious Sermon set a modest pace followed by Caprisca, Taimur, A Star Is Born and Faith of Success. While Suraj preferred to wait with his horse as the favourite was travelling well within himself, Bhawani Singh on Taimur chased the front-runners vigorously at the final turn and went storming ahead. A Star Is Born found himself having to cover considerable leeway but the classic winner was game for the task and managed to get the nod in the closing moments of the race. Caprisca stayed on to take the third position while dual classic winner Faith of Success appears to have lost steam and finished a poor last.

The presence of champion trainer Pesi Shroff`s horses always poses a dilemma to the punters. Punters can ignore his horses only at their own peril as most of them look good enough to win. But the difficult part is to understand how exactly the horses are going to perform, whether they are short of work, need a run or are ready to win. Often, his horses end up being second best and at other times, win so impressively when they are neglected in the betting ring. On Saturday, it was a case of punters plumping for his horses and finding them finishing second best.

Botero was the favourite to win the 1800 metres Magansingh Jodha Trophy, a race for horses rated 40 to 65 as he had been running consistently in the previous season. Aah Bella who is still to break the maidens ranks had her share of supporters while there was quiet support for Adhiraj Singh Jodha trained Exemplify who had a win to her credit and then a lacklustre effort in the next star at Chennai. It is difficult to relate the value of the wins at Chennai as the quality of competition is much lower in that centre compared to Mumbai. But in this instance, the punters who opted for Botero were to regret the decision. Jockey Sandesh kept the progeny of Multidimensional out of Woman On Top way off the pace as Django set the pace with Botero in a handy second position. Botero shot ahead at the final turn and had a good lead even as Sandesh got busy on Exemplify. The latter covered the ground with menacing strides and bounced clear to win by an impressive margin of three lengths. Own Voice was third four lengths adrift while Aah Bella ran way below expectations. Botero appeared to be in need of this run as he gave up meekly but one cannot confidently say he will make amends next time out.

A similar thing happened in the 1400 metres August Handicap, a race for horses rated 20 to 46 where Emperor Roderic had beaten Dexa who went on to win the Gr 1 Poonawalla Breeders` Multi-Million being the firm favourite as the Pesi Shroff trainee`s credentials were impeccable. Golden Kingdom had come from Chennai with two placed efforts. Sandesh had Golden Kingdom chase Mont Blanc into the straight before storming ahead to establish what turned out to be a winning lead. When Trevor Patel on Emperor Roderic made his move, he had already conceded the winning lead to the former. Karyna necked out Mozelle to get the third position. The latter too put in a disappointing performance after racing keen up front. The trainer of Mozelle had said before the race that the seven-furlong trip may not be the liking of his ward who is more suited to six furlongs!

Apprentice jockey A Prakash is going great guns. He is riding with confidence and appears to have made a lot of improvements as he drove home a treble during the course of the day`s action. He drove home Niraj Karanjawalla trained Sandman to a smashing win in the 1400 metres To The Manor Born Plate, a race for horses rated 20 to 46. Sandman moved with raking strides approaching the final bend and collared the field inside the final furlong and won with a great deal of ease to oblige a quiet touch. Rubik who had come in for sustained support failed to quicken well in the straight and was fully driven out to gain the runner berth from Rubik Star and Anoushka in a cluster finish.

The consistent Dali Swirl from the stables of Faisal Abbas helped Prakash round off the tally for the day with a treble. The progeny of Roderic O`Connor came in for sustained support in the betting ring to end up as a firm favourite. Dali Swirl who had found one better in his last outing went one better dominating the proceedings all the way in the stretch. Lord And Master edged out Lagertha to finish second best.

Earlier in the day, Prakash was successful on another Faisal Abbas trained Dowsabel to victory in the 1000 metres A J Wadia Plate, a race for horses in the lowest category. Dowsabel had the first run on her opponents and established a winning lead by the final furlong. Favourite Cognosco, under a strong drive, finished on strongly but found the front-runner was unrelenting. Spiritual Rock was third.

Shiraz Sunderji led in a winner after switching back from Hyderabad through Farrell who obliged huge expectations in the 1200 metres Cabriolet Plate, a race for horses rated 20 to 46. After Fidato led deep into the straight, Farrell produced a good burst of acceleration and managed to overhaul the front-runner and won the race with a measure of comfort. Fidato tired out and was necked out in the closing moments of the race by Sky Hawk to eventually end up in the third position.

The long wait of over 900 days gave the desired result for trainer Narender Lagad whose ward Power of Thor charged home to win the 1800 metres South African Racing On play.rwitc.com trophy, a race for horses in the lowest class. Power of Thor had no problem in keeping the challenge of Brazos at bay. Favourite So So Special was a tame fourth.