Bezan Chenoy trained Congressional justified the strong faovuritism with a comfortable win over late finishing Samba Warrior in the 1600 metres Hyatt Regency Pune Trophy, a race for horses rated 40 to 66, the feature event of Saturday`s races. The highly talked about Congressional won by a dwindling margin but the fact remains that Congressional won easier than the verdict suggested.

Sansani led from the start with Congressional in a handy second position followed by Supreme Minstrel, Archimedes and Samba Warrior. Halle stopped galloping soon after jumping out from the gates. Jockey Pradeep Chouhan pushed Congressional to take over the running at the top of the straight and the progeny of Multidimensional quickened to go clear of the field. Samba Warrior made a good rally on the wide outside and bridged the leeway to half a length even as Chouhan rode the favourite unperturbed by the frenetic driving finish of Sandesh on Samba Warrior. Archimedes finished third without serious intent of troubling the first two finishers in the race.

Mansoor Shah trained Moon Shadow who had let down expectations on the last two occasions made amends in the 1400 metres Indictment Trophy, a race for horses rated 80 and above. Moon Shadow came up with a brilliant burst of speed to storm clear of the opposition to win by a widening margin of seven lengths over Dynamo. Falcon ran a pathetic race and finished down the field.

In a thrilling finish, favourite Fire Engine just about got the better of Highlander in the 2400 metres F A & K A Irani Trophy, a race for horses rated 60 to 86. Highlander went ahead at the final turn with Fire Engine in hot pursuit. Highlander fought on relentlessly though at one point it appeared last outing winner Fire Engine would have things easy. Fire Engine put his head at the finish to land the spoils. Negotiator was faraway third.

Pesi Shroff trained Senorita Evita toyed with the opposition in the 1200 metres N K Pudumjee Trophy (Div I), a race for maiden three year olds, winning the race on tight reins by over three lengths. Quick Angel ran on to finish second ahead of Khaleefa. Senorita Evita appears a good type of youngster who should be backed till beaten. Egyptiana brought off an upset in the lower division of the race, winning at the expense of favourite Apache. Jockey Darren Williams seemed to be hesitant and took a long while before riding him out in the final furlong. But by that time, the cause had been lost as Egyptiana had reached the safety of the winning post.

The 1200 metres Samson Controls Trophy, a race for horses rated 1 to 26, had a dramatic start with jockey Kavraj Singh on favourite Mighty Splendor taking a toss soon after the jump out as the bridle seemed to have come off. The jockey however escaped without any injury. Bella Figura who had been well served by the five kg allowance claimed by his her jockey S J Sunil, got the better of Malzie in the final furlong to record a long overdue win. Golden Wave was third.

After nine unplaced efforts, Mountain Song just about lasted out to win the 1000 metres Grey Magic Trophy (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 46, in typical trainer Antia fashion of taking the unsuspecting punters for a surprise. As Good As Gold ran straight as an arrow but found the front runner unyielding. One cannot get a clue as to what the trainer does. The authorities have also failed to infuse discipline in his pattern of running as the trainer appears to have a perfect alibi to explain every unexpected improvement in performance. Antia is like one who is jumping the traffic signal every time in full glare of the cop and getting away because of the indulgent cop. Narendra Lagad trained Valentino got strong in the final furlong and won the lower division of the race easily from Peppercorn and Dark William.