Set Alight dispelled all doubts about her brilliance when she picked the Ramniwas Ramnarain Ruia Gold Cup (Gr.2) in taking style on Thursday. The Pesi Shroff trained filly did what she has been doing all her career: steamrolling the opposition at every step.

Set Alight (Razeen – Set Aside) stayed in the fourth spot as her owner-mate Sea Princess set a scorching pace and Niall McCullagh was not required to move a muscle as the bay filly strode out as magnificently as ever when cruising past Pallazzio`s Sun at the 300m pole and had not spent any extra fuel in the tenth victory of her career. Dancing Dynamite produced his short dash but had to play second fiddle for the third time this season.

The latest triumph of Set Alight suggests that she has peaked at the right time and will take a lot of beating in the McDowell Indian Derby which is slated to be run of April 12.

Niall and Pesi delighted their loyal followers by bagging another three races apiece during the day yet it was jockey C. Rajendra`s flop show was the most discussed topic among the race-goers much after the races were over.
After winning the curtain raiser astride Free Spirit (Tomba – Polistatic), Rajendra had as many as seven assignments which were all in with a chance to win in their respective events. But Rajendra was not destined to guide any winner in the day. He lost astride three favourites and as many second favourites apart from Dancing Dynamite who was not really expected to upset Set Alight.

Before dwelling upon Rajendra`s disastrous day in the saddle, Niall McCullagh and Pesi Shroff both deserve rave reviews for their quartet of winners including Set Alight. Niall started his conquest with the Vinayak trained filly Moonstorm (Black Cash – Millywakay), who defied the handicapper and won again on promotion. Moonstorm faced obstruction after the jump out and lay in the mid bunch as Wild Torronaado, Blue Daffodils and Blazing Speed fought for the lead. But the filly was simply unstoppable when Niall brought her into contention at the distance post. Rubidium ran into a roadblock just as she was gaining momentum and Moonstorm was home and dry by the time Aadesh Kumar could switch lanes.

A similar feat was achieved by Raquel (Black Cash – Ravij) from the yards of Pesi Shroff when powered by Niall to take over the running from Mysterious Star and leaving favourite Balance De Power once again in the cold. Favourite Balance De Power who was waiting to pounce on Mysterious Star didn`t find her rhythm allowing Raquel to dominate her.

Il Divo (Orpen – Porto Elounda), also trained by Pesi, made easy meat of his opposition left toothless after the withdrawal of Secret Admirer. Ekhabinskya exploited his speed to wrest the initiative at the start but his domination came to an abrupt end when Niall alerted Il Divo to his task. Il Divo uncoiled a fluent run and sped away past Ekhabinskya who then conceded the runner-up berth to Cyclades.

Pesi entrusted debutant Amore Mio (Razeen – Forest Treasure) to Neeraj Rawal and the filly came with a rousing run to foil the winning bid of Hereafter. Earlier Bright Future disputed the lead with Hereafter but faded out of contention gradually after entering the home stretch. Bluemarine came with a long-stretched run to gain the minor place ahead of Appalina.

Every horse ridden by Rajendra after Free Spirit`s success seemed to be under a curse. Need For Speed was shorn of all her speed as Notable Runner called the early shots with Hidden Dragon (Diffident – Aladancer) in hot pursuit. Faisal Abbas saddled Hidden Dragon was spurred by Imran Chisty to negate the haughty demeanour of Notable Runner on his way to earning his corn bill. Need For Speed raised a glimmer of hope as the field straightened which died down very soon as she ended a tame third with Game of Power close behind.
In the next race Rajendra ridden Snow Blind found more support than Moonstorm but she loitered aimlessly at the wrong end and made no show during the race. Rajendra`s next mount Mr Greedy toiled hard at the tail end of the field and ran listlessly in the race won by Raquel. Swept Away was next-in-demand after Il Divo but both Rajendra and his horse appeared on the scene only when the race was in the favourite`s safe-keeping.

Debutant Hereafter seemed the only horse that came close to winning a race for Rajendra but Amore Mio dashed their hopes. Dancing Dynamite, of course, went down to a better one but Rajendra`s misery lasted out till Classic Ruler tasted defeat.

Classic Ruler`s defeat was however the most difficult one to digest for a vast majority of race-goers though the RWITC Stewards thought that the horse had failed to respond till the final moments and Rajendra had no role to play in the favourite`s defeat. Altaf Hussain trained long-shot John Cabot (Major Impact – Freedom Cry) was resolutely ridden by C. S. Jodha as he waged a grim battle with The Giant. Both Classic Ruler and Courage Under Fire flashed on scene in the last few moments of the race.

Trainer Uday Bhan Singh`s joy new no bounds when his ward Arbudh (Royal Kingdom – Musical Pepper) stuck to his task in the hands of Nirmal Jodha in the concluding race of the day and provided him his first career win. Arbudh took off smartly from the barriers and stayed on course though Nirmal had to use to his whip freely to keep him going till the end. Jolteon ran a good second ahead of Johnny Bravo and Amaranza.

Shiraz Sunderji schooled and Y. S. Srinath Imperio (Senure – Worthwhile) justified the punter`s support to earn his maiden victory. Ran Banka made a start to finish attempt but the winner proved too good for him in the end. River Tern ran on to finish ahead of the exhausted Ran Banka.