Pesi Shroff trained Mrs Patmore fought a gallant battle with Hall of Famer and put her head in front at the all-important end to win the Gr 1 Gitanjali Indian 1000 Guineas, the first classic of the season at Mahalaxmi on Sunday. The daughter of Holy of Roman Emperor came up with a tremendous burst of speed and shaped to overhaul Hall of Famer who was rallying along the rails with a measure of comfort but the latter fought back brilliantly before losing by a whisker.

The Indian 1000 Guineas has generally not favoured a favourite on a consistent basis. Temerity who was the favourite based on her four wins in a row in run of the mill company, played up at the gates and raced with the field till turning for home before disappearing from the orbit as it were. David Allan rode a brilliant race on Hall of Famer who had shown a tendency to veer out of a straight course by keeping her firmly glued to the rails and the daughter of Win Legend ran straight as an arrow. But she was denied her second Guineas win by a determined Mrs Patmore who showed good improvement over her impressive win of last start by winning the plum event which has been the preserve of Pesi Shroff. He has won this classic more than any other race in the country in the recent past. The winner is owned by the Vijay Shirke family along with the Dhunjibhoy family and was bred at the Nanoli Stud Farm.

Book Thief did the job of pace-setting as the unwieldy field of 16 runners set out for the mile-long trip with In My Dream and Cataleya for company. Hall of Famer was in about the sixth or seventh position while Mrs Patmore was on the wide outside a few lengths adrift. Mekong Delta who finished third was in the rear. David Allan worked his way along the rails perhaps to ensure that Hall of Famer did not lapse into her habit of running out and the tactic appeared to have worked brilliantly as the Bangalore challenger headed the field inside the final furlong. Mrs Patmore produced an aggressive run on the wide outside and looked like she was going to draw clear. However, Hall of Famer dug deep into her reserves and the battle went to the wire. Mrs Patmore got the nod in the final stride of the race. Mekong Delta came from a long way back to take the third position ahead of Devoted Eyes whose fall from grace started from her lead-up race. Temerity was not sighted.

Serenita went down too tamely for comfort in the 1000 metres Ranjit V Bhat Memorial Gold Trophy, a race for horses rated 80 and above. Serenita was taking on two others in the highest category and as such, she had a fight on hands though the cramped odds did not reflect this eventuality. Serenita led from the start with Deep Diver for company, with Champagne in third positon. In the run in for home, Serenita and Deep Diver were engaged in a stiff battle for supremacy with Deep Diver enjoying a slender edge. Even as these two horses were settling the issue among themselves, Champagne moved up with strong strides and collared the battling duo with ease to record an emphatic win.

Pesi Shroff-trained Mathiayus had let down twice at Pune even though he had been rated highly by the connections. Mathiayus was yet again backed strongly to oblige in the 2000 metres Maharashtra Gujarat & Goa Area Trophy, a race for horses rated 20 to 46. Srinath who rode the progeny of Multidimensional had no hesitation in taking Mathaiyus to the front and the favourite stayed put there and won quite easily from Rousseau who had an interfered passage in the straight. Mathaiyus should be able to repeat judging by this performance while Rousseau`s turn should come before long. Sabiq was third.

Upsets have become a common feature of racing these days whenever three-year-olds are in the fray in open company. The unexploited three-year-olds can produce improved performances which race goers may not have reckoned in their calculations. Masterofbalantrae who was making his debut in the 1200 metres Kejriwal Trophy (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 46, produced a strong effort in the final furlong to neck out Lord Arazan and Silky Baby who were disputing the issue. Masterofbalantrae`s win was against the run of expectations. The lower division of the race also saw another horse sporting the same colours and a three-year-old win at lucrative odds. There was inspired support for D`Accord who was running after 512 days. The favourite looked the part for most of the journey as the filly had an untroubled lead right up to the final furlong. Things changed for the worse for the favourite when Golden Eclipse began to make rapid strides along the rails, got the better of the front-runner and in the end, was bouncing clear to record an easy win. Orla was third.

The well backed Exodus from the stables of Cooji Katrak just about managed to get the better of Hedwig to land the spoils in the 1400 metres M N Nazir Trophy, a race for horses rated 40 to 66. Hedwig who had a good lead going into the final furlong shaped to win but her hopes were put paid in the final stride of the race. Exodus got the nod in the bobbing of heads by the proverbial whisker. Charging Tigress covered a lot of ground in the straight to take the third place.

Sandesh drove out first-timer Wise Child to victory in the 1000 metres Faiz Jasdanwalla Trophy, a race for two-year-olds. Goldie`s Pet led from the start but inside the final 200 metres, the progeny of the first season stallion Excellent Art began to devour ground and managed to get the better of the front-runner in the shadow of the post. Texas Gold showed a lot of intent when finishing a game third.

Narendra Lagad trained Secret Flame got the better of front-running Simona to land the spoils in the 1600 metres Cole Gold Trophy, a race for horses in the lowest class, in the closing stages of the race. Favourite Kookaburra rallied along the rails but failed narrowly. Simona was a head ahead of Kookaburra.