Pesi Shroff trained Smasher who had recorded two impressive wins this season in excellent timings measured the favourite Desert God en route to an impressive win in the Gr 2 S M Shah Eclipse Stakes of India, a terms race for four-year-olds and over. The winner clocked an excellent time of two minutes 00.894 seconds which was fractionally slower than the course record of Quasar. It was a dream Derby day for the Poonawalla Stud Farm whose produce won six of the eight races that were gone through.

Desert God was running after104 days and his training was interrupted because of the colic attack he had. Considering his imposing credentials, he went to the post as a firm favourite despite the fact that he was conceding weight to a well-bred horse who was on the upgrade. Smasher had always been a tricky customer when he runs freely in front and enjoys an uncontested lead. Jockey N S Parmar took Smasher on a start to finish and the progeny of Multidimensional enjoyed a healthy break over his opponents all through the race. Smasher had a lead of several lengths going into the final furlong and though Desert God put up a valiant fight, he was not up to covering up the leeway. Salazaar ran on to finish third more than two lengths adrift of the runner-up.

Pesi Shroff also led in the winner of the Gr 3 Ebco Worksmart Breeders` Produce Stakes, a terms race for three-year-olds. The progeny of the new stallion Leitir More out of Oaks winning Pleasure Hunt had recorded an impressive debut win and was backed with conviction to win the race. Jockey Srinath had Hunt For Gold in a handy position well into the straight and then had the favourite take over the running with a furlong left in the race. Hunt For Gold bounced clear to win the race easily from late rallying Trouville. Malwa necked out Mishka`s Pride to get the third position.

The day also saw the eclipse of champion sprinter miler Serjeant At Arms in the Gr 3 1600 metres Rusi Patel Trophy, a terms race for four-year-olds and over. Serjeant At Arms was running in India after 548 days though in the intervening period he had gone to the USA and ran a couple of times. Since his mock race was impressive, he also ended up getting one-sided support in the betting ring. Trevor took Costa Brave on a start to finish mission with New England placed in about the penultimate position with Serjeant At Arms bringing up the tail end. Costa Brave fought on resolutely in front when New England made his move with a flourishing run under a strong drive by Sandesh and managed to overhaul the front-runner to record a comfortable win. Serjeant At Arms who had to cover a big leeway could not do so and just about failed to get the better of Costa Brave for the runner-up position. The lack of a race run perhaps was the undoing of Serjeant At Arms.

Favourite Intense Stylist was withdrawn from the fray at the gates for the 1200 metres Padmini & Gobind Jhangiani Million, a race for horses rated 40 to 66. The race was won by Flaming Martini under a strong ride by David Allan who thus completed a hat-trick of wins. The well-backed Mozart graced the wrong end of the field and covered the ground rapidly but fell short by a neck. Mozart was perhaps outpaced in the early part of the race which saw Akshay Kumar failing to get a forward position which critically made a difference to the outcome of the race. Pablo ran on to take the third position.

Shiraz Sunderji trained True Grit won the 1000 metres Dr M A M Ramaswamy Million, a race for horses rated 20 to 46, at long odds. Bonafide led deep into the straight before True Grit, in the hands of apprentice jockey Ajinkya, managed to overhaul the front-runner with 100 metres left in the race. Favourite Sharareh finished with a rush only to find the winner reaching the safety of the winning post. Bonafide stayed on to take the third position ahead of the well backed Divine Power.

There were two withdrawals at the gate with the two well-backed Barack and King Khalil being the horses which held up the proceedings before being taken out from the race for the day`s opener, the 1400 metres Tattersalls Million, a race for horses rated 20 to 46. Perpetual Winning was expected to benefit from the withdrawals but the fancied runner led deep into the straight but succumbed too easily for comfort. Long shot Hells Bells held off Hodson`s Horse and Ustad pedro to land the spoils.