Trainer Pesi Shroff seems to have cornered the market when it comes to the big races. Apart from Margaretta and D`Artagnan, he has Jaandaar, a horse being spoken of in increasingly glowing terms. The colt had won both his starts at Mumbai and, after a break, was brought back rather early in the Pune season, possibly with the Derby already pencilled into the master plan. His first assignment was the Gr 3 F D Wadia Trophy, a terms race for three-year-olds, the feature event of Sunday`s Pune races and, in racing parlance, a useful audition for horses likely to have a say in the bigger events.

Jaandaar was quoted at generous odds in the early betting, with Lady Scarlet, a full-sister to multiple Group race winner Time And Tide, installed as favourite. But by race time, the tide had turned rather dramatically towards the Shroff trainee.

Jaandaar was a little hesitant at the start, prompting jockey Vivek G to settle him around fourth as Invictor showed the way with Lady Scarlet in pursuit. Lady Scarlet moved up smartly on turning for home and took command, but Vivek G was already in hot pursuit on Jaandaar. Lady Scarlet fought gamely for a while, but Jaandaar eventually went past and then began to stretch his authority. The winning margin of a shade over a length hardly told the full story. Jaandaar was getting stronger as the post approached and looked as though he had plenty more in the tank. Nebula came from a long way back to finish third.

Imtiaz Sait-trained Rivayat provided an upset in the 1000 metres Devendra Jawaharlal Mathurawala Million, a race for maiden three-year-olds. Aman Altaf Hussain-trained Sabalenka, who had been in solid preparation, went to the post as the favourite, and Sandesh duly adopted the familiar start-to-finish script. Unfortunately for her supporters, the script ran out of pages on turning for home.

Golden Hues produced a good challenge, but Rivayat, who had given some trouble while being loaded, suddenly behaved as though all that earlier resistance had merely been a warm-up. Under jockey Anthony Raj, he produced a powerful effort to win with considerable ease from the well-backed Golden Hues. Brahmastra ran on nicely for third and should have gained plenty from the experience.

Aman Altaf Hussain had another heavily backed favourite finding the betting market a rather uncomfortable place in Neutralist, who had gone down fighting in a tight finish last time out. Confidently backed to win the 1400 metres Waves of Glory Plate for horses rated 60 to 86, Neutralist went on a start-to-finish mission with Earth in pursuit. But by the time they reached the final bend, the favourite was already looking less than convincing.

Stormy Sea came from a long way back and appeared poised to sweep past Adhirajsingh Jodha-trained Zafferano. Zafferano, however, had other ideas. He dug deep, fought back strongly and maintained his lead to score in the hands of apprentice jockey Ramswarup, who was enjoying a particularly profitable weekend. Scramouche ran on to edge out Bee Magical for third.

The 1000 metres Brunello Plate, for horses rated 20 to 46, went broadly according to the betting script. Favourite Neptune gradually got the measure of front-running second favourite Viennoise in the closing stages to give apprentice jockey Ramswarup his second winner of the day. Ensky was third.

The race, however, had another story. Narendra Lagad-trained Majestic Warrior, a ten-year-old gelding, was making his 100th career start, a milestone that deserves more than a polite round of applause. Lagad has a reputation for keeping his horses racing and, importantly, looking after them irrespective of where they finish. Majestic Warrior has won six times, finished second on 15 occasions and third an equal number of times, while occupying fourth place 17 times. He has earned stake money in more than half his starts.

The Leitir Mor progeny has also displayed one quality that cannot be bought in the betting ring: enthusiasm. He has continued to race honestly despite going 1,318 days without a victory. At ten, and after 100 starts, he apparently still has not received the memo that he is supposed to retire.

The three-runner Mayor`s Cup over 2000 metres, for horses rated 80 and above, produced one of the more entertaining finishes of the day. Calcutta Derby winner Arrived was quoted generously behind Thalassa, who attracted the lion`s share of the betting. Vivek G took Arrived on a start-to-finish mission, but Golden Dancer and Thalassa both came charging at him in the final furlong.

Arrived found that extra gear when it mattered and held on comfortably in the end. Golden Dancer finished half a length ahead of Thalassa. The race once again provided one of racing`s little ironies: the smaller the field, the greater the uncertainty. There were only three runners, but they produced a finish that many bigger fields would struggle to match.

Malesh Narredu-trained Invincible Force produced a tremendous finishing burst to land the 1400 metres Amjad Khan Trophy, for horses rated 20 to 46, and make it back-to-back wins. Agatha led from the start, with Invincible Force having plenty of ground to make up entering the final furlong.

What followed was less a challenge and more a demonstration. Invincible Force switched on the afterburners, produced a ferocious finishing kick and stormed clear to win with ease, fully justifying his short price. Her Charge rallied late to neck out Agatha for second, while Organised Chaos finished fourth without doing anything particularly organised.

Apprentice jockey Vishal drove out the well-backed Abhyankar to an easy victory over another well-supported runner, Royal Champ, in the 1600 metres Oriental Express Plate for horses in the lowest class. The Malesh Narredu-trained filly made every yard of the running and was never seriously threatened.

Royal Champ was ridden vigorously by Anthony Raj, but the response simply failed to arrive. Abhyankar, meanwhile, was already doing business at the front. Mai Tai finished strongly to neck out Madison for third.

For the punters, it was another Pune card with its usual mixture of favourites, surprises and horses apparently carrying their own opinions about the betting market. For Pesi Shroff, however, Jaandaar may have provided something considerably more valuable than a winner: another card to keep firmly up his sleeve when the bigger races come calling.