Pune`s feature race produced an upset when Duke of Tuscany, benefiting from a perfect front-running ride and superior race fitness, outpointed Indian Derby winner Fynbos in the 2400 metres Idar Gold Trophy. The stablemates, owned by the same connections, provided another reminder that racing rarely follows the betting script. Fynbos closed strongly after a long lay-off, but the ground conceded early proved too much to recover.

There is always a little thing called “lay-off risk” lurking in the shadows when a champion horse returns after a lengthy break, and Indian Derby winner Fynbos perhaps discovered that the hard way on Saturday. Stablemate Duke of Tuscany, armed with the one commodity Fynbos did not possess, racing fitness, sprang a mild surprise in the 2400 metres Idar Gold Trophy, a terms race for four-year-olds and over and the feature event of the Pune card. It was one of those occasions when the longer-priced horse in a multiple-entry stable decided to read the script upside down.

It has happened before, it happened again and, given racing`s fondness for repetition, it certainly will not be the last time. Adding another twist to the tale, both Duke of Tuscany and Fynbos raced for the same owner. A similar plot had unfolded many years ago in this very race when Indian Derby winner Indictment was beaten by owner-mate Amorello, the unfancied one helping himself to the favourite`s lunch. With the exception of two runners, the entire field belonged to trainer Pesi Shroff, which meant that Shroff was guaranteed to have a winner whatever the market had predicted.

Duke of Tuscany, entrusted to R Ajinkya, enjoyed the kind of luxury front-runners dream about and jockeys rarely get: an uncontested lead. King`s Gambit settled in second, followed by Arrived, Fynbos, Red Bishop and Dream Alliance, with the latter quartet conceding valuable ground to the eventual winner. Duke of Tuscany brought his advantage into the straight and, when King`s Gambit failed to produce the expected acceleration, Fynbos was angled out to make her challenge. She finished strongly, as champions tend to do, but the Duke had already been handed too generous a head start and there was simply too much real estate to recover. King`s Gambit stayed on for third, making it a 1-2-3 for Shroff, who, on days like this, can reasonably claim to be the winner regardless of whether the betting ring got the order right.

Adhirajsingh Jodha-trained Encino had gone down by a whisker over seven furlongs last time but found both the distance and the opposition more accommodating over six furlongs in the Gr 3 Noshir & Dolly Dhunjibhoy Sprint Million, a terms race for four-year-olds and over. Sent off favourite, Encino justified the confidence with considerably less drama than his previous outing. Social Butterfly took the field along with Encino comfortably placed in third before Trevor Patel pressed the button on turning for home. Encino responded promptly, accelerated away and settled the issue with ease. Shambala came charging from the rear in an attempt to complicate matters but could manage only second, while Market King was third ahead of Social Butterfly, whose form seems to suffer from a curious Pune allergy.

Malesh Narredu-trained Gunfire was widely expected to produce an encore in the 1000 metres Star Trainer Plate, a race for horses rated 40 to 66, but on this occasion the name proved to be rather misleading. Storm Cloud led from the start, with Darcy racing around fourth along the rails while Admirable and Gunfire travelled wide but within striking distance. Darcy began to quicken on turning for home and jockey Umesh angled him out in the straight to find clear running. Once in the open, Darcy gathered momentum and went away for an easy win, with Admirable edging out Storm Cloud for second. Gunfire, meanwhile, apparently decided that firing was optional and never got into the race.

Adhirajsingh Jodha completed another winner when Seneca landed the 1600 metres Evaldo Plate, a race for horses rated 40 to 66, with a determined performance. Destroyer led from Spanish Eyes, Mansa Musa, Seneca, Don Julio and Ashwa Gypsy before giving way to Spanish Eyes, who continued to hold the advantage deep into the straight. Seneca then moved up, took charge and had enough in reserve to withstand a late flourish from Don Julio. Mansa Musa`s race ended rather abruptly when he dropped his jockey at the 600 metres marker, the apprentice apparently attempting to squeeze through a gap that proved considerably less generous than it looked. Spanish Eyes held on for third.

Jodha had earlier saddled Sovereign King to victory in the 1600 metres J E Hughes Trophy, although the short-priced favourite did his best to make life difficult by being sluggish out of the gates. Anthony Raj, however, was wide awake and steadily improved the horse`s position. Fighton went to the front and attempted to turn the race into a one-horse procession, but Chagall had other ideas and swept past in the straight, briefly threatening to turn the favourite into an expensive disappointment. Sovereign King eventually found his stride and produced his best work close home to get up and win. Fighton stayed on for third, ahead of Regina Memorabilis and Mojito, who once again looked some way short of his best.

In pouring rain, Narendra Lagad-trained Esteban decided that the best defence was a long-distance offence and bolted to the front under apprentice Avinash Paswan in the 1400 metres Fourth Estate Trophy, a race for horses rated 20 to 46. The catch-me-if-you-can tactics worked beautifully as Esteban kept finding enough to stay beyond the reach of his pursuers. Favourite Funny Bunny arrived with a late flourish to take second, while Believe and Appalachian finished together in a cluster for the minor honours.

The final race, the 2000 metres Capitulate Plate for basement-class horses, looked every bit as unpredictable as its participants suggested. Favourite Mai Tai, apparently unimpressed by the proceedings, refused to come out of the gates and rendered the betting forecast irrelevant before the race had even begun. Ma Cherie, the other fancied runner, was hardly more enthusiastic, failing to raise a fluent gallop and dropping well back. With the two market fancies effectively taking themselves out of contention, Waheed-trained Exotic Star was happy to accept the invitation and went on to beat Whisper comfortably in the final furlong. Ma Cherie eventually remembered that she was supposed to be racing and ran on to finish third. There was, however, one small detail that made Exotic Star`s victory even more interesting: of the four runners, he was the only one to have won a race before, having two victories to his name, while the other three were all maidens. In a race where experience was clearly in short supply, the only horse with a winning habit decided to keep it going.