The prolific performer Iron Age from the stables of Imtiaz Sait whose best is invariably reserved on the Pune track, came up with a brilliant performance to outsprint the opposition in the 1400 metres Gr 3 Yohan Z Poonawalla Turf Club Trophy, a terms race for four-year-olds and over, the feature event of races held at Pune on Sunday. Iron Age swelled his winning tally to 16 from 28 outings, with jockey Anthony Raj from Bangalore judging the pace to a nicety with a front-running effort.

Joaquin who had hit sublime form was the strong favourite in this competitive race. Since Iron Age hadn`t won over seven furlongs in his entire career, his six wins coming over five furlongs and nine over six furlongs, he was allowed to run at long odds as his current form when he had finished a few lengths adrift of Joaquin over six furlongs being disappointing efforts. Iron Age was not considered seriously by many as his connections also were skeptical about him getting longer trips as evidenced by the fact that he had run just twice over this trip in his entire career.

It has often been proved that if a horse gets an uncontested lead, it will run differently than against a contested one. Iron Age enjoyed a good break from the start with none bothering to challenge him. Joaquin was in the second position ahead of Ashwa Bravo while the rest were spaced out behind. Iron Age showed no signs of weakening in the straight and in fact got stronger and held off the late challenge of Leopard Rock. Sunrise Ruby ran on from behind to save place money while the fancied duo of Joaquin and Ashwa Bravo finished in the ruck.

Successor from the stables of trainer Dallas Todywalla recorded a comprehensive win in the 1600 metres Turf Authorities of India Trophy, a race for horses rated 60 to 86. Alicia no doubt had the benefit of a good forward run but her trainer Pesi Shroff put in a disclaimer when he said that the target for his ward was the Fillies & Mares Stakes but added that his horse was in good shape to win. Alicia was the strong favourite ahead of Petronia while Successor who had run behind Arc De Triomphe in her last effort was available at long odds. Jockey Sandesh took Successor on a start-to-finish mission and the lesser fancied runner stayed put there without coming under pressure to win with a great deal of ease. The expected challenge from either Petronia or Alicia failed to materialize. Count of Savoy who was handily placed in the third position ran on to take the second berth ahead of Alicia who was flat-footed.

Dallas Todywalla-trained Raffaello recorded an encore with a narrow win over Desert Fire in the 1400 metres P Hadow Trophy (Div I), a race for horses rated 40 to 66. Pure who had fair form was backed to the exclusion of the rest. The favourite, after staying in touch with the front-runners was flat-footed when the race came to a boil and faded out of contention. Desert Fire who led from the start stayed on resolutely but close to home, a strongly driven Raffaello bridged the lead with menacing strides and overhauled the front-runner who was ridden by a five kg apprentice in the shadow of the post. Majestic Warrior held off the late rallying Arabian Phoenix for the third position.

Narendra Lagad trained Son of A Gun swamped the field in the lower division of the P Hadow Trophy. On the last occasion, Trevor Patel had lost his stirrup and was also interfered in the straight which perhaps could explain the below-par effort. The betting ring suggested more support for Buckley who had run over longer trips. Both Son of A Gun and Superleggera were also in serious betting. Son of A Gun shot off from the gates like a scalded cat and had a good break over the rest which the others found hard to bridge. Making the best of an uncontested lead, Son of A Gun ran freely in front and checked in by a comfortable margin of four lengths over Dali Swirl who gave a chase to the winner from the start. Buckley failed to make any headway after staying in touch with the front-runner and barely managed to save the third place from late rallying Excelerator.

The sustained betting on debutant Wild Thing from the stables of trainer A M Jadhav was an indication of the shape of things to come in the Dr P K Sardeshmukh Maharaj Trophy (Div I), a race for maiden three-year-olds. The odds quoted on Montgomery drifted out while Wild Thing was being thumped in the market. True to market predictions, Wild Thing who raced in about the fifth or sixth position, improved places rapidly on the wide outside and had no problem in tackling Montgomery in the stretch for an impressive win. Montgomery was flat-footed when Wild Thing produced a powerful effort. Mojo was third. Pesi Shroff trained Thunberg who had run below expectations last time out, made amends in the lower division of the Sardeshmukh Trophy. Backed strongly to oblige, Thunberg who had the benefit of a race run where the trainer said that his ward was ``intimidated`` being the reason for the below-par performance, chased Hawk of the Wind into the straight before unleashing an intimidating run to storm clear in the hands of jockey Umesh to win by a margin of four lengths. Lady Di came up with a good rally to edge out Moon Belle for the runner-up berth while the pace-setter Hawk of the Wind was relegated to the fourth spot.

Imtiaz Sait-trained Campaign brought off an upset in the 1600 metres Moosa N Hussein Trophy, a race for horses rated 20 to 46. The race threw a confusing scenario as it was difficult to spot any horse as a possible winner. Twelfth Earl who had run a fair second in the last effort, She Is On Fire and Divine Hunt were the fancied runners. Apprentice jockey Vinod had Twelfth Earl lead deep into the stretch before running out of steam. Long shot Campaign shot through in the middle in the closing stages of the race to land the spoils ahead of Marlboro Man and The Flutist. Twelfth Earth weakened to finish fourth. The other two fancied runners were not spotted at the busy end.

Lesser fancied Sim Sim from the stables of trainer Faisal Abbas produced a powerful gallop down the final furlong to win the 1200 metres Amjad Khan Trophy, a race for horses rated 20 to 46. After Power of Neath led the field well into the straight, Sim Sim showed out in the centre of the track with a powerful run and sailed ahead. An element of excitement was added to the finish when Magileto produced a late dash in the hands of apprentice Saqlain to come within the reach of the front-runner but fell short in the hand. Coeur De Lion had all the chances but failed to quicken when the pace of the race quickened and finished third.

Pesi Shroff-trained Souza finally obliged with a pillar-to-post win in the 1400 metres French Racing on play.rwtic.com Plate, a race for horses in the lowest category. The race was held in the pouring rain and with poor visibility. Apprentice jockey Mustakim Alam took Souza to the front and the favourite kept on increasing the lead to win as he pleased by a widening margin of eight lengths. Anoushka ran on in the straight to edge past Hela who was giving chase to the eventual winner all through the race.