Malesh Narredu trained Count of Savoy performed above expectations when beating the field in the fray for the Yohan Z Poonawalla Turf Club Trophy, a terms race for four-year-olds and over, the feature event of Sunday`s Pune races with a degree of ease that came as surprise. Count of Savoy who had been campaigned in handicap races with a fair degree of success having won five races showed a quantum improvement when staving off the group race performed horses with disdain.

The favourite for the race was the Indian 2000 Guineas winner Ahead of My Time who had also won the Ruia trophy. Backed strongly to have a decisive say in the seven-furlong race which was expected to suit him fine, Ahead of My Time struggled to snatch the third spot from Cool Rider. In fact, Successor who finished second too gave an improved performance, the run benefit for the first two placed horses also played a significant role.

Joaquim set a decent pace followed by Successor, Count of Savoy, Cool Rider, Golden Neil, Ahead of My Time with Taimur who was lethargic at the start tailing the field. Successor led the field into the straight with Cool Rider making brisk progress and even heading the field going into the final furlong. However, Cool Rider flattened out with Count of Savoy essaying a strong challenge and storming clear in the final stages of the race. Successor held off the late rallying Ahead of My Time and Cool Rider to get the runner-up berth. Ahead of My Time who took the turn very wide was left to cover too much ground but the manner in which he finished the race suggested that he was ring rusty besides finding the seven-furlong trip sharp after his campaign over extended trips at Mumbai. Golden Neil who did not get a clear run in the ground nevertheless ran a decent race considering the switch from the handicap races to a terms race.

The 1200 metres Panchshil Million, a terms race for maiden three-year-olds, produced a shock winner in Karthik Ganapathy trained Azrinaz whose last run at Mumbai was an encouraging one in that he had finished a close fourth to Misty. Pesi Shroff trained Racing Romance who was a noteworthy third in his last effort was the strong favourite to give an improved performance. After Collateral led the field and weakened, Racing Romance hit the front but could not sustain the effort. Azrinaz who was in a handy striking position went storming clear in the final furlong to record an emphatic win. Decacorn who had raced during the Bangalore Summer Season, could not get a striking position as he fell to the rear of the field. By the time his jockey Parmar could manoeuvre his way from the rear along the rails, the race was in the safekeeping of Azrinaz. Decacorn managed to head Zafirah for the runner-up position.

As if these two wins of the rank outsiders were not enough, punters were in for more shock. Sulaiman Attaollahi Place Vendome who had served as pacemaker the whole of last season, had nevertheless won at Bangalore but one was not sure about the quality of the win. Walla Street whose claim to fame was restricted to him finishing a surprise third in the Indian Derby was the preferred horse along with Golden Kingdom. In the event, under a well-timed effort by jockey Pradeep Chouhan, Place Vendome came up with a big effort down the final furlong to win the race with ease from another long shot Great Guns while the fancied Golden Kingdom weakened after promising a lot at the top of the straight. Wall Street ran disappointingly.

After the runaway win recorded by Pesi Shroff trained Generosity, the punters backed the horse confidently to record an encore in the 1000 metres D N Zodge Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 40 to 66. Much to the chagrin of the punters, Generosity weakened after leading for most part of the journey. Fancied Irish Gold ran on strongly in the hands of jockey Akshay Kumar to neck out Superlative to land the spoils. Outlander was third while Generosity was a disappointing fourth. M K Jadhav trained Fighton was the only favourite to oblige during the course of the day`s proceedings. The speedy customer had summered at Bangalore and had the requisite fitness and speed to make a mark in the lower division of the race. Parmar brought Fighton into the reckoning with a well-timed stretch run. Fighton went on to win the race easily from battling stablemates Nolan and Sensibility.

To expect horses to win back-to-back in handicap races unless the horse is an improving three-year-old is a tough ask. So, it proved with Narendra Lagad trained Daulat Mai who was backed strongly on the back of an impressive win. Imtiaz Sait trained Pyrrhus who had found one better on many occasions was the second favourite. In the event, jockey Neeraj Rawal who took Pyrrhus to the front managed to keep his horse in front all the way and the horse had enough legs to stave off the challenge of Monarchy and Commandment. Daulat Mai began poorly and ended similarly.

The fancied duo of Flashing Famous and Fashion Icon both disappointed in the day`s opener, the 1600 metres Rajasthan Royals Plate, a race for horses in the lowest category. From a handy position, Stunning Royal had the race sewn up a long way from home. Silver Spring was second ahead of Flashing Famous who was under pressure to improve position from the rear of the group. Fashion Icon was never in the hunt.