Horse Racing: Pesi Shroff beats Oaks record

The Multidimensional - Moonlight Romance filly bred at the Usha stud gave the ace trainer his fifth Oaks winner on the trot, taking his overall Oaks tally to eight, and thus enabled him to eclipse the record of legendary trainer Uttam Singh

Roberta, trained by Pesi Shroff, won the HT Palate Fest Indian Oaks (Gr 1), the prime event of Sunday's eight-race card at Mahalaxmi. The Multidimensional - Moonlight Romance filly bred at the Usha stud gave the ace trainer his fifth Oaks winner on the trot, taking his overall Oaks tally to eight, and thus enabled him to eclipse the record of legendary trainer Uttam Singh who, in a 50-year training career, had won seven Indian Oaks.

Roberta also took the Oaks tally of the breeders, Usha stud, to a record 16 successes in the coveted race. Roberta, ridden to victory by Trevor Patel, raced in the silks of Vijay Shirke who owns the filly in partnership with Dara and Keki Mehta, and Khushroo & Deepa Dhunjibhoy.

In a chat after the race, Pesi Shroff magnanimously gave credit of his record-breaking Oaks victory to the same man, Uttam Singh, whose record he broke, and who was felicitated just minutes before the race by the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) administration for having completed 100 years. "As jockey, I learnt great many things from trainer Uttam Singh," Shroff, who had partnered many of Uttam Singh's Classic winners, said.

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