Khushroo Dhunjibhoy-owned Marieci Claims MiD DAY Trophy honours at Mahalaxmi

Michele Marieci wins the MiD DAY Trophy

Khushroo Dhunjibhoy-Owned Marieciu00a0claims MiD DAY Trophy honours at Mahalaxmi

Michele Marieci, ridden by Malcolm Kharadi, won the MiD DAY Trophy at the Mahalaxmi racetrack yesterday.

The three-year-old filly jumped well from an outside draw, hit the front, and kept going well in the final furlong to frustrate an all-out effort by High Society (Dashrath Singh up). Michele Marieci is owned by Khushroo N Dhunjibhoy and trained by Shyam Habbu.

This was back-to-back
MiD DAY Trophy success for owner Dhunjibhoy as he had also won it last year with Il Tabarro.

"Frankly, when I was watching the race, I thought the jockey perhaps erred in hitting the front too soon," Dhunjibhoy confessed to MiD DAY in a post-race chat. "So, when High Society challenged her, I was a little worried, but Malcolm (jockey) did well."

Habbu show
Trainer Habbu learnt tricks of the training trade from none other than Pesi Shroff before taking up the trainer's licence from the current Mahalaxmi season.

This was the second success for the new trainer who had opened his account with Dante Rossetti only a fortnight ago. Interestingly, Dhunjibhoy felt that the six-furlong trip of the MiD DAY Trophy would prove a bit too sharp for Michele Marieci's liking who is by Ikhtyr out of Chloe's Delight, and was bred at his own Nanoli stud farm. "I felt she would relish longer trips, but Pesi Shroff told me she can produce speed and it was worth taking a chance in the MiD DAY Trophy," he added.

Luck was riding really high for owner Dhunjibhoy and trainer Shyam Habbu yesterday afternoon as besides the MiD DAY Trophy at Mumbai, they also won two plum races at Kolkata with Tintoretto (Banerjea Cup) & Ikaria (Army Cup), and the icing on the cake for the Dhunjibhoy family was provided by trainer Shroff, who bagged the Poonawalla Stud Calcutta Oaks (Gr 3) with Xisca ridden by B Prakash.

Other action...
The feature event at Mahalaxmi, the Grade 3, Rohan Lifescapes Jiwajirao Scindia Trophy threw up a shock winner in Polish Patriot trained by S Padmanabhan and owned by sponsor of the race, Haresh Mehta.u00a0

u00a0Ironically, Polish Patriot (Dashrath Singh up) beat Becket, also owned by Mehta and trained by Padmanabhan, who was the piping hot on-money favourite for the race, causing a vociferous protest by a section of the crowd.

Though the verdict was only a whisker, implying there was no 'design' behind the shock result, such incidents highlight the necessity of bracketing horses from the same stable for the betting purpose, so punters are saved
the heartburn.