The Mumbai-based runner Solomon, the lesser fancied of the two Vijay Mallya-owned participants in the Attila Sprinters’ Cup, kept up the record of rank outsiders in this event by holding off his rivals on a rain-marred afternoon at Mumbai's Mahalakshmi Race Course.
Despite a persistent drizzle, the first five events were gone through without incident.
These included the fourth race, one of the two features of the first day of the Invitation Cup carnival, where the lone female Whispering Glory was withdrawn early in the day and the consistent Un Un Un became the second to defect following an injury after he reared up in the starting stalls.
That left 13 geldings to fight for glory in the Sprinters' Cup. Solomon got off fluently, from gate 14, with his rider D.K. Ashish tacking across his rivals to assume command, closely followed by Brynhill with Dancing Prances disputing the third spot.
The first three into the straight finished in that order, as none could gain ground in the straight. Despite the conditions, the time was a smart 1:09.92, a mere 0.30 seconds off the track record.
Solomon, who was bred at the Hazara Stud, is trained by Pesi Shroff, who attributed his four-year-old's last loss to a break in momentum during the running of that “prep” race.
After the fifth race, the jockeys felt conditions were inappropriate for racing and the Deltin Casinos Stayers’ Cup along with the last race were postponed to the following day. Some doubt remains at the time of writing regarding whether the track will be conducive for racing on Sunday.