Juliette wins C N Wadia Gold Cup (Gr 2)

Wonder mare Juliette, who won the C N Wadia Gold Cup (Gr 2) at Mahalaxmi on Sunday, being paraded in the paddock by trainer Karthik G (left) and owner Zavaray S Poonawalla (right). Pic/RWITC

The sensational success of the weekend racing carnival, powered by Zavaray S Poonawalla, made sure the Mumbai racing season 2023-24 ended on a memorable note. On the final Sunday, wonder mare Juliette, owned by none other than Zavaray Poonawalla and his family, won the grade 2, C N Wadia Gold Cup in style. Trained by Karthik G, Juliette was ridden by her regular partner jockey CS Jodha.

Lying last until the final turn of the mile-and-a-half trip, Juliette moved up fluently after turning for home to effortlessly pass them all, and ran away for a six-length victory over Dyf (Akshay Kumar up) who, in turn, finished a street ahead of the rest.

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"Set your eyes on Juliette," Zavaray Poonwalla told the cheering crowds. Zavaray went on to explain that Juliette had two more options--either racing abroad, or retiring to the stud for broodmare duties. "I am undecided as of now, but have a good look at her," he added, "you might be seeing her for the last time on an Indian racetrack."

Before the race, Juliette and her connections were felicitated in the paddock for her superlative accomplishments, having won 17 races (16 of them graded events) from 25 starts. She added Sunday's feature event to make it 18 from 26, and also equaled the record set by Desert God (17 Graded race wins).

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Juliette also holds a unique record of winning three successive Invitation Cups (2022-23-24). "Four years ago when Juliette was a four-year-old, if anyone had told me she would make a hat-trick of the Invitation Cups, I would have laughed," trainer Karthik G said, before adding, "I must thank Mr Zavaray Poonawalla who had the confidence, and staunch conviction, to keep her in training even at the age of eight!"

Season's champions
Trainer: Pesi Shroff with 32 wins (a record 17th Mumbai title)
Jockey: P Trevor with 23 wins
Apprentice rider: Mustakim Alam with 14 wins
Apprentice rider with allowance: N Bhosale with 11 wins