mumbai salute in the spotlight in what proved to be ladys day out on the dday at mahalaxmi the classy daughter of alnasr uncorked a champagne performance before the bubbly flowed and the owner capt jamshed appoo and the breeders poonawallas hugged and kissed declaring that it was time for song and dance all night longin line for a derby hattrick after winning the deccan derby at malakpet hyderabad and the calcutta derby the spotlight was trained on this stronglybuilt queen who looked the best in the paddock paradeshe it appeared just wanted to go out and do it and in the end it was like sweeping autumn leaves from the garden path said a delighted owner appoo after in the spotlight without raising a sweat romped home to wear the derby sash and take home the record purse of rs 15696000 on offer to the winner of mcdowell signature premier indian derby the richest event in the indian racing calendarafter the 10top colts the three fillies came under the starters flag for the mileandahalf classic journey pronto star playing the role of a pacemaker to his illustrious stablemate pronto pronto raced like a scalded cat and set a decent pace all through the back stretchin the spotlights stablemate field marshal followed the leader while martin dwyer guiding the fortunes of the star performer settled his mount nice and easy in third place pronto pronto and hills and stars meanwhile chose to play the waiting game content to grace the wrong end of the field for most part of the classic tripthe moment the early leader pronto pronto shot his bolt at the top of the straight martin pushed in the sotlight ahead and it was all over bar the shouting with the padmanbbhan ward storming through to put the issue beyond doubt in the final furlonganother filly smashing followed in the spotlight home making certain that it was truly a day for the ladies with the top cats from the tinsel world sporting designer hats providing a standing ovation to the new queenfield marshal finished third ahead of pronto pronto while hills and stars finished in the ruckshe is a very special filly and this is her sixth straight classic success what makes it even more noteworthy is the fact that my champion has won in all the premier racing centres gushed padmanabhan adding that the queen will return home to bangalore and will next compete in the indian turf invitation cup on the first sunday of march in the garden citythe graceful simone poonwalla immensely pleased with the result was ecstatic it takes a good team to produce a champion and the moment in the spotlight came to the parade ring her body language said it all said simone