The third day of the Christmas Meeting at the Calcutta racecourse on Thursday was something of an anticlimax. Two races, including the feature event, were scratched at the acceptance stage and a card of only six races was framed.
Barring rank outsider Asmodeus who made every post of the Noel Handicap a winning one, all other winners were well backed.
The feature event, The Reindeer Cup, saw the on-money public choice Alterio land the spoils in a fairly convincing manner. The chestnut colt by Elusive Pimpernel out of Farcical, from Vijay Singh's yard, was handled with supreme confidence by last Saturday's hat-trick artist Neeraj Rawal. Tracking front-running Forest Knight till the 600 metres marker, Alterio cruised into the lead and faced no problems in staving off the challenge of Asiatique who appeared menacing at the distance post. Rashid Byramji-trained Forza moved well in the closing stages to occupy the third slot. He ought to be that much fitter as a result of this race and may be a force to reckon with in his next outing.
The curtain-raiser, The Jingle Bell Cup was bagged by Robin Corner-trained Durness. This full sister to Lady Pepperoni (Flitch-Kentucky Missy) pegged back Vignet without much ado. The other fancied runner Gold City finished a poor fourth.
Then came the shocker of the day — Asmodeus. Trainer Vikash Jaiswal's Dil Chahta Hai was backed down to be a close second-favourite while Matrix was installed as the public choice.
Apprentice Aharwal employed runaway tactics and opened up a huge gap of over a distance. Punters were in for a rude shock at the turning for home as the five-year-old kicked on merrily instead of shortening his strides. That he is class better was proved beyond doubt. His good fourth with Magic Words, Appetent and Siddh Raj gave an indication that he was a cut above the lot he was pitted against. What misled most punters was the money pouring in on his stablemate — but then that is a part of the game, only the prudent can survive.
The day's most impressive winners were Saarah Alam and Havana. The former picked up the Snow Flakes Handicap in a canter while Havana accounted for the likes of Firing Power and Megillah in the Mistletoe Handicap. Saarah Alam (Warrshan-Tajmahal) was purchased at the RCTC Breeze-Up sales for Rs 4 lakh and she proved her worth.
Havana proved that his good second in his last outing was no flash in the pan. He cruised up alongside the front-running duo of Aptitude and Desire Prince and shot into the lead opposite the grandstand. In the final furlong, top-weight Way To The Stars defied his age to end up a good second. Apprentice Aharwal who was astride the runner-up, almost brought the curtain down in style when he had Patrick Quinn-trained Lusitania calling the shots till the last few metres in the Yuletide Handicap. It took all of Imran Chisty's verve to get the best out of Regal Venture and pip the front-runner at the post. The disappointment in the race was the favourite and top-weight Grand Ceremony who failed to accelerate when the heat was on.
