Favourites Play Truant at Kolkata
By Epsom Ace

Kolkata, Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The buzz around the Calcutta racecourse is all about the dual-classic afternoon on Saturday. Both the fillies and Colts Trial Stakes will be run on that day. Wednesday’s card of six events may not have generated much interest (especially after the delayed acceptances and declarations) but for the hardcore punter, it was business as usual. Give him a winner and he will go home a happy man whether it’s a classic or not.

 
 
However, spotting winners on Wednesday was not an easy task, as not a single public choice obliged. Despite this, it must be said that the horses which occupied the winner’s enclosure were all form horses. On the basis of his trackwork, eight-year-old Starlite was the rage of the ring in the curtain-raiser, The Finalist Handicap run over 1,800 metres. The Errol Bhungard ward did manage to show a little sparkle at the top of the straight but his effort came to nought as Pawan Sharma brought the 5/1 shot Firing Power with a fluent run on the outside. Armstrong with Vinay Jaiswal in the saddle finished powerfully to be a good second while Starlite and the heavily whipped Witness occupied the other minor placings.

The solidly prepared Malikah outclassed the field in the Contralto Handicap. Top-weight jockey Imran Khan made light of the 62kg impost to take this filly from Delhi to the helm of affairs and stay there all the way. In the final run-in, it became a one horse race. The favourite Averill struggled all the way while Vijay Singh-trained Accapella ran on to pick up the runner-up stake money.

Trainer Daniel David and jockey A Imran Khan (not to be confused with the Imran atop Malikah) combined fruitfully to land the spoils with Fabulous Emperor in the Alcalde Handicap. The second favourite Glory Of North led till the distance post where she was collared by Glenbervie who was threatening to hoist the winning flag. That’s when Imran got his act together to bring the ‘Emperor’ on her flank and pull off a magical triumph close home. The favourite Local Warrior finished fourth and may need more ground than seven furlongs to show his true mettle.

Acridian was a costly failure of the Darius Byramji stable once again. He showed plenty of zeal to take up the early running in the Sun Lion Handicap but fizzled out like a pricked balloon when challenged by owner-mate Azureus. It was left to Rutherford-trained Solid Success to take home the winner’s prize as B Srinivas Rao rode yet another powerful finish at this centre. Chief’s Dream had all the chances but lacked the potential.

Aymaras fell down at the starting stalls in the sole cup event of the day, The Bachelor’s Wedding Cup. As a result, she had to be withdrawn. Shanghai Gal was installed as the firm 5/4 favourite but the filly lacked the spark of her previous outing. She never had her head in front. It was left to Flying Jaguar and Leading Edge to fight out the finish of this 1,100 metres sprint. Leading Edge completed a fine double for Daniel David and A Imran Khan.

Christopher Alford displayed great acumen for the saddle to edge out Moment Of Love and clinch the Arthur B Handicap with Chinatown. The colt which failed miserably in his first outing had to hard-ridden by the champion rider to occupy the top spot. He surprisingly opened at 5/1 as Sonic Melody was the punters’ choice.

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