While there was indeed some logic in that victory, the win of Patrick Quinn-trained Rising Hero in the Romantic Dancer Cup was unfathomable. It would be fair to say that the wily Christopher Alford fooled his two rivals – both from the same yard. His start-to-finish effort after shrugging off Nitrous early in the race made the latter a mere passenger for the rest of the race with no role to play. As for the on-money favourite Raghuvansh, the less said about him the better. He probably didn’t feel like attending office after a break of six weeks. Alford completed his double with Enzo who won the Arisen Handicap by a nose – literally. Once again, it was clever riding that fetched him the honours. After tracking Glenbervie till the turn, he switched quickly to the rails and scraped home despite the strong belated challenge of Mystic Force.
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Apprentice Md Sameer recorded an excellent lucrative double with Royal Saga and Armstrong. While Arti Doctor-schooled Royal Saga made every post a winning one despite a stiff challenge from Conquistarose and Oceanaire, Jaiswal-trained Armstrong had to be ridden with a little more understanding to get the better of the trio of four-year-olds Legendary Emperor, Auckley and Harey Putter who fought for the minor placings, It would be relevant to mention here that the favourite Auckley was extremely poorly handled by apprentice Akshay Sundaram. He did not make any effort to improve his position after a tardy beginning and then took the bend seven wide before finishing a creditable second.
Jockey A Imran Khan completed a well-deserved double when he piloted Desert Image to a fluent victory in the Dalkeith Handicap run over 2,000 metres. The gelding by Bees Prospector out of Source Of Light closed as the ten-to-seven-on public choice and gave no anxious moments to his backers. Earl Of Warwick shot his bolt earlier than expected and Desert Image could be spotted as a winner long way from home. Stablemate Roman Quintet was the surprise runner-up and will be worth keeping an eye on.
