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Arti Makes an Early ‘Impact’

By Epsom Ace | 19 Jul 2011 | KOLKATA


Trainer Arti Doctor leading Romantic Impact (Shailesh Shinde Up), winner of The Citi Limits Trophy

It was yet another disastrous afternoon for punters at the Calcutta racecourse on Tuesday. Though three favourites obliged in a card of seven events, two of them were at extremely cramped odds while the third one (God’s Creation) bagged a maidens’ race, thus giving punters very little opportunity to make up their losses which had accumulated on the other four events.

The man who did the most damage to the pockets of punters was none other than the unsung hero Vinay Jaiswal. He completed a high-priced double for brothers Sarfaraz and Shafiq Khan and added one more to his tally from his brother Vikash Jaiswal’s yard. It was quite an afternoon for young Vinay and quite a turn for the better after his miserable winter campaign where he had a less than one per cent success rate. Bravo boy! Keep it up for the rest of the season and one never knows, you may even give the so called champion riders a run for your money as you did on this occasion.

The afternoon’s main event, The Citi Limits Trophy, saw Hall Of Glory installed as the 7/4 favourite. The four-year-old chestnut was given a free rein by Christopher Alford after a somewhat tardy beginning. He shot ahead before the half-way mark of the 1100-metre sprint and looked to be heading for home till Shailesh Shinde on Arti Doctor’s Romantic Impact (Major Impact-Romantic Heights) had other ideas. With less than a furlong left, he edged past the runaway leader to leave bettors aghast. The winner incidentally has a penchant for the monsoon track. He maintained a 100 per cent record (two wins from two outings) last monsoon and was on a weight-reducing mission during the winter season.

Desperate to make up their accumulated losses, punters staked their last resources on speedy Petaloid in the afternoon’s final event. It would be fair to state that they were clearly unfortunate not to return home on a happy note. The colt by Inhabitant out of Pettalluma was badly squeezed out at the start and gave Christopher a trying time as he had to weave his mount through a maze of horses before being in a position to challenge the front-runners (Songstress, Vence and Regal Bearing) at the top of the straight. He took the shortest route home by squeezing a passage through the last two named but in the process was blocked for space to use his whiphand. In contrast, Vinay Jaiswal was freely using the whalebone with his left hand atop Shafiq Khan’s Regal Bearing (Inhabitant-Athinai) and the filly got up in the last stride to peg back the hot public choice. It was not possible to spot the winner with the naked eye and the camera gave the nod to rank outsider – thanks to Vinay Jaiswal’s perseverance.

The first race of the day, however, gave no inkling of what was to follow. Much in the lines as on the opening day (when Rob N Rob won), the half-money favourite Alpine Count (Tirol-Gin Oclock) from Patrick Quinn’s yard won The Vanitas Handicap effortlessly despite apprentice Tamang doing precious little astride the colt after a slow start. Sugar N Salt was a late-finishing runner-up.

Vinay Jaiswal opened his account with the 8/1 shot Apostrophe (Al Nasr Alwasheek – Aphaia) after stablemate and 9/4 favourite Auckley tried to steal a march on the field at the top of the straight. Flirting Eye had sufficient opportunity to show her mettle but failed to accelerate when asked for an effort. Flying Wonder looked out of sorts and graced the wrong end of the field – so much for winter form!

Arti Doctor’s Stormette (Major Impact – Double Quick) gave jockey Shailesh Shinde a fairly easy start-to-finish ride in The Clamp Handicap though he was under pressure from Andeana in the final furlong. The winner was available at 55 paise and is incidentally a full brother to the illustrious Diabolical.

Javed Khan-trained God’s Creation (European-Sunlit Moon) was available at 16/10 in The Jango Handicap, while the second favourite was the 3/1 Zakiyah. It was, however, the 15/1 Mehzabeen who called the shots till the distance post before being collared by the favourite. The rest of the field were never in it.

Bravo Italiano (Diffident-Classically Noble) was given an easy run with youngsters on the opening day. In his own age group, he was a different proposition as he left the field cold in the straight. The fancied pair of Successful and Aeropostale was a tired duo before the distance post.