Though top-weight Arktouros (Diffident-Girl From Ipanema) is favoured time and again by the terms of the race, it is to the credit of his trusted partner Christopher Alford and the experienced six-year-old that they are combining fruitfully to cash in on their advantage. In fact, the ‘Arktouros-Alford’ team has become quite a talking point at this centre. It would be interesting to take a count of just how many races the duo has picked up. Right now, they may be graded arbitrarily as the ‘Double-A’ team. What a pity that the EPL does not have any favourable terms for their heavyweights, otherwise the Arsenal-Arsene (Wenger) duo may have taken a leaf out of the Double-A team’s book.

The 1,800 metres race for The Tangiers Trophy saw three horses attracting money at the books. They were Unleashed (6/4), Cambiasso (11/4) and Arktouros (7/2).

As the gates opened, Christopher Alford shot his mount to the helm of affairs as he is wont to do. One would have thought that his nearest rival Cambiasso would have been dropped out of the scorching pace and gathered up late for a gallop as he has been doing in his earlier wins, while the owner-mate Caravaggio would be racing up-front to disturb the pace of the imposing top-weight front-runner. But what actually took place in the race was exactly the opposite – Cambiasso was surprisingly kept up with pace while his owner-mate was biding his time in the fifth slot. After the turning for home, Cambiasso decided to call it a day while Unleashed fought it out with the front-runner down the straight. At the end of the day, it has to be said that Christopher knows his ‘favourite’ horse like the back of his hand and always keeps that little extra in the tank for the final 100 metres. Kudos to the courageous duo for a wonderful, versatile partnership and here’s wishing them many more victories in the future! A word also for trainer Vijay Singh, but for whom the six-year-old may have lost the brilliant form that he has been maintaining.

The Aloritz Handicap was an absolute humdinger of a race. Speedy Admiral was on a start-to-finish mission but found six furlongs a trifle out of his ambit in this class. Heavily gambled Adamaris (Alnasr Alwasheek – Days Of Glory) caught up with him near the distance post and sailed past the fancied runner from Darius Byramji’s yard. The Vikash Jaiswal ward looked to be heading for a fairly comfortable win as the favourite Silver Sands was struggling in fifth slot. That’s when apprentice Ajoy Roy decided to give it his all astride the friendless Royal Saga. That he fell short by a nose is another matter. Highland Prince was another who picked up a late gallop and finished a close third.

The afternoon commenced sedately enough with the on-money public choice Ocean Sunrise (Emerald Cat-GO Go Go) winning The Arthur B Handicap from April Edition and Peppermint in the hands of Neeraj Rawal.

Equally peaceful was the win of another on-money choice Rob N Rob (Ontario-Dellua). The Bath-schooled chestnut ran like a dream. Runner-up Benjamin was outpaced by the winner who was striding out well, quite easily defying the 7-kg penalty.

The lower division of The Sermon Handicap saw quite a keen contest between the favourite Goliath and Rithambhra (Hammerstein-Sahij). The duo was going hammer and tongs with the latter shifting out of a straight course. The temperamental Jasbir Singh mare nevertheless won under apprentice Mohit Singh at lucrative odds of 8/1.

Arti Doctor-trained Lunar Quest (Major Impact-Lunar Music) was yet another gamble which materialized on this afternoon. Ridden off the pace by Shailesh Shinde, the proven miler made short work of Sokudo and Secret Love over this seven-furlong trip.

The costliest failure of the afternoon was Romantic Sunset who closed at 65 paise. Top-weight Shershah (Epicentre-Acernar), with Imran Khan in the saddle, went hell for leather from the word go, while Romatic Sunset and Catchphrase followed. Neither could make any impression on the Shafiq Khan ward as he stretched out beautifully in the straight to wrap it up by an improbable margin of a distance. The favourite faded out to finish second last.

Oriental Diana (Black Cash-Revived Up) completed the afternoon’s proceedings in the hands of M Ali Khan. The chestnut filly utilized her mock race with Sexy Eyes to good effect.