Trainer Vijay Singh’s Dandified proved beyond an iota of doubt that he is by far the best three-year-old at this centre today. Jockey Christopher Alford enjoyed an armchair ride on the property of Mr Deepak Khaitan, as the well-tuned son of Rebuttal out of Dondoona galloped away to an impressive victory in the Calcutta Colts Trial Stakes. The fight was for the runner-up berth and the in-form Welcome Smile edged out Poles Apart at the post. The rest of the field were never in the contest.

The Fillies Trial Stakes turned out to be an open affair as expected, though the price quoted on the ante-post favourite Martinique was 10-to-8-on. She ran a lacklustre race beyond comprehension while second favourite Araceli turned out to be an equally huge flop. As for the classy filly Mad About You, she left all her chances at the gates and yet finished a fairly good third.

Outstation jockey Srinath rode a powerpacked race astride the Javed Khan-trained filly Two In One (Royal Gladiator-Arikara) to land the spoils despite a strong challenge from Amor Amor. Collaring pacesetter Golden Saga early in the race, Srinath shot his mount ahead in the straight to play ‘catch me if you can’. Ryan Marshall on Amor Amor took up the challenge but lost out to a superior saddle artist.

The cloudy weather with intermittent rain suited Richard Alford-schooled Palazzio’s Sun (Alnasr Alwasheek-Palazzio) to the hilt. He has been known to bleed every now and then. Top-weight jockey B. Mahesh rode an identical race to what he had done in the Elusive Pimpernel Cup last winter. He took no chances at all as he made every post a winning one. The property of Col. Jamshed Appoo has been well maintained by his mentor and the six-year-old was looking a picture in the paddock. Nevertheless, he was quoted at 9/4. Clear Mandate ran on to be a good second but was outclassed by the winner.

The afternoon commenced with heavily gambled Calsin (Warshan-New Market) from the Javed Khan yard putting her best foot forward. Unfortunately, two other fancied runners – Illuminati and Mission Control- were very fractious during loading and missed the kick-off by quite a margin. Emerald Queen called the shots till the distance post and then called it a day. D. Ashish on the favourite was in third slot but took over the running as the front-runners were fast coming back at him.

Imperial Delight was the rage of the ring at 60 paise but the colt may have found the heavy impost of 61.5kg acting as a stopper. Srinath on Arti Doctor-trained Mesmerizer (Senure-So Amazing) rode a measured race as he gradually caught up with the front-runner and wore him down in the straight. That was Srinath’s first win of the afternoon. He went on to record a treble.

Habbu-trained Michele Marieci (Ikhtyar-Chloe’s Delight) won her race in a fairly heavy drizzle and displayed immense potential. She seems to be destined for the highest category. Despite shouldering top-weight, she was always running freely up front with Spectacular Style. A couple of reminders from Zervan and she had it all wrapped up. Rather unfortunately, Daniel David’s Optmum Pride was slow off the blocks and could not make up the leeway.

In fact, it was an afternoon when David’s stable was plagued by bad luck. Heavily gambled Incanto Bliss closed as the favourite in the last race of the day, The Glotik Handicap. The filly clipped the heels of Sartaj near the half-way mark and fell back rapidly. Mohit Singh was fortunate to hold on to his seat. Otherwise, it may have turned into a nasty incident. Srinath on Devil In Disguise (Royal Kingdom-Limelite) rode another brilliant finish to complete his treble. Like Two In One, this was another Ajay Jalan-owned horse from the stable of Javed Khan.