If only horses could run without jockeys, form-workers would be so much better off! But alas, such a utopian state of affairs is unlikely to come about in the next 1000 years. Nevertheless, one has to make the most of the resources available to him – win or lose.

At Calcutta’s mid-week races The Alibi Trophy worked out pretty well for workers of form while The Cheryl Handicap was an absolute disaster, thanks to Mohit Singh. An enquiry was promptly opened into his handling of Sartaj and the apprentice is right now under the scanner with the stipes who are deciding on the punishment to be meted out to him.

When taking a guideline from an earlier race to spot a winner, the tipster should always try to choose one where all the rivals went flat out. In that respect, the running of the Queen’s Cup on February 26 was an ideal race to use for the cognoscenti. Work Force (49.5), Rising Hero (57) and Hall Of Glory (57.5) were all flat out and the verdict was 2, 21/4 between the third, fourth and fifth horses respectively. On Wednesday, the difference between Work Force and Rising Hero was 5.5kg (as Mahesh declared 0.5kg overweight). Thus he was 2kg better off for two lengths – a real touch-and-go affair. At the distance post, it looked as if the four-year-old Work Force had shrugged off Rising Hero (Storm Trooper-Naval Guardian) and was a length-and-half clear after a head-to-head tussle for 600 metres. But the six-year-old from Patrick Quinn’s yard came with a second wind to pip the ‘Force’ close home. All credit to Quinn for maintaining his ward in the pink of condition and jockey Mahesh for doing justice to his mount.

The moot point here is whether Work Force could have reversed the verdict if he had declined the head-to-head tussle with the eventual winner from the 1000 marker to the bend and instead been held in check by his rider behind Rising Hero. A difficult proposition indeed for a horse such as Work Force who pulls at the reins. Perhaps, just perhaps, without taking away anything from able apprentice Shezad Khan, an Imran Chisty may have been able to do it. But then, this is a purely hypothetical point of view which is totally subjective in nature. Nevertheless, it’s worth a thought.

The Cheryl Handicap was an absolute nightmare for the backers of Sartaj as the colt was three lengths slow off the blocks and then taken eight-wide by apprentice Mohit Singh – without any apparent reason but quite obviously with an ulterior motive. A senior stipe who spoke to this correspondent was of the opinion that in a true run race, he could well have retired a winner instead of Goliath (Don Micheletto-Funny Girl). An enquiry has been opened into Mohit Singh’s handling of Sartaj and the punishment is yet to be meted out. Goliath won the sprint star-to-finish as there was no third opponent worth his salt.

Jockey Vinay Jaiswal enjoyed two armchair rides to record a brace. His first winner was Bravo Italiano (Diffident-Classically Noble) who won the Amazing Handicap start-to-finish. Black Falcon returned bleeding for the second successive time while Successful also joined the ranks of the ‘bleeders’. Jaiswal’s second win was Shershah (Epicentre-Achemar) in the Bergamo Handicap. The Shafiq Khan sprinter truly enchanted his fans with an absolutely brilliant display.

There were two major upsets during the afternoon. The first was Happy Princess (Epicentre-Tiana) in the Chianti Handicap. Our Little Angel, another rank outsider, was on a start-to-finish mission with the favourite Oscar in tow. At the bend, the latter called it a day and after a brief tussle with the front-runner, Bharath Singh-trained Happy Princess prevailed in Mahesh’s hands. The top-weight jockey did well to record a brace during the afternoon.

The second outsider of the day was Christopher Gleich-trained Secret Whispers (Bee’s Prospector-Tactful). The top-weight pegged back the favourite Mesmeriser close home. However, Arti Doctor’s Phlox (Diffident-Rasha) made amends for her stablemate’s debacle with a fluent win in the last race of the day in Shailesh Shinde’s hands.