A chance ride outside his stable helped jockey Christopher Alford increase his tally and stay in the hunt for the Jockeys’ Championship. With her win long overdue, Alford did not take any chances astride Arti Doctor-trained Bayberry (Warrshan-Mulberry) and took her to the front as the gates opened. The Jaiswal stable backed their horse Axiology to win and the second favourite put in a good challenge but failed by half-a-length. Rank outsider Askarel finished a good third and may be worth keeping an eye on.

Earlier Christopher Alford enjoyed a joyride on the classy colt Dance In China (China Visit-Dance In China). This full brother to Born To Fly displayed wonderful acceleration and left the field standing in the Audubon Handicap. Beethoven and Pine Valley ran on to fill the minor placings. The ten-to-six on favourite was kept behind pacemakers Apyrous and Credit Ease and shown daylight in the straight. The Vijay Singh-trained runner returned an effortless winner.

For a change, punters enjoyed the better of the exchanges as five favourites in a card of six events obliged. The lone runner which did not fall in that category was Secret Hero (Excalibur’s Lake-Calendar Girl) in the day’s opening event, The Pendragon Handicap. Jockey Vinay Jaiswal kept this eight-year-old from brother Vikash’s yard in fourth slot as stablemate Earl Of Warwick called the shots. The piping hot favourite Agnation lost some ground at the start and travelled four wide for most part. In the straight, Vinay urged his mount to get up and challenge the ‘Earl’ who was just a whisker away from the winning post. It was Vinay’s power-packed finish which won the day on the last stride.

Like Dance In China, Bharath Singh-trained Secret Reward (Alnasr Alwasheek-Queen Of Swords) won the Dorania Handicap in great style. The colt’s closing price was half-money and he lived up to expectations with a thumping triumph. It was also the first of Shailesh Shinde’s two wins of the afternoon. Allowing top-weight Baskerville to call the shots till the bend, Secret Reward smoothly took over the running thereafter. Both Strauss and Flamingo Fantasy were heavily under the whip but finished on to occupy the minor placings.

The most thrilling finish of the afternoon was witnessed in the Fusebox Handicap where top-weight and favourite Alexander (Placerville-Sprungli) raised a gallop very late to snatch the verdict from Fairy Girl. Quite a few other runners were fancied but the likes of Adiynara and Mama Morembo ran well below expectations. Jockey Trevor Patel on Fairy Girl appeared to be heading for victory after collaring Adiynara but met a tartar in Alexander. Imran Khan was desperate to extricate his sluggish mount from an unenviable position before heads turned for home and succeeded in doing so in the nick of time. Though he came five wide, his mount’s momentum was sufficient to give him the verdict at the wire. Both Secret Reward and Alexander are promising three-year-olds and are part owned by Mr. Gautam Sengupta.

The curtain came down with both Arti Doctor and jockey Shailesh Shinde completing a double with Mistral (Senure-Untold Story). The filly was a trifle tardy at the beginning but found her galloping shoes quickly enough to hit the front at the bend and bid adieu to the field. Once again, the Jaiswal connections had a gamble on Arctic Force but the top-weight finished nowhere. Hadrian finished up a faraway second.