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Hat-trick for Trevor, Treble for Shinde

By Epsom Ace | 19 Nov 2011 | KOLKATA


Mr. Deepak Khaitan & Trainer Darius Byramji leading Adalwin (Neeraj Rawal Up), winner of The Star Magic Handicap Div-II (1000th Winner)

It was an eventful afternoon at the Calcutta races on Saturday. Young Trevor Patel won his first three mounts (second, third and sixth races), Shailesh Shinde notched up a treble, trainer Darius Byramji led in his 1000thwinner (Adalwin) and last but not the least, the Stewards and Stipes were kept on their toes with a couple of back-to-back objections that put punters on tenterhooks. If that was not enough, the feature event – The Mayfowl Cup saw Belligerent pull off a spectacular victory from Cayenne who had pulled away at the distance post.

It may be pertinent to deal with the objections on a priority basis as it left both happy and disgruntled punters – much like a close call LBW decision in a tight ODI match. The first of these objections involved the man-of-the-moment Trevor Patel. After winning the Allodium Plate effortlessly atop two-year-old filly Cerise (Hurricane State-Claire), Trevor and Arabica were installed as the firm 12/10 favourite in the race for the upper division of the Star Magic Handicap.

Fashionably bred Arabica (Burden Of Proof-Alhambrah) was running after a long lay-off and Trevor wisely did not hustle her early in the race but allowed her to run her own race till the 600 marker. Second favourite Short Radius was running a forward race from the word go and collared the front-running Blood Rayne after the turning for home – at which point he was well away from the rails and near the centre of the track. Wily Trevor chose the rails wisely and made a bee line for the finish at full throttle. About 250 metres from home, Malcolm Maseyk lost control of Short Radius and the horse lugged in badly, veering in dangerously. About 100 metres from home, Trevor had no option but to check his mount, other than which there could have been a nasty accident resulting in the fall of both jockeys. Without any prejudice, it would be fair to say that Arabica was travelling the fastest and best at that point of time and she proved it beyond any reasonable doubt when she came on with a second wind to go down by the narrowest of margins. Thus upholding the objection by Trevor was very much the right course of action taken by the guardians and stipes.

As far as the second objection goes, Adalwin (Alnasr Alwasheek – Connivance) was having his maiden start and he began to drift out as the field entered the straight led by him, despite jockey Neeraj Rawal trying his best to correct the drift by using the stick in his left hand. Bernardino was on his outside and taken wide by the Darius ward without a doubt. However, at no point was Bernardino travelling well enough to suggest that he might collar the winner. Moreover, he finished third in the race – behind Skyscraper who was along the rails, half-a-length behind the winner. The senior stipe and his assistant felt that the interference was severe enough to take away the race from the winner though he beat the second placed horse Skyscraper fair and square.

Now, lets us get back to racing, away from the sombre atmosphere of the courtroom where judgements are passed, winners blessed and some hearts broken.

Indiarace.com and this correspondent take this special opportunity to congratulate Darius Byramji, who at 38 is one of the youngest trainers ever to lead in a 1000 winners. It is also rare for a father-son duo to achieve this feat. Father Rashid had reached this milestone in his heyday in the eighties.

Bharath Singh-trained Sokudo was surprisingly available at 4/1 as Ardent N Graceful was the piping hot favourite in the race for the Archer Handicap. Allowing the favourite to lead till the straight, Trevor brought Sokudo (Inhabitant-Amber Dancer) with a fluent run to win from the fast moving Blue Grass who was given a fairly decent ride by apprentice Ajoy Roy despite an outside draw and not being able to claim his full quota of 4kg allowance.

Like Trevor on Cerise, Shailesh had enjoyed an armchair ride atop Arti Doctor’s Alicante (Senure-Red Alert) in the day’s opening event. However, the upcoming star of the local track had to really work at it for his next two winners.

Javed Khan’s Devil In Disguise (Royal Kingdom-Limelite) proved himself as a fine middle-distance runner when he got the better of the proven stayer Lionwoods close home. Aadesh Kumar had to use the stick freely on the latter to take up the running but had no answer when Shailesh brought the ‘Devil’ with an outstanding gallop close home. Top-weight Asian Rocket failed to concede considerable weight to the winner and runner-up, not to mention Il Bronzino who finished a flat-out third after being ridden in check early in the race.

Champion jockey Christopher Alford was not having a very fruitful afternoon but did open and close his account with the Darius Byramji filly Abronia (Captain Rio-Glorieuse). After a tardy beginning, she was nursed beautifully by Alford for a late gallop to peg back Glorious Invention who was threatening to pull it off after the distance post. There’s no doubt that Abronia has a touch of class and will be able to meet the highest category.

Frequently raced Arktouros closed as the favourite for the Mayfowl Cup. Not surprisingly, he finished in the ruck. The hard working, versatile six-year-old definitely deserves a break from the competitive track, if he is to perform at his peak on the last leg of his career.

Cayenne was cleverly ridden off the pace by Trevor as the five-year-old mare had never successfully negotiated a seven-furlong trip. The rider exploited a gap along the rails but his effort came to nought as Shailesh brought Imtiaz Sait-trained Belligerent (Glory Of Dancer-Buona Sera) with a spectacular run on the outside.

The curtain came down with Daniel David’s Must Be Magic (Eljohar-Bon Apetit) defying his 7kg penalty for an impressive start-to-finish victory in the hands of B. Sreekanth.