On a bright sunny afternoon at the Calcutta racecourse  on Saturday, Martin Dwyer rode a flawless race atop the on-money public choice In The Spotlight to land the 1000 Guineas in great style. The property of Captain Jamshed J Appoo stopped the clock at an incredible 1min 37.3sec (which is extremely creditable so early in the season) and has undoubtedly thrown down the gauntlet to the Calcutta’s pride – Dandified. Experienced trainer Padmanabhan ensured that his prize filly will not clash with the best that this centre has to offer, till the Derby, as he said after the mile classic that “In The Spotlight’s next race will be the Calcutta Oaks” (thus very wisely giving the 2000 Guineas a bye).

There is really very little to describe in the race itself as the daughter of Alnasr Alwasheek out of Radiate was always in a box seat behind pace-setter Sarabhi and bid adieu to the field immediately after heads turned for home. The talking point was the gross debacle of Secrecy who finished in the ruck. Srinath’s hard riding fetched Two In One the runner-up berth, five lengths behind the runaway winner.

The Desert Force Handicap saw another chestnut filly from Padmanabhan’s yard almost pull it off. The four-year-old Con Artiste, with Dwyer in the saddle, tried to steal a march on the others as the field of 13 entered the straight but her effort came to nought as Neeraj Rawal on Poles Apart (Black Cash-Winning Spurs) stuck to his task with great diligence and his perseverance paid off at the all important end. The favourite Welcome Smile did show a trace of urgency after a slow start but that’s where his story ended. Secret Reward was withdrawn on veterinary grounds.

While they may have missed out on the day’s plum. Jockey Christopher Alford and trainer Vijay Singh enjoyed a fairly successful day at the office as they notched up a treble with Accrews, Abriella and Royal Blue Star. All three runners were short-priced and won with a degree of comfort. The first named, a colt by Oath out of Acquest made every post a winning one and quite easily brushed aside Isle Of Capri who was trying to play ‘catch-up’. Hurricane Star was withdrawn on veterinary grounds.

Fashionably bred Abriella (China Visit-Allaire) made light work of her top-weight as she collared Mehzabeen and drew away to outclass the field in the race for the Cavalry Cup. The other fancied runner Speed Angel was never in it.

Alford completed his treble with Royal Blue Star (Sunday Doubt-Razpazazz), whose 9kg penalty was not sufficient to stop him.  His coat was looking much improved and his margin of victory is a true index of that. The fight was for the runner-up berth where Alienation edged out Catchphrase.

Jockey Srinath notched up a double early in the day when he piloted Songstress and Artemisia to victory. The former was available at 4/1 as Secret Gloss closed as the 12/10 favourite. From an inside draw, Srinth took no chances and made it a start-to-finish affair with the favourite in tow. Songstress (China Visit-Cacophony) is from the stable of Arti Doctor.

Srinath’s pace-judgement in the 2000 metres race for the Simply Sensational Handicap was commendable. C. Alford shot his mount Albarello ahead and opened up an useful gap but Srinath maintained his cool as he knew Alford was travelling too fast and would not be able keep up that pace. Sure enough, Albarello’s strides were beginning to shorten after the turning for home and Artemisia (Major Impact-Girlion) was fast gaining ground. At the distance post, it was all over bar the shouting. 10/1 shot Mama Morembo finished on from way back to snatch the runner-up berth from the pace-setter.

Trainer Richard Alford pulled off a wonderful coup with Raznandan (Razeen-Athabasca). The speedy three-year-old gelding was given a thorough preparation before being accepted with. There was no doubt about his superior class, though he was a maiden till date. Richard’s patience and perseverance paid off  and the speedster was very wisely entrusted to top-weight jockey Mahesh who had given the sprinter a mock race recently. Mahesh rode a fine race, gradually improving his position from an outside draw before drawing away. The winner was available at lucrative odds of 7/2.

Third Successive Century

The curtain came down with Trevor Patel causing a major upset as he punched Bharath Singh-trained Satsuma Star (Placerville-Imperial Satsuma) to victory over a 1100 metres sprint. Fancied runners Bavaria, Phlox and Whistling Straight had all the chances but failed to match strides with the winner. Bavaria was the best of the rest.

The win of Satsuma Star was the 100^th winner from Dr. Mallya’s yard in this calendar year. Incidentally, this is the third year in succession that this renowned stable has achieved this feat. This is a grand feather in the cap for the stable and Kunigal Stud. The past three years have seen a soaring graph of winners.