As all seven favourites bit the dust at the Calcutta racecourse on Friday, punters by and large were left licking their wounds. Jockey Christopher Alford remained stuck on a total of 997 as John Stephens pulled off a master coup with Oyster Cove in the Shahi Bag Handicap. For the unenlightened punters who were questioning the form of the eight-year-old, the Stephens ward ran a very good fifth (at near level weights) with the likes of Cameo, Recardo, Samarkhand and Adamaris in his last winter outing, The Mayor’s Cup. The verdict was lnk, lnk, lnk, 1/2. Thereafter, he was worked relentlessly during the monsoon and given a lung-opener over seven furlongs in another strong field.

His current mark of 85 allowed him to squeeze into Class II, where the connections very cleverly declared 4-kg apprentice Mohit Singh. All he had to do was get the better of improving four-year-old Glamorous Spirit. Mohit exploited an opening at the top of the straight beautifully to get the better of the favourite.

The joint property of Sumant Dalmiya, Bimal Khemka, SN Mukherji and JP Khaitan thus broke a long drought, having hat-tricked in the winter of 2006 at Mumbai – quite a patient wait indeed. Trainer John Stephens needs to be complimented for having set his ward right with a great deal of patience and using a cross-nose band – be alert to more surprises from this very sprinter if you want to make your pockets jingle.

For aspiring 1000-winners rider Christopher Alford, things started disastrously as Andeana lost the Immaculate Handicap narrowly to Caravaggio. Though the rules of racing state that a rider can at most declare 2-kg overweight, the connections of Caravaggio were very keen to have Prakash ride the four-year-old despite a 3-kg overweight. That very nearly killed his chances but he did pull it off at the post. However, it’s really a no-win situation as the handicapper is bound to take cognizance of the extra weight the winner carried when he calculates the new marks.

Alford’s last mount of the day, Crystal Dance, was never in the race. He was seen to struggle most of the way in the seven-furlong event for the Rockefeller Cup and finished an unimpressive fifth. Top-weights Black Falcon and Flirting Eye appeared to be headed for a dead-heat when the most astonishing thing happened – seven-year-old Art Of War (I Khan up) picked up a late gallop to peg back his stablemate from Javed Khan’s yard, Flirting Eye. The win resulted in the Jackpot and second Treble being carried over.

Trainer Vikash Jaiswal started the day with a beauty of a ‘doosra’. The in-form All In The Stars with brother Vinay atop was conveniently slow-off while the heavily gambled My First Choice (Islam up) made the 1,000 metres sprint very nearly a start-to-finish affair. Quite obviously, the function of All In The Stars was purely to fetch a price for the eventual winner.

Deepak Karki-trained Thousand Stars was very neatly placed on the handicap scale. The stable made a clever move by declaring inconspicuous-yet-effective light-weight Vivek. He rode a wonderfully measured race on the 5/1 shot to make owner Gautam Sengupta a very happy man. Sengupta is also part-owner of My First Choice. The favourite Apostrophe graced the wrong end of the field while Cromwell was outpaced.

Vivek completed his double with a great ride astride Rashid Byramji-trained High Roller. The colt was very well prepared during the monsoon and had the benefit of a mock race. He came with an astounding gallop in the straight to sail past Quaoar who may have been disadvantaged by his apprentice rider not having the use of a whip. The top-weight favourite Secret Gallop needed the run and will be better for it.

Islam followed suit with his brace atop Jaiswal-trained 12-year-old Magic Mantra who came with a rattle in the straight to stun Big Thrillz and Torrential – the pair who were battling it out till close home. Not surprisingly, Jaiswal’s form-horse Iora was happy to race in the second-last berth (detached from the field) and took the bend miles wide.