The colours of Dr Vijay Mallya were in the forefront at the Calcutta racecourse on Saturday as they dominated half the card of six races. The treble included a brace for the Bharath Singh-Ryan Marshall duo while the other winner was credited to Shroff and Kadam.

The afternoon’s main event, the Juvenile Sprint, saw Ryan Marshall ride a purposeful finish astride the Bharath Singh-trained Awesome Indian. Sporting the silks of Dr Vijay Mallya, Marshall kept the sprinter in a box seat while Royal Saga called the early shots. Must Be Magic took over the running at the top of the straight but was soon challenged by the eventual winner who spared half-a-length to the runner-up. The fast-finishing Missoni was a good third. The post-race discussion was, however, centred on the gross debacle of the hot favourite Oasis Knight. Despite a level break from the gates, he graced the wrong end of the field and finished dead last – not exactly the run one expects from a colt who had beaten Awesome Indian out of sight over sprints last winter. Obviously, somewhere along the line, form has gone awry.

Ryan’s first winner of the day was astride the bred-in-the-blue colt Caravaggio. Ryan had given the four-year-old a useful lung-opener earlier in the season. Lying a handy third behind Desert Image and Brave Move, Marshall urged his mount ahead in the home stretch after Desert Image had taken over the running. Desert Image ran a good race and will be worth keeping an eye on.

Pesi Shroff-trained Alice Springs justified her on-money status with a facile win in the Zelda Handicap. The classily bred (Razeen-Allinda) filly has come from Pune recently but showed no signs of distress on a new track. She was given a great ride by Kadam. Without hurrying her in the early part of the race, he allowed her to settle in fourth position behind the front-runners. At the turning for home, second favourite Baskerville joined her on the flank but was palpably outpaced by a superior animal. Considering that this was her first run here, Alice Springs has more races in store and will be a prime candidate for the Fillies Trial Stakes.

The most attractive race of the day was the CC & FC Cup. Unfortunately, the winner Silver Fox burnt the fingers of a majority of punters. The betting was divided between Bid For Gold and Cotswold Arms and the pair were very much in the limelight for most part of the way. However, Mahesh atop the neglected Silver Fox had other ideas. Lying in the rear of the field till heads turned for home, the six-year-old swept past the runners in a trice leaving a shell-shocked C. Alford atop owner-mate Bid for Gold who was on a start-to-finish mission.

The second race of the day, the Sunbird Handicap, saw the Stewards impose a fine of Rs 2,500 on Srinivas Rao for incompetent handling of the favourite Ebony Princess. All In The Stars from Vikash Jaiswal’s stable was powerfully handled by brother Vinay and won despite drifting out to the outer rails. The one for the notebook is second placed Sun Dancer.

The curtain came down with Whispering Wind putting her best foot forward in the Green Sari Handicap. The race was thought to be a formality for Royal Dance (after the win of Awesome Indian) as he had easily won carrying top-weight against the likes of Awesome Indian and Secret Love. On this occasion, however, he was beaten by a superior sprinter over the 1,000 metres scurry.