Kolkata: Sunday turned out to be a 'Ladies Day' at the Calcutta racecourse. Four classy four-year-old fillies occupied the winner's enclosure and more or less ensured their participation in the 1000 Guineas to be run on February 1. Traditionally, the 1000 Guineas is for three-year-olds, but as the truncated winter season commenced late on New Year's Day (when all thoroughbreds age by a year), this season, the early classics will see four-year-olds in action.

The quartet of fillies who were first past the winning post were Corfu (Razeen-Mikado), Crown Princess (China Visit-Run For The Crown), Grand Madame (Razeen-Averoff) and Arnatta (Placerville-Mitzvah). Not surprisingly, three of the four are owned by the leading barons of the turf -Dhunjibhoy, Mallya, and Ramaswamy respectively. The fourth, Arnatta, is a property of the Samurai syndicate.

It would be difficult to pinpoint the most impressive winners as they competed in different categories but it would be fair to say that their connection would be pretty happy with their performances. Corfu, with C. Ruzaan in the saddle, won the upper division of the Annatto Handicap without raising a sweat as she literally left the field standing soon after the start. Ruzaan was seen at his best as Crown Princess put paid to the pretensions of The Ladyisshady to bag the lower division of the same Handicap. It would be relevant to mention that had not Certain Smile been left at the gates, she would have probably turned the tables on the Vijay Mallya-owned filly. An edge-of-the-seat thriller saw Grand Madame get the better of Exclusivity by the proverbial whisker to lift the Real Danger Cup.

The duo went hammer and tongs all the way down the straight and it could have been anybody's race at the wire. The race is certain to bring her on and the 'Madame' will no doubt be a tough proposition in the classics.

Arnatta's narrow margin of victory should be taken with a pinch of salt as the five-and-half furlong trip was a little too sharp for her. Christopher Alford had to coax her into a late gallop to land the spoils. For She's Superb, it was a case of 'so near and yet so far'.

The afternoon commenced with Howling Wolf running true to form to get the better of Manjhale Nawab in the Snow Forest Handicap. The Callisto Handicap saw farley Rodrigues-trained Stride To Strike run a great race. The seven-year-old made the on-money Prince of Gold sweat for victory. Lady Pepperoni once again ran a lacklustre race but keeps earning her corn bill.

Quantum of Solace was piloted with great confidence by Neeraj Rawal to peg back the favourite Splendid Elegance in the Sholay Handicap. The winner has obviously left his monsoon form behind. Master Marvel continued to play bridesmaid as Shafiq Khan-trained Choice Own brought the curtain down on the day's proceedings. He was the sole outsider to hoist the winning flag during the day.