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Gallant Commander Guns Down Rivals

By Epsom Ace | 29 Mar 2008 | KOLKATA


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Despite the brevity of the card on Saturday, there was no dearth of thrills at the RCTC.

A major upset in the day's feature, a jockey suspended for dangerous riding, a couple of nail-biting finishes and a brilliant gamble in the day's final event were all part of the day's proceedings.

A quiet start to the hot afternoon however belied what was to follow. The 10-to-4 on favourite Romanticity won the curtain-raiser without much ado. Top-weight Vignet succumbed after setting the pace till the top of the straight.

Then came the feature. The biggest outsider in a small field of five runners, Vikash Jaiswal-trained Gallant Commander made every post a winning one in the mile-and-quarter race for the Clarice Cliff Cup. With brother Vinay guiding the fortunes of the six-year-old, there was no cause for panic as Loughborough tried to close the gap at the head of the straight. A couple of reminders to let the seasoned runner that the winning post was yet to come, sent the joint property of Saraf and Ghoshdastidar scurrying away from the rest of the runners.

Loughborough ultimately lost the runner-up berth to Starlite.

The ante-post favourite Sea Monarch failed to justify favouritism as he most probably found his weight a stopper. As for Appetent, she was never in the hunt.

The rider of Sea Monarch, M.F. Ali Khan, had a miserable afternoon. His mount Zeus closed as the favourite for the Ethics Handicap. The Richard Alford ward had the misfortune of clipping the heels of the runner-up Disco Star, who cut across him near the 1100 metres marker. Jockey Armaan Khan, who was astride Disco Star, has been suspended from April 8-11.

Armaan however almost pulled it off as the chestnut kept galloping on in the straight. It required all of Dinesh Singh's experience to get the best out of the top-weight Firing Power. It was indeed a fine triumph for the Robin Corner ward.

Javed Khan-trained Big Thrillz was the most facile winner of the day. The six-year-old took the mandatory 5 kg penalty in his stride to pull away from the field in the race for the Happy Scot Handicap.

Sportsman, with Imran Chisty in the saddle, won the Idolator handicap in spectacular fashion. Under Chisty's hard finishing, the David-trained runner pegged back Oojah in the very last stride.


The curtain came down with the gamble of the day. Rutherford Alford-trained Desire lad won the Around The World handicap with E. Smith in the saddle.