Irfan Ghatala's three year old Toroloco produced his known form while annexing The Royal Calcutta Turf Club Cup at the Bangalore races on Friday. Adopting start-to-finish tactics, he made a cuccessful re-appearance on the local track. This big made horse had run only once in his career. By posting a "classy" victory towards the end of the summer season, he had shown evidence of his immense potential. Touted as a top horse of the Ghatala stable, he was expected to run in the Monsoon Classics. However, a mild setback in training kept him away from racing. After nursing him patiently and subjecting him to an easy mock race last week, Irfan targeted him at the day's feature. Being a winner of only one race, Toroloco was favoured by the terms of this event. He was seen recieving weight from ownermate Bourne Supreme. These two horses were known to be much better than the other six, and the betting was restricted to the pair of them. A late surge of money saw Toroloco starting as an odds on choice ahead of Bourne Supreme and Capote.

Despite BL Paswan's best efforts to settle him down, Toroloco leapt out of the gates and dragged his rider to the front. He led easily from Capote and Bourne Supreme. The other five found the pace too strong, and were soon out of contention. Toroloco opened a nice looking lead into the straight, and was seen travelling easily in front. Under some hard riding from PS Chouhan, Bourne Supreme made up some ground from the back. Paswan used his stick at this stage and alerted him further. Toroloco managed to retain his advantage, and scored comfortably from Bourne Supreme and Capote. The winner is sure to improve after today's experience, and it will pay to follow him in his future engagements.

Jockey Suraj Narredu was the lone professional to score a double on Friday. Riding public choices Hard To Pin Down and Hackett, he had to utilize all his skills while winning a couple of close finishes. Hard To Pin Down had flopped as a favourite earlier in the season. Satish Narredu had chosen to run him over a shorter trip today. The horse travelled keenly behind A Move To Remember and Star Of Desire till the bend. Seizing a lucky opening at that stage, Suraj took him to the front. He gave him a couple of cracks, but the expected acceleration failed to materialize. With Kripa, Endurance and Star Of Desire threating to move towards him, Suraj realized that this was going to be a close one. He gathered his horse and pushed him relentlessly. To the relief of his supporters, Hard To Pin Down retained his advantage till the winning post. Less than a length separated  the four of them.

The victory astride Amit Caddy's Hackett was even more exciting. After running a good second behind the highly regarded Lad Star in November, Hackett was expected to get the better of his Class IV opponents. Notwithstanding his heavy impost, as well as an extreme draw,  Hackett started as an even money favourite in this sprint. After taking a level start, he improved steadily through the back-stretch and occupied the fourth spot. With Lucky Sam shooting his bolt near the bend, Inquisition took over the running. He was soon joined by Hackett. Gallagher tried his best astride Inquisition, but he was unable to contain Suraj's challenge. Both the horses rolled sideways under pressure, but did not touch each other. They travelled close together for most of the way. Lucky Sam and Thejaguar filled the rest of the frame.

The first few races witnessed a number of stunning upsets, but with the above mentioned horses scoring as public choices , the smiles were back at the end of the day. The biggest bombshell was dropped by Sharat Kumar's Smile All The Way in the afternoon's opener. Carrying the top weight in the lowest category, the four year old came charging from the tail end of the field to stun her opponents. Favourite Jeyem had no answers to the formers onslaught in the closing stages of this race. With veteran Mohd Ghous riding a winner after a couple of years, Smile All The Way paid a whopping 75/1 at the totalizators. Flip Your Destiny made up much ground in the straight to finish a good third. This horse has steadily come down in handicap  and looks capable of winning at his present mark. The rest of the runners performed pathetically to confirm that it will take them a lot of time to enter the winner's enclosure.

Darius trained No Doubt had won a maiden's event exactly a month ago. The ones that had finished behind him that day, including Cat Logan, had run some good races in their subsequent starts. Since the handicapper had retained No Doubt in Class IV, there was much hype around this filly. She was backed all morning to start as a half-money favourite in her race. Taylor Made, who was running after a longish gap, was considered as her closest rival. Ladjadj Stephane allowed Abby's Baby, Aladdin, Purple Glow and Taylor Made to lead till the top of the straight. He brought No Doubt with a nice looking run at the bend, and joined the fray. With Aladdin and Anthony Crastus refusing to give up on the rails, Stephane realized that he had a fight on his hands. With both the professionals riding powerfully, the two runners were abreast at the wire. The camera confirmed that Aladdin had won by a narrow margin. Abby's Baby and Taylor Made ended close behind the two leaders. The last named is the one for the notebook. Looking a bit rusty, and despite going very wide at the bend, he was seen putting in some good work after the race was nearly over.

Another Darius trained favourite to bite the dust was Shuddering. After scoring a hat-trick during summer, and remaining unbeaten during that period, Shuddering had run a couple of times this season.  Being ridden by a raw apprentice, he had run prominently in his previous start. In the hands of Mark Gallagher, he was backed confidently today. The speedy Scarlet Knight adopted runaway tactics in this race. He showed the way to Lad Diva and Nectar Crown, while Shuddering was seen travelling easily in fourth position. The scene changed near the bend. Scarlet Knight shook off his nearest rivals and charged towards the winning post. With Sreekanth making free use of his whip, the leader managed to withold a late and strong challenge from Shuddering. There was much applause for Sreekanth after the race. The youngster is full of confidence and is fast maturing to become a top class rider.

There was some compensation for the Darius camp, when At The Helm justified her short odds later in the afternoon. She had beaten Forever Glory over a mile in her only start this season. Forever Glory had gone on to frank the form by scoring a fluent victory in the higher class. Since At The Helm had been lightly penalized, she was considered as a safe bet in today's card. The nine furlong trip was well within her compass, and there wasn't much depth in the opposition. However, Gallagher had to use every single muscle in his body while guiding her successfully accross the wire. Stephane ridden Radical Attraction had overtaken early leader Chantilly near the furlong marker. At The Helm moved strongly on the wide outside to join the issue. The two fillies fought every inch of ground thereafter. A couple of back-handers enabled At The Helm to get up in the last two strides to catch the leader. Chantilly retained her third spot ahead of Nadia and Strive And Serve.

The Saptharishi Cup, a seven furlong handicap for horses rated 60-85, was the added attraction in the day's card. Being restricted to horses four years old and over, there were quite a few runners who were on a weight reducing mission. Based on last winter form, Dominic's Nessie recieved all round support to top the betting charts. Apart from carrying the bottom weight, she was being ridden by leading professional PS Chouhan. With Crown Vision darting away from a wide draw and showing the way to Youre Wonderful, Chouhan was content to occupy the third slot. Nessie travelled comfortably till the bend before calling it a day. The moment the jockey put her under pressure, she faded from the scene. Shoban Babu kept goading the Mahesh trained Crown Vision for rest of the way. The small made filly was lucky maintain her advantage till the very end. Spark Of Silver came with a flourish to finish an extremely close second ahead of Mighty Heart and Able Associate. An announcement at the end of the day informed racegoers that Nessie had burst a blood vessel during the running of this race.