The chill in the air on Christmas Eve seemed to add pep to the performance of the wonder-filly In The Spotlight (Alnasr Alwasheek-Radiate) as Martin Dwyer gave her a free rein from the 800 marker and she romped home well clear of the field in The Calcutta Oaks. Her timing of 2min 29.49 was a little more than a second outside the record set by Southern Empire in 2007 – but then that was in March when the track is faster.

Thus, after considering the race from all angles, it appears that veteran trainer Padmanabhan and jockey Martin Dwyer decided to use this mile-and-half classic as a preparatory ‘race gallop’ for the Derby in the first week of January. The opposition will be far tougher in the season’s plum and whether Dwyer will adopt start-to-finish tactics as he did on this occasion is left to be seen. For the time being however, owner Captain Jamshed Appoo can bask ‘In The Spotlight’ after a superlative performance from his filly.

Trainer Padmanabhan confirmed after the race that “The queen of the south will take on the prince of Calcutta in The Derby, which is our next target.”  I don’t think that there is any need to decipher who exactly the ‘prince’ is – the racing community is well aware of him and his ability.

There were close finishes and upsets galore during the afternoon. The debacle of the 35-paise favourite Mama Morembo in the opening event gave a taste of what to expect during the rest of the afternoon. Daniel David’s Silver Guest collared the public choice at the top of the straight and shot ahead. He looked headed for glory till he was upstaged by the 15/1 shot Star Success close home. Top-weight jockey Imran Khan rode a great finish on the Jasbir Singh ward.

Rank outsider El Tropico (Juniper-Nature’s Miracle) bagged The Army Cup in a close finish from Caribbean Queen. As this was a ‘Terms’ race, unfortunately the handicapper cannot take credit for this edge-of-the-seat thriller. Nevertheless, he did extremely well during the afternoon.  Clear Mandate set a cracking pace to help owner-mate Caribbean Quen come with her usual late flourish. Trevor Patel still has a lot to learn about this centre’s infamous hairpin – especially with horses which like to come with a late run while running in crowded fields. The wall of horses was too much for the inexperienced Trevor to negotiate and he took his mount about eight wide to get a free run in the straight. By that time, Parmar and El Tropico had found a passage down the centre and the leeway was just out of reach of Caribbean Queen who was literally flying as the duo crossed the winning post together.

Having said that, it would be fair to say that the John Stephens-trained winner was absolutely superb in victory. A tardy beginning may have helped his cause as he has a short burst which was fully utilized by Parmar in the final furlong.

The General AS Vaidya Memorial Trophy saw another close finish as Bharath Singh-trained Short Radius ‘nosed’ out top-weight Araceli at the wire. Had jockey Neeraj Rawal maintained a dead-straight course, he might have pocketed this event but all credit to Trevor and Short Radius (Serious Spender-Temple Quest) for grabbing the opportunity. The favourite Consensus looked promising till the distance post but then faded out.

Bharath Singh-completed a double when the well-backed Lake Sunrise (Fasliyev-Elite Society) won the lower division of the Alaska Handicap with Aadesh Kumar in the saddle. Her class was a little more that what Thrice Blessed could handle.

Earlier, brother Vijay Singh too completed a brace. It was nice to see Vijay back at the track leading in winners. Ajoy Roy’s allowance helped the 4/1 shot Whistling Strait (Sunday Doubt-Westlem Whisper) bag the Sans Pareil Handicap start-to-finish while Airleas (China Visit-Silver Grey) and Neeraj Rawal brushed aside the threat of Sunraider in the upper division of the Alaskan Handicap.

The Stately Don Plate, a maidens race, saw the two runners from Hongkong Jockey Club Cup race – Abubble and Stupid Cupid involved in a nailbiting finish. Stupid Cupid (Epicentre-On The Trail) and Shailesh Shinde prevailed over Abubble. The Shafiq Khan youngster was ridden start-to-finish and won in a smart time, which must raise hopes for owner Mr Rustom E Daroga that he has ‘another Shershah’ to look forward to next season.

Shyam Habbu’s Michele Marieci fell to Pesi Shroff’s Amor Amor (Razeen-Grand Passion) in the race for the Dasho Lhendup Dorji Memorial Trophy. The filly from the stable of  Dr Vijay Mallya seems to be more forward now and may have more wins in store for her.