On an eventful final afternoon of racing at the Calcutta racecourse, jockey Mohit Singh completed a grand treble while the whipless Trevor Patel displayed sufficient maturity to notch up a superb double. It was also a sad day for the Deepak Karki stable as his seven-year-old ward Manege broke his shoulder and collapsed in front of the grandstand after shooting into the lead. He was subsequently put down. Jockey Shailesh Shinde suffered a dangerous fall but escaped serious injury. Later in the day, Beethoven too dropped his rider Afzal Khan but it was not as serious a matter as Shinde’s fall.

The RWITC stewards had banned Trevor Patel from using the whip but the talented rider showed in no uncertain manner that he is as adept at guiding his mounts to victory without the whip as he is with it. His two winners Ocean Sunrise and Star Symphony were both marvellous pieces of horsemanship.

Bharath Singh-trained Star Symphony came with a fluent run to sail past Regal Classic in the seven-furlong race for the Touch Of Silver Trophy. With this stunning victory, the five-year-old by Placerville out of Sprinters Cup winner Symphony Of Fire completed a well-deserved hat-trick and four wins from five starts. Kudos to trainer Bharath for nursing the five-year-old with great understanding after he burst his blood vessels in his second outing at this centre – the only outing that he lost here.

Trevor and Bharath had combined earlier for a brilliant victory with Ocean Sunrise (Emerald Cat-Go Go Go). She won The Sky Classic Handicap after staving off a challenge from the fast finishing Incanto Bliss. The favourite Ashwa Prabir showed early speed before fading out.

Mohit’s grand treble comprised Kayadhu, All That Jazz and Fankaar. Despite being a small-made mare, Jasbir Singh-trained Kayadhu (Diffident-Palladio) carried 62kg on her back to victory as Mohit furrowed a passage along the rails. Second favourite Jive returned bleeding once again while runners like Prince Cyrus and Fascinating will be worth following during the monsoon.

The second race, the lower division of the Romantic Notes Handicap, saw the fall of Manege after he seemed headed for the winning post. Christopher Gleich-trained All That Jazz  (Serious Spender-Rewind) was behind him and he carried on gamely to the winning post. Evening Mist displayed early speed but ended up in second spot.

Mohit completed his treble astride the 2/1 favourite Fankaar (Inner City-Arches Of Gold) from Jasbir’s yard. The gelding got the better of Roman Centurion and Victory Vibes quite easily after Alicante had folded up at the top of the straight.

Royal Dance (Royal Kingdom-Dancin with Bertie) won a thriller as he pegged back Ocean Legacy and Starrer in a blanket finish. The favourite Moon Star would have undoubtedly been nearer at the finish or even won had Trevor been permitted the use of the whip. Apprentice Akshay rode the Javed Khan winner who is an established sprinter.

Despite quite a stiff penalty, Vijay Singh-trained Raffles (Inhabitant-Arcade) won the upper division of the Kaizen Handicap in Ajoy Roy’s hands. Though Beethoven was running riderless on his left flank right down the straight, Ajoy held his nerves for a good victory. The favourite Headliner seemed to be outclassed while Hills OF The Moon lost all his chances at the gates.

The favourite for the Bountiful Treasure Handicap, Star Of Roses, was involved in a close contest with Naughty Lass (Epicentre-Nautilus) all the way down the straight. Shezad Khan, who substituted Shailesh Shinde on the latter, persisted with his mount and the mare prevailed by a whisker. Incidentally, an interesting point to note is that the dam of the winner is ‘Nautilus’, hence the name Naughty Lass.

The withdrawal of Sreenidhi left the coast clear for Azorian (Cool Creek-Tololing)  and the Vijay Singh colt did not disappoint his followers as he sailed past Solid and Raunchy in the hands of Neeraj Rawal.

Trainer Vijay Singh was the champion trainer for the winter meet of 2011-12 while Christopher Alford was the champion jockey. Our website indiarace.com won the RCTC Tipsters Cup with 2028 pts, well ahead of runner-up Times Of India with 1725 points.