It proved to be a disastrous day for punters at the Calcutta racecourse on Tuesday. Favourites and fancied three-year-olds failed to make their mark on the afternoon’s proceedings. The biggest disappointment was possibly Stand Apart running in the Fly High Handicap. The much touted filly from Javed Khan’s stable closed as the half-money public choice. Christopher Alford took no chances and had  her racing up front from the outset but was perhaps surprised to find seven-year-old Solid Success (Don Micheletto-Shades Of Beauty) keeping pace with her.

After the turning for home, Stand Apart was falling apart while the aged runner from Jasbir Singh’s yard continued to be a merry front-runner despite drifting out of a straight course. Jockey Srinivas Rao may have been the most surprised of all. He however did his best to stave off a strong challenge from the top-weight Divine Symphony. The win dividend on Tote was a whopping Rs 452.

Like Stand Apart, the trio of three-year-olds in the day’s final event (Stupid Cupid, Hurricane Star and Haddock) failed to finish in the top three. Hurricane Star was a none too impressive fourth while Haddock with his leap-year rider Kishore Kadam was never in it – by the way, does anyone know when the next leap year is – perhaps Kadam should be kept informed. The lad has a dismal record with the Stipes at this centre and they would do well to keep an eye on him.

The race was won by Vijay Singh-trained Raffles (Inhabitant-Arcade) on whom Ajoy Roy failed to maintain a straight course. Nevertheless, he managed to keep at bay a determined Artemisia along the rails.

The day’s main event, The Supernova Cup, saw money coming on both the four-year-olds in the field – Two In One and Raznandan. D. Ashish rode a copybook race on the latter in that he allowed him to chase the front-runner till the straight before drawing clear. However, at the distance post, both Silver Fox and Two In One came at him simultaneously and the trio were in a line. Javed Khan-trained Two In One (Royal Gladiator-Arikara) ultimately prevailed, thanks to some forceful riding by Shailesh Shinde. There’s no doubt that this filly has a penchant for the monsoon track.

Though heavily gambled, Hundred Pipers failed to make any impression on the Malpensa and Knight Of Romance in the race for the Affection Handicap. All the hype surrounding the colt seems to have evaporated in a day as he behaved on this occasion and entered the stalls quietly.

Trevor Patel on Bharath Singh-trained Malpensa (Hurricane State-Northern Frontier) bided his time behind Knight Of Romance till the straight and then sailed past him in a trice. The grey was extremely impressive while recording his maiden win.

Earlier, Aqualina (Major Impact-Latino) brought smiles to the faces of punters as the five-year-old mare from Daniel David’s stable won the Friendly Dancer Handicap in great style. Rithambhra edged out Swiss King for the runner-up berth. The reliable Sreekanth left nothing to chance atop this exclusively backed public choice.

Trainer Christopher Gleich opened his account for the season with a fine win with Apyrous (Excalibur’s Lake-Anatolia) in the opening race. He deserves a pat on the back for maintaining the six-year-old in excellent condition and placing him in a weak field which he mauled. Jockey Russell Xaviers had the responsibility of taking his mount to the front early in the race.

Visiting jockey S. John and local champion Christopher Alford drew a blank during the afternoon which saw bookmakers popping champagne bottles galore.