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Mesmerizer Romps Home as Imperial Delight Cries Off

By Epsom Ace | 28 Oct 2012 | KOLKATA


Mr. Jamshed K. Vatcha & trainer Jasbir Singh deputising for (Trainer Sarfaraz Khan), leading Mesmerizer (Harish Up), Winner of The Bahrain Cup

The opening day of the Calcutta Cold Weather Season witnessed a happy band of punters streaming home after the races as they got the better of the exchanges with bookmakers. The weather was warm and sunny and the thoroughbreds ran true to form.

The withdrawal of the temperamental Imperial Delight resulted in the main event, The Bahrain Cup, being reduced to nine runners with top-weight Mesmerizer (Senure-So Amazing), from Sarfaraz Khan’s yard, installed as the firm favourite at 13/10. Though he lost some ground at the start, heavy-weight jockey Harish gradually improved his mount’s position to be in touch with the front-runners at the top of the straight. He gave the six-year-old a crack or two thereafter and the experienced horse responded well to pull away and stave off a late challenge from Generous Thought.

Jockey Vinay Jaiswal pulled off a rare, well-backed double while donning silks for trainer Bharath Singh. The first of these was Glynneath, a filly by Black Cash out of Struie, who had changed ownership recently and was running in the colours of Mr Gautam Sengupta. The joint favourite Azorian was always in touch with the eventual winner but never displayed enough flair to suggest that he may collar her. It was left to the consistent Girl Of Flowers to fill up the runner-up slot.

Jaiswal rode a regulation race atop Winds Of The Ocean (Royal Kingdom-La Tour D’argent) to complete a brace for himself and his trainer. It was a fairly weak field and the colt won untroubled from Calypso Girl.

Veteran trainer Richard Alford pulled off a bold gamble with Bold Desire after having declared leap-year jockey Afzal Hossain to fetch a good opening price. The wily schooler’s endeavour paid rich dividends as the top-weight by Imtiyaz out of City Tamer was back down to even money and won from Promises To Keep who was a fairly decent runner-up.

This very colt was the subject of stipes’ scrutiny after finishing a flying fourth in the Mountain Lily Handicap where visiting jockey Ashish had taken him all over the place before making his run. The trainer and jockey were fined heavily but the amounts were reduced after an appeal by the professionals. Subsequently, it was Afzal who had prepared the property of Mr AK Basu and set the stage for the gamble of the opening day. The victory also vindicated the stipes’ decision to impose the fines after his earlier race though it is highly unlikely that he could have got the better of Songwriter on that afternoon.

Jockey Christopher Alford started the season on a poor note as the rage of the ring, Stiling Veil, failed to fend off a strong challenge from the erratic Happy Kingdom (Ivory Touch-Happy Queen) from Farley Rodrigues’ yard. The chestnut won the Desiree Handicap in the hands of Surjeet Singh after finishing a poor fourth in his earlier essay where he had displayed a reluctance to gallop and dropped to the rear of the field before coming up with a late gallop.

Daniel David’s Spur Of The Moment (Hurricane Center-Hauhaiwunai) ran a couple of eye-catching races towards the end of winter and she lived up to that form with a comprehensive victory in the opening race. Jockey Parmar faced little to no opposition but the astute observer would have noticed that the runner-up Sea Change has come to hand and will be worth keeping an eye on in the near future.

Javed Khan-trained Follow The Dream showed that her victory over Cerise in winter was no flash in the pan. The filly by Tirol out of Masawara brought the curtain down with a thumping triumph over Royal Saga. Shailesh Shinde piloted the property of Mr Ajay Jalan and she may have more to offer in the near future.