What a race! What a gallop and what a performance! Bharath Singh-trained Malpensa scored a perfect ten in the latter two categories when he lifted the Calcutta 2000 Guineas in the hands of champion jockey A. Sandesh in dramatic manner. The grey colt by Hurricane State out of Northern Frontier may lack the blue blooded lineage associated with some of the other five rivals such as Borsalino and Chase The Sun, but the big built colt made up  for it with a devastatingly gutsy gallop in the home stretch which Sandesh coaxed out of him.

It looked as if the 1000 Guineas winner may pull off a double after she collared the front-running hot favourite Borsalino near the distance post. At the same time, Snowscape was making his move but failed to accelerate in the final furlong. Second favourite Tintinnabulation was following Borsalino till the turning for home where he veered out under pressure. Grabbing the opportunity, Sandesh brought the grey with a breathtaking gallop to score close home from the filly.

Three races earlier, the same trainer and jockey had combined fruitfully to lift The CC&FC Cup with Royal Scots (Mull Of Kintyre-new Europe) who was looking a picture in the paddock.  Recent import from the west, Salt, closed as the public choice and ran up front as he is wont to do. The 6/1 shot Royal Scots was kept a handy fourth along the rails by Sandesh and made his move in the final furlong. The gelding won pretty comfortably in the end to notch up the fourth victory of his career.

Bharath’s first winner of the day was Della Spiga (Mambo Minstrel-Akira) who won the lower division of the Stringfellows Handicap without too much trouble in the hands of Shailesh Shinde. While Charlie Cool tired in the final furlong, Hurricane Andrew left all his chances at the gates before travelling wide and changing course at the top of the straight.

Trainer Patrick Quinn has matured a lot as a trainer over the past couple of years. The powerful RKW stable has doubt helped him in his quest. On Saturday, he notched up a lucrative double with Fireback and River Star (Warrshan-Precieux Act) . The latter won the prestigious Indian Gold Vase start-to-finish in Shinde’s hands but had to stave off a strong challenge from Clear Mandate who ran a great race.

Fireback (Oath-South Beach) was ridden out by PA Culhane to lift the JJ Stephens Memorial Cup from the hapless favourite Hurricane Star who continues to let down his connections. Daddy Cool was a fairly impressive fourth and is sure to improve after this outing when placed over his favourite trip.

Jockey Dasrath Singh notched up a cup double with Javed Khan-trained Broken Arrow and Stand Apart. The former, a two-year-old by Ivory Touch out of Grand Ceremony, made every post a winning one effortlessly, while Stand Apart ( Gaswar-Here She Comes) won an absolute blinder, pipping Royal Honour close home in the BOL Publication Cup. Cider With Rosie would have been closer at the finish had Kadam not lost his whip near the distance post.

Trainer Vijay Singh and Christopher Alford are passing through a lean period and were fortunate to bring home the bacon with Abubble, who all but lost to a vigorously ridden out Abarath. That was PS Chouhan’s most memorable ride of the day. Smokey Baba was a fairly good third. This blanket finish coupled with an absolute edge-of-the-seat thriller in the last race of the day, must have brought a smile to the lips of the handicapper. Arti Doctor’s Iconic was ridden to a splendid victory over Songwriter by the proverbial whisker while the much hyped favourite Pirateer failed to place.