It turned out to be a highly profitable Saturday afternoon for jockey Imran Chisty as he piloted a lucrative treble comprising Franenstein (even-money), Broken Arrow (5/1) and Super Hero (5/1). All three runners won in the prominent colours of Mr Ajay Jalan.

The main event, The Eastern Command Cup, saw Sunny Sue close as the favourite and Christopher Alford’s mount Atwater also being backed. However, the sprint turned out to be a two-horse affair featuring the speedsters and season winners – Super Hero (from Javed Khan’s yard) and Viva La Diva. Despite being drawn four stalls away from Viva La Diva, Chisty managed to jump out first and hug the rails with Super Hero (Alnasr Alwasheek-Thanks A Lot). That ‘smart act’ went a long way in fetching him the Cup as his mount is known to be short on stamina even over a sprint.

Both the favourite and Atwater languished in mid-division till the straight and though Sunny Sue came with a late charge, it was not sufficient to make up the leeway.

Javed Khan-trained Broken Arrow (Ivory Touch-Grand Ceremony) pocketed the Predator Plate with a clever piece of horsemanship. Chisty held the speedy gelding in check while first-timer Fiery Ciel called the shots. The latter was running a trifle green in the straight while the eventual winner gained ground under the stick to pip him at the post.

Chisty’s first winner of the day was Patrick Quinn-trained  Franenstein (Placerville-Lecce) who is bred to stay and pocketed his second successive 2000 metres race of the season without much ado. Sheriff has changed stables and ownership after coming to this centre, and may take a little while for him to settle down and pick up a race here.

Trainer Vikash Jaiswal did extremely well to pick up a double with a couple of aged runners which are maintained in excellent condition – Spectacular Style and Do Your Best. While the former won the opening race of the day in the hands of Afzal Khan, the latter was expertly handled by Chritopher Alford to bring home the bacon.

On the previous occasion, Spectacular Style was permitted to front-run and was collared by the winner Big Old Man after the distance post. On this day, it was stablemate Break The Habit who called the shots till the straight before going wide. Afzal Khan sat behind the front-runner till the top of the home straight and did well to stick to the rails thereafter before pulling clear.

C.Alford handled the 6/1 shot Do Your Best with complete confidence as he stole a march on the others - shooting through an opening which he exploited in his inimitable opportunistic manner. It appeared that Chisty atop the favourite Asian Rocket was caught offguard by Alford and was too late to make his charge, not that he could have turned the tables on him.

Trainer Bharath Singh and jockey Vinay Jaiswal made a successful combination on this day as they notched up a high-priced double with Silencio (Sunday Doubt-Self Decision) and Moon Star. The former won the Lt. General Mahmood Memorial Cup by collaring the runaway leader Swiss King near the distance post and then stave off a challenge from Tough One who looked threatening at one point. The top-weight Fragrance was backed down to favouritism but was never in it.

Bharath and Vinay pulled off a fine win with top-weight Moon Star (Royal Kingdom-Aurevoir) in the Mamma’s Mink Handicap. The six-year-old collared Il Bronzino opposite the grandstand for a fairly comfortable victory. The public choice Daddy Cool had his chances after making a run along the rails but met a tartar in the top-weight.