It was a good competitive fare witnessed at the Calcutta racecourse on Tuesday. Virtually every winner, barring a couple, had to work hard before hoisting the winning flag.

In the feature event, The Oakmead Cup, the course favourite Rising Power tried to make ends meet but came apart in the final 100 metres when Shyam Habbu’s Iverness collared him for a fairly comfortable victory. Kadam, who rode the winner, took no chances and positioned his mount from the outset to be within a couple of lengths of the front-runner. The filly by Mull Of Kintyre out of Bravissima displayed a fine turn of foot in the straight to land the spoils. Royal Scots appeared to be done in by his 5kg penalty.

Trainer Manvendra Singh and jockey Kamlesh combined fruitfully to land a double with Chalaque and Signor Sassi. The former, a gelding by Diamond Green out of Les Affaires, won a hard-fought 2000 metres race after battling it out with Abarth all the way down the straight.  The one to impress in the race was Rembrandt who made up considerable ground in the straight to finish a good third. The favourite Adoringly was never really in it.

Manvendra and Kamlesh enjoyed fairly pickings with well-backed Signor Sassi (Al Nasr Alwasheek-Si Senorita) as he lifted the Surfside Cup without much ado. After lying a handy fourth, he collared the front-running Ocean Fairy in a trice and drew away.

The other facile winner of the afternoon was also a well-backed runner who had excelled in a mock-race earlier with superior runners. So confident were the connections of Daniel David-trained Sartaj (Greensmith-Small Fry) that they declared apprentice Arman Khan to complete the formalities. Though he lost some early ground, he took his mount to the front within 400 metres of the start and stayed there all the way. The favourite Dance In China failed to concede 9.5kg to David’s ward.

The lower division of the Little Lady Handicap saw Bharath Singh-schooled Saddle Chief  (burden Of Proof-Queen’s Rule) score a long overdue win in the hands of Shezad Khan. Having changed his style of running, seems to have helped this six-year-old. The favourite Rise Above was a good second and will be worth keeping an eye on in the future.

Shezad completed a double when pocketed the Romantic Eve Plate astride Arti Doctor-trained Multimagic (Multidimensional-Magical Romance). Though the youngster won fair and square, Amarilla was a trifle unfortunate other than which she may have been closer at the finish. She was following Multimagic till the straight where she suddenly switched to the rails and appeared to have found a passage for herself when the eventual winner swerved in and cut her out, as forcing a passage at that point would have been highly dangerous.

Bharath Singh-trained Ice Fantasy (Sandesh up) won a hard-fought race against Marauder who was on a start-to-finish mission in the Amberetta Handicap. Much fancied Stiling veil was a none too impressive fourth while Grand Design’s run was a notable one.

Despite a good second in her last essay, Javed Khan-trained Elusive Thought (Hurricane State-Conquest) was ignored by most in the ring. However, apprentice Tamang made no mistake as he coaxed a good gallop out of the sprinter in the final furlong and she collared Apple Candy at the wire.