It was a rare afternoon for punters at the Calcutta racecourse as they whipped the satchel boys 6-2, the exceptions being Cognac Dancer (40/1) and Eros (7/1) in the second and third races respectively. Other than that, totalisator favourites obliged in the other six races.

Jockey Imran Chisty notched up a brace with Patrick Quinn-trained Snow Princess and Javed Khan’s Salt. The latter, a mare by diffident out of Conqueress, showed plenty of early speed to win the tussle for the lead and stayed there quite comfortably despite the false rails all the way to the winning post. Torch Of Life followed him home some way behind in the Arisen Handicap.

Earlier Chisty had guided Snow Princess (Warrshan-Seriously Nicole) to victory in the Twilight Lady Handicap with a clever piece of horsemanship. Despite a large field of 14 runners, Chisty hugged the rails with his mount in fourth slot while Miss Watermelon called the shots till the straight with Incanto Bliss on her outside. As heads turned for home, Chisty utilised the gap along the rails to forge ahead and establish a useful lead to make it a little too tough for Glynneath to make up the leeway.

The RCTC Riding School Cup went the way of Royal Honour. The Patrick Quinn ward by Hymn out of Csanova Green proved too much of a handful for the likes of Songwriter and Wild Card. Apprentice Azharuddin did well astride Songwriter to take a good jump-out and hug the rails but the superior class of the eventual winner saw her being outpaced in the straight. Kamlesh had Wild Card racing on the outside of Royal Honour but found his crushing impost acting as a stopper.

Fancied runner Secret Gloss lost considerable ground at the start and never appeared to be in the race for the lower division of the Wind Song Handicap. Christopher Gleich’s friendless Cognac Dancer (Senure-Flensburg) made every post a winning one in the hands of Melvyn Maseyk. The other fancied runners Gonna Be A Rockstar and Touch Of Style plodded on for the minor placings.

Trainer Farley Rodrigues needs to be complimented for the good work he has done with Eros. The five-year-old gelding by Ikhtyar out of Brief Adventure is now a horse with a difference – he appears to understand what is expected of him – and apprentice Tamang has delivered for the second time in succession. Kudos to the lad! As for the tote favourite Avision, she continues to be a bookie’s pet and gobble up the public money whenever fancied.

Shyam Habbu’s Delafruz (Ikhtyar-Zuni) has a miler’s breeding and she lapped up the seven-furlong race for the Sabre Dance Handicap easier than the verdict with Smokey Baba. Kishore Kadam rode the winner to perfection while Chisty atop the latter was at his forceful best. Abarth continued to play truant and refused to come out of the stalls, making him a dangerous proposition for any future gambles.

Vijay Singh’s Exclusive Colours (Multidimensional-Glorious Colours) had to be hard-ridden by Christopher Alford to keep at bay the likes of In The Twilight and Words. This was the colt’s maiden start and he is bound to improve further. After a good jump-out from the gates, he allowed Santa Caterina to call the shots before taking over in the straight.

The win of six-year-old Americus from Darius Byramji’s yard was amazing to say the least. Though running after almost two-and-half years, the gelding by Alnasr Alwasheek out of Cildara made every post a winning one in the hands of rookie apprentice Munna Alam. For all the patience showed by the schooler, he was handsomely rewarded by the chestnut as even more amazingly he closed as the tote favourite in an open race for the upper division of the Wind Song Handicap.