What a turnaround it has been for trainer Patrick Quinn over the past couple of seasons. He provided yet another sterling performance on Saturday with a well thought out quadruple – even the outsider of four (Lake Leader) was very much on his radar. Boosted by the powerful RKW stable, his modus operandi of importing horseflesh from western India before setting the target on his cross-hairs is working wonders for him. To quote an old cliché – The Lord helps those who help themselves – and the lad’s intelligence is paying off in no uncertain terms as he is getting the breaks as well.

The main event, The Queen Elizabeth II Cup, saw Quinn’s six-year-old Ocean And Beyond installed as the even-money favourite. Vijay Singh’s Abriella was next in demand. As was expected, the latter’s stablemate Aerator set a cracking pace with Unleashed and Ocean And Beyond a distance behind. Silverina was some more lengths further back while Abriella was a poor last of five. The order remained virtually the same till the final home turn where rather surprisingly Christopher Alford atop Abriella showed no urgency to improve his position – whether it would have mattered in the ultimate placings is another issue altogether. After all, any racegoer worth his salt is aware that Abriella is no world beater, and to allow a classy, experienced horse like Ocean And Beyond (Imran Chisty up) a break of nearly four lengths on Calcutta’s short straight is as good as committing hara-kiri. Chisty forged ahead at the distance post and never looked back. The run of Silverina was somewhat disappointing.

Quinn’s first winner was the three-year-old filly Paras Mani (Mull Of Kintyre-Savoy) in the Acorn Stakes. The filly had the benefit of a mock race with Serjeant Major and did not disappoint in the hands of Bangalore-based rider BL Paswan. He rode a chanceless race while heavily fancied Amarilla plodded on behind her.

Paswan completed his double when he rode a hard finish on Lake Leader (Mr Mellon-Viventi) to get the better Imperial Delight close home in the race for the HH Maharaja Jagadipendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur  of Cooch Behar Memorial Cup. Fancied runners Sunny Sue and Coppelia were very poor performers despite finishing on the frame and their runs may be best ignored. Quinn completed his quadruple with a regulation triumph with Sreedhan (Shailesh Shinde up) in the upper division of the Filipine Cup.

Young Manvendra Singh completed a well-deserved brace with Ladyship and Smart Hunter and would have very nearly had a third winner (Shamrock) in the day’s final event. Christopher Alford rode a judicious race atop top-weighted Ladyship (Placerville-Lady Moura) to get the better of Asian Rocket and vastly improved Eros in the Portugal Cup. Now that apprentice Tamang has done a admirable job with the last named by notching up a double for his connections, perhaps a stronger rider may yield a superior result in the upper class, but that’s mere conjecture and one never knows in this glorious game of uncertainties. Smart Hunter (Royal Kingdom-Sunspangled) took the mammoth 9.5kg penalty in his stride and ran away with the Arterial Cup in the hands of Kadam. This was a pretty competitive race and for Smart Hunter to pull it off was indeed commendable.

Apprentice Tamang however had the privilege of opening the day’s proceedings with Bath-schooled Secret Gloss who won the lower division of the Thailand Cup despite taking the longest route. The favourite Thrice Blessed had all the chances but fell apart close home while Daniel’s Passport had the misfortune of stumbling a furlong after the start. The upper division of the same race was easy picking for Deepak Karki-trained Bernardino (Chisty up).

Though Songwriter put in a gallant effort in the lower division of the Filipine Cup, Pesi Shroff-trained Ximena was very much in control of the situation in Kadam’s hands.

Christopher Alford brought the curtain down with Vijay Singh-trained Adelino (Steinbeck-Allspice)in the Allodium Cup as the chestnut colt won in the last stride from a determined Shamrock.