Steeped in tradition, The Governor’s Cup has always been held in high esteem at this centre. The mile race with ten runners appeared to be a fairly competitive field and the race itself did not disappoint punters. As was expected, it was Quinn’s Dear Henry which set a cracking pace with eight-year-old Arktouros running close on his heels. Other forward runners included Vijay Monarch and Accurate while closeted in seventh slot was the favourite Chase The Sun hailing from Padmanabhan’s yard. Low-weight jockey Shailesh Shinde seemed in no hurry to position his mount and allowed the filly to settle down before gradually weaving his way through the middle of the field. He appeared to have enough confidence in his mount to realise that she was too keen to be squeezed out of the race at any stage.

With 300 metres left in the race, Arktouros and Christopher Alford swept past the front-runner and was almost immediately joined by Chase The Sun on her outside. The duo went hammer and tongs for a hundred metres or so before the chestnut from the star-studded stable of Dr Vijay Mallya pulled away and won by a long-neck. Sired by Burden Of Proof out of Catch Fire, this classic product of Kunigal Stud appears to be most suited to the mile trip.

The running of the Calcutta Million saw Captain Courageous (Sreekanth up) change his pattern of running a trifle and just as well – for it seemed to be beneficial for the colt by Captain Marvelous out of Vade Retro. Running with the pace on this occasion, the  ‘Captain’ went past early pace-setter Exclusive Colours with about six hundred metres in the race left. By the time Christopher Alford alerted his filly and favourite Adiella to the task, it was a little late in the day and the free-striding ‘Captain’ already had a break of four lengths. Mind you, it is highly unlikely that it would have made any difference to the ultimate result of the race even if Alford had cut short his siesta. Shaktiroop was a fairly decent third and one for the notebook.

Trainer Daniel David completed a brace when he lifted the Vijay Sicka Memorial Cup with the 10/1 shot Don Magnifico (I Khan up). It was the second time this season that the same rider had pulled it off astride this fairly useful sprinter. Knight Of Therealm and Daddy Cool occupied the minor berths while the favourite Silken Senorita lost valuable ground at the start and the other fancied runner Sreeyantra was never in it.

The Spats Colombo Handicap had as many as 14 runners in the fray with recent winner Covent Garden installed as the favourite. As is his wont, six-year-old Flying Star and Imran Chisty shot ahead in their effort to make ends meet. Arti Doctor-trained Al Attaturk was in mid-division for most part and only made his move at the top of the straight to eventually wear down the front-runner. Covent Garden made her move down the rails but fell short by quite some way. Irish Connection was somewhat of a disappointment.

Trainer Manavendra Singh pulled off a major upset when seven-year-old Stalker (without any noteworthy form) was driven out by jockey Trevor Patel for a comfortable victory in the Bold Gesture Handicap. While the favourite La Dominique ran a lacklustre race, Sham Sunder had all the chances to eventually end up a fairly good second. Trevor completed a fairly easy double when he piloted the on-money Double Do (Ajaad-Paddington Green) to a fairly easy triumph in the Academy Gold Plate to fetch trainer Bharath Singh his only winner of the day.

Vikash Jaiswal-trained Risky Business (Hurricane Run-Wow the Critics) finally made amends for his earlier debacle when he carried the public purse and won the Burning Desire Handicap with considerable ease. Jockey Imran Chisty rode a flawless race astride this miler to get the better of Stupid Cupid.

The opening race of the afternoon saw a tight finish featuring Rise Above, Ballantyne and Hills Of The Moon with the first named from Shafiq Khan’s yard edging out the others in Parmar’s hands.