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SILVERINA ‘STAYS’ ON THE CLASSIC PATH WITH LEGER WIN

By Epsom Ace | 16 Mar 2013 | KOLKATA


Mrs. Chandreyee Datta Gupta receiving The Calcutta St.Leger (Gr.3) Cup from Mr. D. Khaitan

It was a warm afternoon at the Calcutta racecourse on Saturday but the Bharath Singh-trained filly Silverina had no qualms about the weather or otherwise as she romped home a clear winner in the Calcutta St Leger, a Grade III affair. The fashionably bred four-year-old by China Visit out of Silver Print stayed the mile-and-three-quarter trip wonderfully well, without raising a sweat, and her jockey PS Chouhan rode an imaginative race to outwit local champion Christopher Alford on the on-money favourite Snowscape. The prized property of Mr Jaydeep Datta Gupta is now a confirmed winner of a graded race at this centre and will surely find herself in bold-type in breeders’ catalogues of the future – an honour the brave-hearted filly undoubtedly deserves.

Though there were only four in the field for the season’s last and longest classic, the race itself was a treat to watch. Snowscape’s stablemate Abubble rather cleverly set a moderate pace from the outset and it was clear as the horses passed the winning post the first time that C.Alford was having a trying time getting his mount to settle as the colt was fighting for his head. He had no option but to fall in line with his pacemaker three lengths behind, while PS Chouhan astride the sole filly was facing no such problems as she settled rather well behind the favourite. The rank outsider of four, Bold Desire, was in the last berth. The order remained the same but the quartet bunched up near the 800 marker with outclassed Bold Desire making a bold bid to get on even terms with the rest.

Right after that, Alford decided that he had had enough and made his move. Seeing his adversary at the helm of affairs, Chouhan too decided that the time had come to lay down his cards and his game mount responded without any trouble at all. She was on  Snowscape’s flank in a trice and drew away calmly in the straight. A couple of reminders were all that was required to keep her galloping at full steam to the winning post. An elated Jaydeep Datta Gupta said later that “It was a wonderful piece of horsemanship which brought out the best in my brave-hearted filly.” How true!

There were quite a few upsets during the afternoon with Vikash Jaiswal leading the way with a well-deserved brace (Alacrity and Highly Explosive). While Alacrity (7/1) was ridden in vintage style by Christopher Alford to peg back the likes of Ocean Fairy and Iconic in the opening event, friend-less Highly Explosive gave apprentice Md Javed his maiden win by making every post of the mile race for the Own Ability Handicap a winning one. Those who were brave enough to wager a tenner on him were rewarded with Rs 419.

The other outsider of the afternoon was Jasbir Singh-schooled Rithambhra (Tote win dividend Rs 365) in the sprint for the Aemilia Handicap. As none of the fancied runners like Rappadan Glory and Daddy Cool had much form to go by, Nelson Maseyk on the seven-year-old front-runner took full advantage of an inside draw and took the shortest route home. Though she drifted out in the straight and top-weight Daddy Cool moved with telling strides along the rails, she kept going under the stick to ultimately hold on well from the fancied pair.

The four favourites to oblige during the afternoon were all at very playable odds, including Abriella (80/100) in the three-horse race for the SS Bala Memorial Cup. Allowing Stupid Cupid to lead till the distance post, Vijay Singh-trained Abriella (China Visit-Allaire) sailed past him in the reliable hands of C.Alford.

Top-weight rider B. Mahesh atop Manavendra Singh’s Cee Four made every post a winning one in the seven-furlong race for the Aayush Handicap. The withdrawal of Rembrandt before the race made his task that much easier. Riverdown Empress gave an improved performance to finish runner-up.

Rutherford-trained Gentle Knowledge (Noverre-Sharatila) was ridden expertly by Kamlesh to bag the Alice Springs Handicap. Allowing the favourite Snow White to lead till the distance post, Gentle Knowledge and Kamlesh pulled away in the straight for the day’s most facile victory.

Patrick Quinn stayed in the hunt for the trainers’ championship when his Sreedhan brought the day’s proceedings to an end with a glorious victory in the hands of Shailesh Shinde. It was the third win of the season for the five-year-old son of Razeen out of Stolen Kisses.