The final afternoon of racing was largely form-oriented, though a few longshots added spice to the proceedings. Despite it being a warm afternoon, it was not unpleasant. Light showers at the break of dawn had given the track what it probably needed and the penetrometer reading was a healthy 1.4.

Though Christopher Alford rode a well-backed treble during the day, it was Trevor Patel who stole the thunder with a rip-roaring finish astride Bharath Singh-trained Charlemagne to get the better of surprise package Royal Honour close home, in the race for the Prince Blossom Cup. The property of Dr Vijay Mallya was looking well in the paddock and the race ought to have been a formality. However, thrice winner Royal Honour refused to be a doormat and stretched the 2/1 public choice to the hilt.

Royal Honour’s immense effort perhaps mirrored the face of his mentor Patrick Quinn who is now the new champion trainer. Though he drew a blank during the afternoon, Quinn finished well clear of his closest rival B. Singh. Quinn however came to within a nose of increasing his tally when Sreeyantra fell short in the opener of the day, The Aristocrat Handicap. The race was won by Deepak Karki-trained Thrice Blessed (Ashish up) who made every post a winning one.

Christopher Alford was in his element as he signed off the season with a fairly lucrative treble comprising Kwan Yin, Covent Garden and Trrust In Me. The first named won the upper division of the Navy Cup from Tintoretto. Alford had shot the daughter of Steinbeck out of Star Of China into the lead at the top of the straight in the 1400 metres race and she displayed great acceleration to leave the field stuttering. Tintoretto is known to prefer a longer trip and made up the ground only after Alford had eased up his mount.

In sharp contrast to her previous run where she was handled by Kadam, Pesi Shroff –trained Covent Garden made every post a winning one in the hands of Christopher Alford, in the lower division of the Navy Cup. Incanto Bliss was a faraway second.

Trrust In Me was simply too speedy for the field as she made every post a winning one in the race for the Fiddler Handicap.  The on-money public choice Snowball finished in the ruck while his owner-mate Lake Sunrise filled the runner-up berth.

Trainer Daniel David notched up pricey double with Spur Of The Moment (9/4) and Passport (10/1) in the two divisions of the Alamito Handicap. B. Sreekanth rode a calculated race atop the top-weight Spur Of The Moment to collar stablemate Angels Quest close home in the upper division. Riverdown Empress was up with the leaders but faded to finish fourth.

Passport saw apprentice Azharuddin at his best as he made every post a winning one in the upper division and did well to stave off a strong challenge from the fast-finishing Haynestown.

Vikash Jaiswal’s Abarth (Afzal Khan up) ran a great race last time out and went one better on this occasion as he overhauled Victorian Vice close home in the race for the INS Hooghly Cup. Though he was gracing the wrong end of the field for most part, the gelding moved with giant strides in the straight to pick up a race at last. His trainer had been really patient with him, after he acquired the disconcerting habit of being left in the stalls, and deserved the success.

Bath-schooled Lantana Lady (Sedgefield-Linette) made every post of the Tokaido Express Handicap a winning one to retire the most impressive winner of the afternoon and hand new champion jockey Shailesh Shinde one for the day.

RCTC Tipsters Cup: For the second successive Winter meeting, our website indiarace.com won the RCTC Tipsters Cup (based on tote dividends with 100 points ceiling per race) by a massive margin. The final scores were: Winner: indiarace.com 2278 points, Runner-up Vishwamitra (Bengali daily) 1638 points.

RCTC Tipsters’ Tally: Winner: Times Of India 660pts, Runner-up: Racing Guide: 644pts.

Horse Of The Season: Patrick Quinn- trained Sreedhan with four wins. The five-year-old gelding is owned by Mrs.R. Duggal.