It was a cracker of an opening day of the rainy season at the Royal Calcutta Turf Club on Tuesday. The afternoon had it all from tears of triumph to tears of tragedy, interspersed with some incredulous finishes that brought visitors to the edge of their seats. As if that was not enough, some astonishingly fast timings caught punters and race-horse owners offguard, till officials of RCTC clarified that the monsoon track had been remeasured and shorn of a good 50 metres! The lack of transparency (for no apparent reason) on information of such serious nature, even caught the media offguard.

The main event, The Brown Wolf Cup, run over the shortest monsoon trip of a 1000 metres, was truly the highlight of the afternoon in every sense of the word. Run in blinding rain, the race witnessed a mind-boggling finish which endorsed the fact that ace Hyderabad saddle artist PS Chouhan is undoubtedly one of the best of his craft from among the current crop of riders. Without the vigorous assistance he provided to his mount Batista (Glory Of Dancer-Kilshannig) in the final furlong, it is most unlikely that the six-year-old from Patrick Quinn’s yard would have got up to score in the last stride from the front-running Super Hero who very nearly pulled off a start-to-finish essay – thanks to the shorter trip he had to traverse as compared to last monsoon season. The timing of 1min 01.73 sec for the 1000metres trip may be considered a ‘record for the remeasured track’. The record is likely to stand for atleast a month as the next Class II race (there are no Class I, 1000-metre sprints) over a similar trip is on August 27.

Trainer Daniel David and his able knight of the pigskin – B. Sreekanth – enjoyed a successful afternoon as the duo entered the winner’s enclosure twice with Angels Knight (4/1) and Our Chieftain (8/1). The first named won the curtain-raiser, The Own Ability Handicap, after a keen tussle with rank outsider Apyrous. The favourite Blue Sea was seen to devour ground in the closing stages of the race but may have been done in by her long period of hibernation. Sired by Emerald Cat out of Andilisa, Angels Quest is a speedy sort who is likely to relish the sharp monsoon sprints.

Our Chieftain (Diffident-Amazing Girl) won the Jujube Handicap with a degree of comfort as he collared Highly Explosive and ran away from the fancied pair of Imperial Delight and Silver Silver who both had their chances but met a tartar in the winner.

Trainer Arti Doctor displayed once again that it is a risk to ignore her during the monsoon meet. She recorded a well-backed double with Always Welcome and Wild Card, both ridden by Shezad Khan. The former, a three-year-old chestnut gelding by Al Nasr Alwasheek out of Rasha, came with a stupendous run in the straight to get the better of front-runners Chhundu and Inspirational in the Moon Fairy Handicap. His manner of winning suggests that there are more races in store for him.

This race also witnessed a tragedy as the youngster Jambalaya fell and had to be put to sleep. There is no sadder sight in racing than a three-year-old thoroughbred being put down and it is as painful for animal lovers as it is for the connections. Fortunately, jockey Srinivas Rao escaped with minor injuries.

Shezad rode a great finish on top-weighted Wild Card to get the better of Accrews. He did well to forge a passage between front-running Trrust In Me and Accrews (C.Alford up) after the distance post. Though Alford did try to close the gap, he was a trifle late on the uptake as Wild Card had already nosed his way into the available space and any further inward drift by Accrews would have undoubtedly resulted in a successful objection by Shezad. In retrospect, it may be said that the presence of forward-running Glorious Invention was detrimental to both Trrust In Me and Accrews.

Darling of the local crowd, Christopher Alford, enjoyed his sole success of the afternoon astride Manavendra Singh’s Leandro in the upper division of the Contralto Handicap. The four-year-old by Noverre out of Tanyana made every post of the 1000 metres trip a winning one while youngsters Words and Smooth As Silk struggled to keep pace with him. Words was looking good till he drifted out and took Smooth As Silk with him. The last named was a shade unfortunate to lose out, but then the ‘luck of the race’ is always a part of the game. It is only the truly great riders who can mould the ‘luck’ factor to their advantage.

The afternoon’s largest win dividend (Rs 350) went to ticket holders of Robert Gowli’s Accoast (Mr Mellon-Drop Dead Gorgeous)  in The Maid Of Athens Handicap. Despite an over-weight of 1.5 kg, Md Islam managed to pull it off by applying relentless pressure in the straight after the favourite Silken Senorita (C.Alford up) appeared to be shaping as a winner near the distance post.

Apprentice Zarar Alam rode a business-like race on the course favourite Ocean Fairy (Ontario-Miss Peregrine) to bring down the curtain and complete a double for trainer Patrick Quinn. The apprentice took the shortest route home from the outset in the lower division of the Contralto Handicap.