An eventful afternoon of racing saw Christopher Alford notching up a double in the last two races of the day with Ace Elegance and Anassa – both owned by the red-and-gold brigade of Mr. Deepak Khaitan. Alford however blotted his copybook in the very first race of the afternoon when he quite obviously did not permit natural forward runner Ijlal to run oh his merits and only moved up to be a good second when the race was as good as over. The Stewards have instituted an enquiry into his ‘injudicious’ handling of Ijlal and will soon take a decision on the punishment to be meted out to him.

The La Gitana Handicap saw Javed Khan-trained Poles Apart live up to his name when he came with a scintillating run in the final furlong to leave the field standing. Royal Honour was installed as the firm favourite at 11/10 and he ran his usual forward race but ran out of steam as he is wont to do. The Javed Khan stable’s ploy to use Flying Star to spoil the favourite’s rhythm worked well for them as Shezad Khan atop Poles Apart had ample time to get his act right. The other two runners were never in it.

As was expected, the crushing impost on the favourite Gallop To Glory, who was having his first outing in nearly six months, proved to be a major impediment to the light-framed three-year-old in the Woolver Valley Cup. The chestnut was seen to struggle right through the seven-furlong trip and eventually finished in the ruck. Though third in demand in the ring, the six-to-one shot Grand Design was handled without any kind of discretion by Mohit Singh who is only a shadow of his earlier self. Manvendra Singh-trained Ace Elegance ( Ace-Forever Elegance) was given great ride by Alford who had to pull out all stops in the final 100 metres to stave off a determined challenge from Riverdown Empress. The last named is one for the notebook.

In the curtain-raiser, The Amberdue Handicap, trainer Vikash Jaiswal and brother Vinay pulled off  a ‘worry-free’ coup with Haynestown, thanks to Alford’s antics astride Ijlal. Apple Candy was the front-runner till the distance where Vinay put Haynestown into top gear and said adios to her.

Arti Doctor-trained Antara (Senure-Major Image) displayed her sprinting prowess in no uncertain terms as she made mincemeat of her six rivals in the Fair Ray Handicap to win the six-furlong sprint in excellent time. Like his rider, Shivalik Shakti too is only a shadow of his earlier self. However, in his favour it must be mentioned that the filly was a cut above.

The afternoon’s biggest upset came in the form of Chala Ja Bachha in the Finalist Handicap. Leap-year jockey Gajender Singh was in the pilot’s seat of the Vikash Jaiswal-trained gelding by Ikhtyar out of Puilly Fume. He had to really stretch his mount to get the better of runaway Chhundu while the piping hot public choice Self Directed lost direction midway up the straight and ended third. The disappointment in the race was Shamrock who was at the wrong end throughout.

Jockey Vikash Tamang rode a race of fine understanding to land the spoils while astride the 2/1 favourite from Patrick Quinn’s yard, Gluteus Maximus, in The Cherry Handicap. Ardent N Graceful found a gap along the rails and made his move at virtually the same time but the winner was moving the best of all. Jockey C.Alford was reduced to a riding boy atop Divine Symphony as he gave the mare a ‘start-to-finish’ race gallop. Sokudo is indeed one for the notebook.

Alford had the honour of bringing the curtain down on the afternoon’s proceedings with a thumping triumph atop the top-weight filly Anassa who made every post a winning one effortlessly. It was Vijay Singh’s sole winner of the day and available in the ring at even-money.