Despite a short card of six races, there were thrills galore at the Calcutta racecourse on Wednesday. There was also a sad instance of a runner being put down at the stalls after rearing up and injuring herself badly. The only professional to score a brace was experienced trainer Arti Doctor with Smooth As Silk and What A Feeling.

The last named won The True Colours Handicap after being installed as the firm favourite at 13/10. One has to laud the manner in which Shailesh Shinde rode his mount to victory. He held back the natural front-runner just that little bit while Highly Explosive and Silver Silver cut the early pace. Just after the turning for home, Shinde went flat out on his mount to pull off a clever win for owners Mrs Maneka Gupta, Mr.  Mookesh Patel and Col Swapan Bhadra. Cee Four was the fastest finisher and one for the notebook.

The third race of the day, The Immaculate Handicap, saw Md Shabbani atop Rasputin indulge in some dangerous riding which may have had disastrous results had Imran Chisty astride I Command not reacted so quickly. The latter was a well placed third behind front-running Passport and Thrice Blessed when Rasputin suddenly cut across him dangerously. Despite clipping his heels, Chisty managed to drop his mount out of the race without any untoward incident. Shabbani has been suspended for three race-days. Perennial trier Passport and jockey Kadam went on merrily to victory, oblivious of the drama behind them. Deccan Princess came from mid-division to finish a fairly good runner-up. She may have turned the tables if given 100 metres more to run. But then racing is not a game of ifs and buts – but only spotting the winner – that’s what ultimately counts. Nevertheless, post-race analysis is always a healthy practice.

The debacle of 10-to-4-on favourite Altanza in the Golden Praise Handicap was a big blow to big punters. As was the case in her only mock race during the season, she was slow off here too. Christopher Alford brushed her up quickly to grab the lead from Hamdani at the top of the straight but the strain of that action may have taken the wind out of her sails. She subsequently had no answer to a dual challenge from Iron Lady and Significant with the latter prevailing by a narrow margin. Apprentice Zarar Aalam astride the last named made up considerable leeway in the straight despite drifting out to the outer rails due to persisting with the whip in his right hand. Iron Lady chose the rails but seemed to have left it too late.

Jockey C.Alford somewhat made amends for his earlier debacle when he piloted Sarfaraz Khan’s Words to a brilliant triumph, much to the relief of his large band of followers. After being tried over longer trips, the property of Mr Rustom E Daroga was placed over a sprint, which undoubtedly suits him most. As the colt is known to drift out in the straight, Alford very neatly opted for the rails and used the front-running Ocean Sunrise as cover. Both the front-runners strayed from a straight path in the home run, giving the opportunity to Always Welcome to switch to the inside. The latter had to be a briefly checked as Words drifted across his path but nevertheless ensured a thrilling blanket finish.

Apprentice Abhijeet Sawant recorded the second win of his career when he guided Smooth As Silk to a start-to-finish victory in the curtain-raiser. The filly was too speedy for the likes of Petaloid, Torch Of Life and Knight Of The Realm and won by a wide margin.

Vikash Jaiswal’s Chala Ja Bachha was successfully placed over a seven-furlong trip in the Glotik Handicap. Jockey Imran Chisty had to pull out all stops on the joint property of Mr Gautam Dasgupta to keep at bay top-weight Tintoretto in a hail-biting finish. The on-money public choice Blue Lightning was fractious at the stalls and had to be withdrawn.