It is difficult to recall when last a sixth placed horse lodged an objection at this centre but so upset was jockey B Sreekanth by the manner in which he and his mount Captain Courageous were knocked out of the 2000 Guineas at Calcutta, that he did precisely that.  The leading jockey of the MAM stable wanted the guilty punished, but alas that was not to be. His objection against the culprit who very nearly brought him and his mount down with a vicious piece of horsemanship, cut no ice with the Stipes and Stewards at this centre.

The Calcutta 2000 Guineas was bagged by the favourite Charlatan from trainer SS Attaollahi’s yard, but not before some high drama in the straight which resulted in a keen tussle between the south India challenger and the local filly Adiella (C.Alford up). Bred at his very own Kunigal Stud farm (Burden Of Proof-Corsican Gal), the property of Dr Vijay Mallya was given a clean ride by Trevor Patel who maintained his mount on the outside of the seven-horse field in mid-division and watched patiently while the lead changed hands. By now used to the short Calcutta straight, Trevor timed his move to perfection before going hell for leather to edge past Adiella who had threatened to collar stablemate Snowdrift inside the distance.

The mile race saw the pace-setter from the red-and-gold brigade (Argiano) come out of the gates like a scalded cat with sprinter Little Love on her outside and second favourite Captain Courageous tucked in along the rails from an inside draw. Sreekanth was happy to keep a close watch on the proceedings up front from his box seat and was just gathering his mount before making his run in the straight when the improbable happened. Shailesh Shinde on Snowdrift cut across his path viciously and Sreekanth had to immediately apply the ‘emergency brakes’ to avoid an unpleasant incident. Nevertheless, the sudden braking caused his mount to stumble very badly and it was only the rider’s skill and calm that kept them both upright on the track.

Thereafter, Snowdrift hugged the rails and was soon challenged by stablemate Adiella and public fancy Charlatan. Trevor’s power-packed finish put an end to any aspirations that C.Alford may have had on lifting the second classic of the season.

At that the end of the day, it was trainer Attaollahi who was having the last laugh as he has now pocketed both the mile classics with final entries from the south and looks good for more successes at this centre this season.

There was more cause for celebration in Dr Mallya’s camp as Dhariwal-trained Arabian Warrior (Brave Act-Arabian Rose) pulled off a smart victory in the Maharaja Dhiraja Uday Chand Mahtab of Burdwan Memorial Cup. The Daniel David stable pulled out their entries Bizzaro and Hamlet after the latter was found to have tested positive to a banned substance. Arabian Warrior (Trevor Patel up) won as he liked from a flat-out Lantana Lady.

There were several shockers during the afternoon and the running of The Albert Piperno Memorial Cup saw one of them in the form of Divine Symphony (apprentice Azharuddin up). The latter made every post a winning one and kept at bay the piping hot half-money favourite Astaire. Goliath occupied the other minor placing.

Another rank outsider to inflate the Jackpot dividend was Deepak Karki’s Devil In Disguise who made every post a winning one in the Sentouki Handicap. Jockey Shezad Khan did well to keep the seven-year-old going and stave off a challenge from another of the same age in the form of River Pride.

The afternoon commenced with a ten-to-one shot as Farley Rodrigues schooled Lovely Magic made every post a winning one in Surjeet Singh’s hands. Though Sreeyantra tried his utmost, he failed to collar her.

Jockey PS Chouhan was the most successful professional during the afternoon with three winners. Patrick Quinn’s Sreevahini made every post a winning one in the lower division of the Relevance Handicap. In the very next race Chouhan completed a Quinn double with Meet The Legend. The youngster by Win Legend out of Annakita lifted the Supreme Choice Cup after a keen duel with the on-money favourite Azienda who drifted out under pressure to the outer rails.

A chance ride on Arti Doctor’s Daddy Cool helped Chouhan complete the treble. He had to pull out all stops on the latter to get the better of Angels Quest and Songwriter. The rest of the runners were never really in it.