Tuesday afternoon provided a mixed broth for punters as several gambles flourished and some went awry. The main event, the Pearson Surita Memorial Cup, saw Farley Rodrigues schooled Sergeant Major attract some smart money and then deliver the goods, thanks to an excellent piece of horsemanship from Shailesh Shinde. The lad did everything right and ultimately spared a head to the piping hot course favourite Andreus. Sergeant Major had won over an identical trip of 1600 metres about three weeks ago and changed stables recently. However, by declaring the same rider, the connections nullified any negative effect that this switch may have had on the runner. Permitting Beyond Stars a long lead till the top of the straight, Shinde gradually cut down the leeway and shot ahead well before the distance post. Neeraj Rawal atop Andreus brought his mount on the flank of the ‘Major’ and the duo went flat out all the way down the straight. While using his whalebone in his left hand, Shailesh did extremely well to ensure a clean ride and maintained the whip well clear of his adversary who was an arm’s length away. At the wire, it was touch and go, with Sergeant Major holding on to his advantage.

The Audubon Handicap saw Snow Mountain installed as the firm favourite but the colt ran like a dud after losing about six lengths at the start. Chouhan urged him to make up the ground near the half-way mark but that’s as near as he ever got to collaring the front-runners led by Highly Explosive. On this occasion, Vijay Singh-trained Self Directed was cleverly ridden off the pace by Neeraj Rawal and despite being out of the scale by 1.5kg, the three-year-old gelding had no difficulty whatsoever in collaring the front-runners.

Vijay’s first winner of the day was the filly Azienda (Win Legend-Aelenia) who really left no room for doubt as she led all the way and won as she liked in the hands of Christopher Alford. Much touted Marilyn was struggling to keep pace all the way and may prefer a longer trip.

Vijay completed his treble in the afternoon’s final event, The Hovercraft Handicap, when Shailesh rode another blinder to land the spoils with Anassa (Black Cash-Eau De Vie). After the favourite Torch Of Light was threatening to pull it off and much-fancied In The Twilight had as usual drifted to the outer rails, Shailesh brought the filly with a thunderous gallop down the middle to snatch the verdict at the wire from the public choice.

Jockey B. Sreekanth must be a happy man for the first time at this centre after the treatment he received in the 2000 Guineas. He rode a hard race to deliver the stable’s gamble with Phy’eau Liang in the curtain-raiser. The well-bred filly by Rebuttal out of Hunan needed a few cracks in the straight but in the end won quite comfortably from the top-weight Elusive Hurricane. While Dance In China left all his chances at the gates, the two disappointments of the race were Ambaa and Classical Romance, not to mention Star Success who came with a late run on the outside to place fourth.

Bharath Singh-trained Winds Of The Ocean justified his on-money favouritism with a fairly easy victory in the Esquire Handicap despite drifting out a little. Much improved Gonna Be A Rockstar occupied the runner-up berth. Hurricane Andrew was slow into stride while front-running Persian Jewels folded up when collared by the favourite at the top of the straight.

The two divisions of The Kalied Handicap were pretty competitive affairs. In the upper division, top-weight Alacrity set a fast pace but was collared by the 5/2 favourite Fire Angel near the distance post. Apprentice Jorawar Singh rode a competent race astride the Arti Doctor-trained filly by New Famous out of Firefoot.

The lower division saw Bharath Singh-schooled Fiery Ciel attract quite a bit of money but the stable’s choice of rider did them in. There’s every chance that the colt may have seen the winning post had a competent apprentice been declared astride him. Instead, it was the unfancied Spur Of The Moment (Rajesh Ujgare up) who went to the outer rails and yet won by a slender margin from late finishing Spectacular Style and Fiery Ciel. The favourite Elusive Legend had all the chances but finished a none too happy fifth. It is quite likely that she may prefer a longer trip.