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ABARTH COMPLETES A TREBLE FOR VIKASH JAISWAL

By Epsom Ace | 04 Jan 2014 | KOLKATA


Mr Divya Chawcharia, Mr Sourav Chawcharia & trainer Vikash Jaiswal leading Abarth (Afzal Khan Up), winner of The Eastern Command Cup

It was a Saturday afternoon that most local punters would like to forget as half the card of eight races saw outsiders fill the winner’s berth. The biggest beneficiary of the afternoon was trainer Vikash Jaiswal who recorded a treble with Highly Explosive (7/1), Gonna Be A Rockstar (15/1) and Abarth (8/1). The official handicapper too must be a fairly happy man as there were several close finishes.

The main event, The Eastern Command Cup, saw the red-and-old gold pair of Amarilla (80/100) and Ace Elegance (7/2) being backed to the exclusion of all others. However, a major surprise lay in store for racegoers as the duo which photo-finished for the top spot were Abarth (Afzal Khan up) and rank outsider Autocrat. The former got the nod by a nose.

While Ace Elegance left all his chances at the gates, Amarilla ran a good third but seemed a little uncomfortable over seven furlongs. She may fare better over six. Abarth had been knocking on the door for sometime now and Afzal Khan capitalized on the younger filly’s inability to accelerate beyond the distance post in the seven furlong race by taking the shortest route home. However, he had to stave off a strong challenge from Autocrat who was the fastest moving at the wire.

Jaiswal opened his account with top-weight Highly Explosive who made every post a winning one in the hands of apprentice Md Javed.   The lad had won on him last winter over a mile and he continued the good work on this day despite the trip being a mile-and-quarter. Fancied runners Ace Of Base (85/100) and Combined Operation (2/1) were struggling throughout the middle distance trip and finished an unimpressive third and fourth in a small field of five.

The lower division of the Lt Gen Jameel Mahmood Memorial Cup saw Jaiswal’s Gonna Be A Rockstar coming with giant strides to pip the piping hot favourite Greased Lightnin at the wire. After two failures on Ace Of Base and In The Twilight, jockey Shailesh Shinde appeared to be headed for victory on this ward of Arti Doctor after he had shaken off Lovely Magic but was done in by a late challenge from an unexpected quarter. But then, that’s racing – one never knows where the danger lurks!

The afternoon started on a fairly happy note as Deepak Karki-trained Saddle Chief got the better of two other fancied runners (Dancehall Days and Star Success) at the wire. Shezad Khan rode a powerful finish to edge out his two rivals in the last stride. While Star Success is known to prefer a mile or more, the other runner may have needed this outing and will be the better for it.

Jasbir Singh’s Songstress finished a poor sixth on New Year’s Day but ran a great race on this afternoon as she had no worthy opposition except Spur Of The Moment. Iconic ran a spirited race but  is another runner who needed a notable outing.

Trainer Vijay Singh, who was otherwise having a quiet afternoon in the absence of his trusted knight Christopher Alford, came to life with a popular double in the last two races of the day. Clear Opportunity made the Own Opinion Plate a start-to-finish affair but the filly did not win in the fashion one would expect a 10-to-4-on runner to. She was threatened by Tempa Rossa near the distance post and Shinde resorted to the whalebone generously to see her home, albeit comfortably at the end.

The curtain came down with Vijay and apprentice Md Javed pulling off a edge-of-the-seat thriller with Stamp Act. Vikash Tamang on Secret Gloss appeared to have the race in the bag when the whipless apprentice Javed managed to get the best out of his mount to hold on by the proverbial whisker. It was an unfortunate afternoon for trainer Bath as two of his runners, Secret Force and secret Gloss, fell short by the narrowest of margins.