The Eveready Calcutta Derby Stakes has been a high profile ‘must attend’ event for socialites of this city for some time now. With the current cold weather playing its part, this year’s Derby witnessed one of the largest gatherings seen at the Kolkata racecourse.

As the ten Derby contenders paraded with their jockeys in colourful silks, visitors jostled for a better view of the mile-and-half classic. Though looking an absolute picture in the paddock, Snowdrift was third in demand in the ring, after the pair of  Dr Vijay Mallya runners – Charlatan and Arabian Warrior. The sight of the liquor baron with his entourage at the RCTC paddock after several years, sent punters in a tizzy, as their confidence was bolstered by his larger-than-life presence. They were weighing which of his two runners to try their luck on. However, Snowdrift’s incredible stretch run that fetched him a place in history, had all and sundry applauding even before the winning post.

Christopher Alford shot up from the saddle and gestured triumphantly to those in the member’s stand as he crossed the winning line atop Snowdrift, a good six-and-half lengths clear of the runner-up. It was yet another fairy-tale ending for the Vijay Singh stable after their success story with his half-brother Snowscape last year. Both colts are out of the dam Snow Tiger.

There was a gradual build-up of nerve-tingling excitement in the air at the racecourse as the ‘moment of reckoning’ drew closer. Whether they were veterans of the sport or first-time visitors, the thought of witnessing thoroughbred history being made right in front of their eyes had the adrenalin flowing.  Novices were desperate to get the ‘right tip’ for the big race, while ‘oldtimers’ were wise to the fact that Derbies are best only for observing and not wagering.

Earlier, attired in their Sunday best, well-dressed men and colourfully clad women of all ages poured in through the turnstiles well before the first race. The stands were well and truly bulging by the third race of the day, though the Derby was the seventh race in a nine-event card. RCTC had made commendable arrangements for the visitors, with music and a food court. Security too was beefed up considerably. Bearers with trays of coffee and kababs added to the festive atmosphere and for once, the so called pros of the game had to take a backseat.

Derby Day well and truly belonged to the red-and-gold brigade of Mr Deepak Khaitan as he led in four winners – all trained by Vijay Singh. Three of these were piloted by  Christopher Alford and the other (Mr Gorgeous) by Sandesh.

The season’s plum, The Eveready Calcutta Derby Stakes, with a winner’s purse of rs 1.12 crore, was pocketed by Snowdrift (Multidimensional-Snow Tiger) in no uncertain manner as this half-brother to the late Snowscape brought back memories of last year. With 50 per cent of the share in the stock, the Khaitan stable was expected to provide the pacemakers and that is exactly what happened, as first Exclusive Colours and then Argiano set a scorching pace with the Bangalore challenger Arabian Warrior (Louis Beuzelin up) lying fifth. The eventual winner Snowdrift was lying behind the Bangalore challenger, while the favourite Charlatan (Trevor up) was in the second last slot. Things hotted up near the 600 marker as the wily Christopher Alford went past Arabian Warrior and then squeezed a passage near the rails to be at the heels of Argiano. Meanwhile Trevor had taken Charlatan to the wide outside while Beuzelin was pushing his mount to stay with the pace along the rails.

As heads turned for home, the script changed drastically as Snowdrift appeared to have found a ‘supercharger’ switch while the others were all struggling. The gelding by Multidimensional out of Snow Tiger simply floored the opposition and drew away from the field. He stopped the clock at a smart timing of 2min 29.454 sec. Artesia was a poor second 6.5 lengths behind with Arabian Warrior a further 1.75 lengths adrift. The accolades came aplenty and the rest was history. For Jaggi Dhariwal, the trainer of Arabian Warrior, there was some consolation in store, as RCTC honoured him with a memento for his 2000^th winner during the last Bangalore Summer meet.