By and large, punters took a beating at the Calcutta racecourse on Saturday as favourites fell by the wayside. The feature event of the afternoon, The Police Commissioner’s Cup, saw Farley Rodrigues schooled Sergeant Major notch up his fourth successive win in  the hands of Shezad Khan. The five-year-old son of Hurricane State out of Razzpazazz thus defied his penalty for the third consecutive occasion. His nearest rival Andreus was slightly inconvenienced when the front-running 6/1 shot drifted off a straight course and threatened to take his ground. The surprising public fancy (Noble And Nice) was never really in it and finished an unimpressive fourth in a field of five. However, being a four-year-old, he still has ample scope for improvement.

The afternoon commenced with Daniel David-trained Sartaj compensating the connections for the setback suffered when this very horse was disqualified after a failed dope test and dispossessed of the Cavalry Cup. On this day, he won the upper division of the Star Contender Handicap at 8/1 in the hands of Vinay Jaiswal. The Favourite Hurricane Andrew shot out of the gates first and tried to make every post a winning one. The speedster however drifted off a straight course and diminished his chances while the eventual winner accelerated well on the outside.

Bath-trained Brangelina was the piping hot favourite for the lower division of the same race but she may have found her weight a stopper as she succumbed to the aged Ijlal. The Farley Rodrigues-schooled runner gave jockey Afzal Khan the first of his two wins of the day. After Thrice Blessed had shot his bolt, Brangelina had taken over but was soon challenged along the rails by Ijlal and though long in the tooth, he won quite impressively.

Jockey Afzal rode another powerful finish on Shafiq Khan-trained Tough One in the final race of the day to get the better off Secret Force who had threatened to pull it off. The favourite Snow White was done in by her outside draw as she took considerable time to get into position before making her run. She ended up a close third.

A couple of totalisator favourites did oblige during the day to bring some joy for punters. First, the heavily gambled Spartacus from David’s yard landed the spoils in the Amberetta Handicap as he was handled flawlessly by apprentice Md Azharuddin.  Using his handicap advantage to good effect, Spartacus drew away from pacesetter Apyrous in the straight. Secret Gloss and Elusive Legend ran on to occupy the minor berths.

Vijay Singh-trained Clear Opportunity then obliged her backers as she quite easily claimed the N. Karanjawalla Cup in the hands of Christopher Alford. Tracking Tempa Rossa for the first two furlongs, Alford decided to set his own pace and the speedster by Opportunist out of Sparkling Clear obliged her rider. She in fact outclassed the field and won easier than verdict. The second favourite Shourisha lacked the initial speed of the winner but nevertheless finished a fairly good runner-up. It’s quite possible that he may prefer a slightly longer trip though her dam Minivet was very much a sprinter.

Surprisingly available 9/2 after his previous good second, Christopher Gleich’s Autocrat came with a fluent run to bag the Ardiles handicap in style and put to rest any apprehensions about being “well past his prime”. The eight-year-old was ridden with great understanding by Melvyn Maseyk for a late burst of speed. Like Noble And Nice, in the day’s feature, Lake Leader from the same yard, was another false favourite in this race.  Both the runners will however be worth keeping an eye on in the future.