Calcutta’s mid-week races proved to be utterly disastrous for punters as all seven favourites took a back seat during the afternoon. Ace riders Christopher Alford and Imran Chisty drew a blank during the day while Shailesh Shinde pulled off a lucrative double with Carnival Point (10/1) and Adelino (6/1).

The Steinlen Cup for maiden youngsters saw money come on Divine Dimension and Laverock but neither of them finished on the frame. Jasbir Singh’s Aithops, a 20/1 shot, very nearly pulled it off after taking over the running in the straight but was shocked at the post by Patrick Quinn’s Major Colours ( Arabian Gulf-Trace Of Magic) who moved on the wide outside with raking strides in the hands of veteran Surjeet Singh.

One race earlier, the Class II affair for the Avaglow Handicap, saw Vijay Singh’s Alcander backed to the exclusion of all others and close at 10-to-6-on, while next in demand was Hurricane Star at 7/2. C.Alford took the favourite to the helm of affairs as the gates opened and tried to make ends meet but was pestered all the way by Torch Of Life. This constant threat at his flank appeared to contribute to the colt’s undoing as Hurricane Star (Chisty up) was looking dangerous at the distance post when Alcander was shortening his strides. However, to the surprise of all and sundry, it was leap-year rider Sk Zaffar Riaz who brought Jasbir Singh-trained Divine Symphony down the middle with a devastating run to land the spoils. The six-year-old mare has obviously not lost her flair for racing although she was disqualified last winter after lifting the Pat Quinn Memorial Cup and testing positive for a banned substance while under the care of trainer Shariff.

Shyam Habbu-schooled Carnival Point pulled off a miraculous last-stride victory in the hands of Shailesh Shinde. Piping hot favourite Climber was on a start-to-finish mission and appeared to have things under control at the distance post as he shook off the likes of Hurricane Andrew and Burst Of Stardust. Shinde however sensed victory at the distance post as he watched from mid-division while the top-weight was struggling to pull away. With a few cracks from his whalebone, he urged his mount Carnival Point to raise a stunning gallop which concluded with his nose ahead at the wire.

Shinde rode a clever race in the next event, The Everensky Handicap, to fetch victory for Vijay Singh-trained Adelino. The four-year-old by Steinbeck out of Allspice was a handily placed third initially behind the front-runners, but was taken to the front of the eight-horse field near the mid-way point of the 1800 metres race. Sensing trouble the perennially floundering favourite Essenza tried to keep in touch but faded out at the turn. It was left to the Shafiq Khan pair of Massachusettes and Smokey Baba to issue a semblance of a challenge.

As if the failures of favourites were not enough, a major lightning strike on a murky afternoon, after the first race, left the totalisator boards inoperative and railbirds were unable to see the dividends of the runners they were backing. The fault was repaired near the end of the day.

The opening event saw Shafiq Khan-trained Winnertakesitall (Sameer Khan up) make every post a winning one while the favourite Ambicka finished a poor fourth. Another outsider, Secret Blast ran on to place a good third. Touted by some ‘in the know’, Caragh finished dead last.

Vikash Jaiswal’s Kwan Yin was handled competently by Sandeep Rajput to land the spoils in the mile race for the Dominate Handicap. C.Alford atop the on-money favourite Scartella chose the rails and squeezed through a narrow passage but met a tartar in the winner. The five-year-old showed that he relishes a mile trip. Second favourite Iron Lady failed to stay the trip and may prefer a sharper essay.

Those who were waiting for the last race to make up their losses on Deepak Karki-trained Running Thunder (10-to-4 on) were in for a rude shock. The colt was troublesome to be loaded. He stood flat-footed as the gates opened and threw jockey Imran Chisty who may have fractured his ankle and could be out of circulation for some time. One more blow for Calcutta Monsoon racing ! The race was bagged by Arti Doctor’s Flash, start-to-finish, with visiting jockey Kamlesh astride. The Stewards held an enquiry immediately after the race and decided the fall was purely accidental and no blame could be attached to anyone.