It turned out to be a fairly good afternoon for followers of money at the Calcutta mid-week races as six first favourites obliged in a card of seven events. This, despite the fact that punters were utterly disappointed that ace jockey PS Chouhan failed to make it to this centre. He was indisposed. None of his replacements were in his category as a saddle artist, but then again, that’s part of the ‘unforeseen circumstances’ in this game of chances.

A heavy shower, which lasted nearly half-an-hour, left the track on the heavy side after the first race, and rather unfortunately, this could have once again been the cause of Hayata’s debacle. His runaway tactics came to nought at the post as he virtually came to a standstill in the final 75 metres. Sandeep Rajput set the lethargic Gorgeous (Mr Mellon-Drop Dead Gorgeous/ Ruia Stud) alight in the straight and the mare from Vikash Jaiswal’s yard moved with raking strides on the wide outside to peg back Hayata close home and lift The Night Jar Cup.

The main event, The Tangiers Cup, may have been only a four-horse affair but three of those runners found backers in the ring. The closing odds were Malpensa 14/10, Star Symphony 5/2 and Andreus 11/4. The outsider of four was Mr India and he was the one to come out of the gates first but was joined (but never passed) on the flank by Andreus. PS Chouhan was substituted atop Star Symphony by local rider Md Islam. It would be a little harsh to say that he could not do justice to his mount as he finished a bad last. The reason being that the horse was being pushed right through and seemed uncomfortable on this kind of going.

While Mr India was busy keeping Andreus at bay till the straight, Trevor was gradually improving Malpensa (Hurricane State-Northern Frontier/ Hargobind Stud) to be in touch with the leaders at the top of the straight. Once he made his move on the outside with a couple of cracks of his whalebone, there was simply no stopping the Bharath Singh ward.

Leading trainer Vijay Singh was the sole professional to record a double with Almarada and Alcander. The former, a mare by Royal Gladiator out of Almara/ Pratap Stud, made every post of the 1800 metres race for the Fly High Handicap, a winning one, in the safe hands Christopher Alford to complete a hat-trick. Stablemate Self Directed made a bold bid to get the front-runner in the straight but appeared to have woken up to his task too late. Second favourite Snow Mountain (another original Chouhan mount) disappointed and finished in the ruck.

Vijay completed his brace with Alcander (Warrshan-Pas De L’argent/Star Stud) which was a failed favourite on his last run. He made every post of the Sunbird Handicap a winning one despite drifting out. Heavily gambled Bengal King left all his chances at the gates. The stipes were extremely unhappy with the colt’s run and gave the professionals concerned the benefit of a grave doubt. In the same race, the stipes were also unhappy with the handling of the favourite Home Alone (an original Chouhan mount replaced by B Mahesh) who finished second.

However, there is no doubt about the fact that Alcander was indeed the form horse and won fair and square. When a horse is slow off in the stalls, there is very little anyone can do about it, even the stipes – except revoke his starting stall certificate. Bengal King now has to satisfy the starter in two mock races.

In the opening event, Land Of Glory was backed down to 5/2 against Solitary Eagle but the latter made it a start-to-finish affair in Shrikant Kamble’s hands. The Arti Doctor-trained three-year-old by Noverre out of Ridiyza/Sohna Stud is a full brother to Shaktiroop and will be worth keeping an eye on in the future.

Riverdown Empress (Holy Roman Emperor – Dan’s Delight) from the stable of Shafiq Khan was installed as the firm favourite in the Not Much Handicap and did not disappoint despite drifting out. In The Sunlight and Fankaar occupied the minor placings.

The curtain came down with Sugar Sweet (Mahesh up) delivering the goods for trainer Patrick Quinn without too much fuss. The grey was installed as the favourite after an impressive mock race. The filly by Pinson out of Heck Of A Millie/ Nakul Stud was piloted confidently by top-weight jockey Mahesh who replaced PS Chouhan. It would be fair to say that the filly has more races in store.