The Vijay Singh tea-party was very much on the cards but very few expected the gate-crasher to be from his very own yard. It would be wrong to say that Free Energy (Phoenix Tower-Freefall/ Manjri Stud) squashed form-workers in The Calcutta Colts Trial Stakes. Rather, it was the form-workers (including yours truly) who neglected this three-year-old, the facile winner of two races before going down narrowly to Santos in the Juvenile sprint. The sharp scurry was obviously not his cup of tea and he enjoyed the extra distance, especially when ridden in check. The major reason that local turfites chose to cast him aside was because Neeraj Rawal is considered the stable’s third choice rider (after C.Alford and Shailesh) which is ofcourse does not in any way allude that he is sub-standard. Moreover, Mr Gorgeous showed great form in his only start this monsoon and was thought to be the stable’s frontline contender with C.Alford astride.

The Calcutta Colts Trial Stakes got off to a sprightly start with another Vijay Singh runner Evesham setting a cracking pace. Meet The Legend was in close touch while Free Energy, Cohiba, Mr Gorgeous and The General followed in that order. The last two named were the joint favourites at 18/10. After the turning for home, Meet The Legend and Sandesh tried to make a beeline for the winning post but was passed in a jiffy by Free Energy and Rawal. None of the latter’s closest rivals could close the gap but the winner of the Juvenile Sprint (Santos) moved well from mid-division to occupy the runner-up berth. There was a dead-heat for the third place between the receding Meet The Legend and the advancing The General. The run of the Colts Trial Stakes has obviously opened up the Monsoon Derby in October considerably. Aficionados of the game and pedigree experts will no doubt have a trying time in trying to spot the winner of that mile-and-quarter classic. The lesson to be learned from the run of the Colts Trial Stakes is obviously – “scrutinise the participants and not their partners”.

Vijay used Deserving Visit as a pacemaker in the Calcutta Fillies Trial Stakes and she did an extremely good job of it. The stable’s spearhead Fly Like The Wind (Win Legend-Ice Point/ Dashmesh Stud) was running in fifth slot while the Bangalore challenger and tote favourite West Side Story (Suraj Narredu up) was a handy second. Just after the home turn, Suraj made his move and shot the favourite ahead but C.Alford was alert to his task and soon joined his nearest rival in a keen tussle for supremacy all the way down the straight before coming up trumps. The winner of the Calcutta Million (Sunshine Girl) ran on to occupy the third spot. The poor performance of Sage Valley was surprising.

The rest of the afternoon more or less went according to the script. Ace Glory (Ace-Priceless Glory/ Exhilaration Stud) made the Adriana Handicap a start-to-finish affair in the hands of Christopher Alford. To fetch Vijay Singh his first success of the afternoon. Top-weight Antara followed him all the way.

Shafiq Khan-trained Hurricane Andrew (Hurricane State-Greenlawn/Hargobind Stud) defied the 4.5kg penalty to produce an encore in a fairly weak field. Aided by a recent mock race, Amika finished on a worthy runner-up while second favourite Chinese Pride faded out to finish fourth.

The 10-to-4-on favourite Anbiorn was a trifle overconfidently handled by Christopher Alford and he paid the price by losing out narrowly to Shafiq Khan-trained Carnival Point (Carnival Dancer-Ice Point/ Dashmesh Stud), a half-brother to Fly Like The Wind. The favourite had the misfortune of drifting to the outer rails but was the fastest moving runner at the wire. Shailesh Shinde atop the winner, rode a copybook race for his part and followed the front-runner Tombstone till the straight and then taking over the running, Thereafter, he went hell for leather to pull off the day’s first major upset.

Trainer Bharath Singh, who recorded a brace during the afternoon, opened his account with Double Do (Ajaad-Paddington Green/ Sans Craintes Stud). The four-year-old lifted the Shri Charan Memorial Cup in the hands of Trevor Patel. After engaging Macedonian (who was drifting out) in a ding-dong battle in the straight, Double Do ultimately pulled away. The disappointment was the dry-coated Smooth As Silk who was but a shadow of herself when in form.

The curtain came down with jockey Sandesh riding a popular winner in Bharath Singh-trained Scuderia (Burden Of Proof-Super Model/Kunigal Stud) and quite easily keeping at bay Bucharest.