Followers of  trainer Manvendra Singh enjoyed a warm, sunny and more importantly lucrative afternoon of racing at Calcutta on Wednesday. The ‘Ladies Man’ completed a treble with three fillies - Yerevan, Astatki and Resolution. It was his maiden career-treble. Resolution also presented a career first to whipless apprentice Hindu Singh as the sprightly filly by Magna Graduate out of So Colourful made every post a winning one by taking the shortest route home in the seven furlong race for The Jango Cup. The public choice Major Colours followed her all the way but failed to collar the front-runner.

Manvendra opened his account with Yerevan (CP West – Royal Yavarro/ Galloping Acres Stud) who won a difficult race. Top-weight jockey B Mahesh had to pull out all stops to overcome the front-runner Royal Brute at the winning post. Lying a handy third along the rails while Royal Brute called the shots, Mahesh took his mount on the outside of the front-runner and challenged him strongly though the latter was drifting out of a straight course. The filly prevailed by a short-head at the wire.

The upcoming schooler’s second winner was the hugely popular Astatki (Kheleyf-Shardia) who made every post a winning one in the upper division of the Rockfellar Handicap in the hands of Shailesh Shinde. Jacqualine Postill was a fairly good second.

Trainer Bharath Singh combined fruitfully with visiting jockey Dashrath Singh to fetch home a brace for owner Joydeep Datta Gupta. At a centre starved of worthwhile horsemanship, it was indeed a treat to watch Dashrath bring home the bacon in both his rides. Three-year-old colt Shourisha (Declaration Of War – Minivet/ Lingwood Stud) was the piping hot on-money public choice in the Prudential Handicap and he did not disappoint. Dashrath maintained him in a handy third position behind Self Directed and Mister Positive and alerted him to the task at hand in the straight. A couple of taps and hands and heels were his tools as he timed his run to perfection.

However, the Stipes were unhappy with the indifferent effort of Sandeep Rajput astride Mr Positive and have suspended him for six racedays commencing on October 4 till November 9. Also on the ‘punishment list’ was the name of apprentice Munna Alam – fined Rs 5,000/- for injudicious handling of his mount Gorgeous Girl in The Jango Cup.

The ace rider rode a contrasting race atop Triumphus in the Cheryl Plate as he squeezed a passage for the Burden Of Proof – Arizza (Kunigal Stud) colt along the rails and made a beeline for the winning post. The top-weight was challenged strongly by Magical Ability inside the distance but staved off the threat successfully. In this race, plenty of ‘not-so-smart-money’ came on monsoon first timer Flourishing Move but not surprisingly he finished in the ruck. The chestnut obviously needed the run.

The afternoon commenced with an edge-of-seat thriller as Bongani tried to make ends meet in the 2000 metres race for the Malavika Handicap but went down by the proverbial whisker at the post to on-money public choice Almarada (Royal Gladiator-Almara/Pratap Stud). The Vijay Singh-trained winner was piloted by Shailesh Shinde. He always had Bongani in his sights but perhaps expected her to tire near the turning for home. Trainer Jasbir Singh needs to be commended for trying the six-year-old mare over a trip as she is bred to stay (Ikhtyar-Carmina Burana) but has been only used as a speedster thus far in her professional career. She still has quite a bit of racing left in her.

Richard Alford-trained Colourful Dreams (Diffident-Act Smart/Yervada Stud) pulled off a good win for her connections as she used her dress rehearsal three days earlier in the rain to good effect. Apprentice Jorawar Singh took her on the wide outside and after a brief tussle with Passionate, she prevailed in the lower division of the Rockfellar Handicap.

Vikash Jaiswal’s Romancer (Crown Jewels-Soul Music/Noble Stud)  used a similar modus opernadi to land the spoils in the last race of the day, The As Ever Handicap. Jockey Gajender Singh rode a forward race to overcome Hurricane Andrew while the favourite Jalapeno Pepper fly jumped and took the longest route home to finish an unimpressive fourth.