Trainer Bharath Singh showed that it pays to declare a worthwhile jockey as both Sokudo (18/10) and Cixi (7/1) won largely due to the forceful finishing power of Dashrath Singh. Rather astutely, Bharath declared a 3kg allowance heavy-weight apprentice Munna Alam, astride Sage Valley (3/1) who made every post a winning one despite drifting out badly in the straight.

It was an unfortunate afternoon for the followers of champion jockey Christopher Alford as he suffered a fall early in the day atop Amarilla who was subsequently put down on humanitarian grounds. Alford however displayed plenty of guts to ride on-money favourite Fly With The Wind to victory before crying off with a back-ache in the last race of the day. Kamlesh was substituted astride his declared mount Temple Run .

The sole cup event of the afternoon, The Camballo Cup, saw Rutherford Alford-schooled Ristretto (Top Class-Bold Babe/ Mukteshwar Stud) treat the lowest category with utter disdain after closing as the totalisator favourite. The ante-post fancies Argalia and Sreeputra ended up occupying the minor placings without any threat to the winner at any time. The winning filly with Kamlesh in the saddle collared front-running Argalia at the turning for home and drew away from the field. The confidence of the connections would have to be appreciated in pulling off this gamble as the filly had failed to finish in the top five in her last four outings (two during monsoon and two this season).

There were quite a few long shots to occupy the winner’s enclosure during the day. Among them was Javed Khan-trained Never Apart (Stardan-Sandringham/ Rolli Stud) who was ridden differently on this occasion. Despite a tardy getaway from the starting gates, the top-weight was taken to the front of the field by Mahesh and galloped freely all the way. One wonders whether this will be her style of running in her future starts. The favourite Native Speaker failed to match strides with her in the straight despite Alford’s best efforts.

The Cheviot Handicap saw seven-year-old Sokudo (Inhabitant-Amber Dancer/ Doaba Stud)  close as the 16/10 favourite while Amarilla was available at 4/1. The latter collapsed within a furlong of the start, resulting in the fall of C.Alford.  Dashrath maintained the aged chestnut in fifth slot while Analyst and Mister Positive fought for the lead. The latter ultimately gained the initiative but his joy was shortlived as Dashrath brought the top-weight with telling strides after a couple of cracks from his crop.

Sage Valley (China Visit-Silver Print/ Usha Stud) was the next Bharath runner to see the winning post. Top-weight Solitary Eagle made a bold bid in the final furlong but the front-runner was never in real danger. Moreover, Kamlesh appeared to lose control over the top-weight as he hung in viciously and almost banged into Something Stupid who was making his run along the rails. The latter probably refrained from objecting as he too drifted out inside the distance before his rider brought him back on even keel.

Bharath sealed his treble with a narrow victory when the light-weight filly Cixi (Stern Opinion-Ching Mai/ Kunigal Stud) got the better of runaway favourite Gimme Credit close home in the race for The Succeeding Star Plate. The latter thus played best man for the third consecutive time after hoisting the winning flag on debut. Dashrath’s handling of Cixi made all the difference in this race.

At 10-to-4-on, Fly Like The Wind was thought to be a sitter but she turned out to be anything but that. The Win legend-Ice Point (Dashmesh Stud) filly was permitted to lie in a handy fifth position in the mile race for The Almanac Handicap while War Games set a fast pace. Beyond Expectation was lying a length behind the favourite. Alford made the first move as the field swung into the straight but was surprised to see Kamlesh atop Beyond Expectation seize the initiative for a brief period at the distance post. However, the experienced rider that he is, he had that little extra in hand and that was enough to snatch victory close home.

The curtain came down with a thumping win for Shafiq Khan-trained Ever Green (Diamond Green-Missey) as she was driven hard by NS Parmar to land the spoils from front-running Temple Run close home, while much touted Warrior drifted out in the final stages.