Eight-year-old Bullet from the stable of Bharath Singh caused quite a sensation at RCTC as he lifted The Mayor’s Cup with Dashrath Singh astride. The 10-to-3-on favourite Dandified, who was running for the first time under a cloud after testing positive to a banned substance, was seen to struggle in the straight as Christopher Alford was doing his utmost to coax a gallop out of him. In a rare show anxiety and panic, the experienced rider resorted to the stick in the hope that the once-game galloper will find his footing, but alas it was not to be! This debacle, which brought tears to his hundreds of fans in the city, could signal the end to an otherwise colourful career. One’s heart went out to this big-boned bay who is so used to crossing the wire ahead of his rivals and is known to have a mind of his own. To quote his jockey C.Alford, who once said “ I will never have to use the crop on him, he knows exactly what to do.” As they say, the seven-year old’s spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. However, there is always a chance that he could make a comeback if he is laid-off for a period and freshened up before his next essay. His many fans are keeping their fingers crossed along with a prayer on their lips.

Take nothing away from the winner though. Sired by Major Impact out of Euro Star (Manjri Stud), Bullet continued to amaze as he picked up his second seven-furlong race in five months at a fairly late stage in his chequered career. The withdrawal of Confidence in the morning on veterinary grounds no doubt helped his cause but that is just once of ‘those things’ in this dicey game of thoroughbred racing. He won fair and square. The rider of the eventual winner, Dashrath Singh, did well to get the better of Gentle Knowledge who was a tad better placed from their monsoon clash. Dashrath made his move in the straight as pace-setter Dynamo’s strides started to shorten. There ensued a brief tussle with Gentle Knowledge before he pulled away and emerged victorious.

The ‘Sartaj charade’ continued to make a mockery of the local races. His facile win basically means that if one succeeds in taking an ‘above class animal’ to the lowest category, one can keep on doping and winning – get disqualified – and win again AT THE SAME MARK. It seems to be an unending story. Who cares for the disqualification when one can make ten times as much from the bookmakers. There’s obviously a flaw in the system. One remedy to overcome this menace is not only to disqualify the horse if doped – BUT ALSO LET THE HANDICAPPER’S PENALTY STAND.

Jockey PS Chouhan combined lucratively with trainer Manvendra Singh to fetch home a treble – Legendofthephoenix, Resolution and  Temple Run. All three were public choices which won without any hiccups. The first named, a filly by Win Legend out of Fairytale Ending (Dashmesh Stud) won the opener, The Adelita Handicap, by a distance. Chouhan had to work pretty hard on top-weight (Magna Graduate – So Colourful) Resolution to land the spoils in The Voluntary Handicap as Marilyn looked threatening at the distance post. Temple Run (Burden Of Proof – Cats Affair/ Kunigal Stud) was surprisingly available at 2/1 as money came on Drummer’s Qualms who found the trip too sharp in theEl Obro Handicap.

The mile race for Grand Annual Handicap saw the Arti Doctor-trained Sunset Sail (Arabian Gulf – Perilous Pursuit/ Manjri Stud) installed as the favourite. The colt and Kamlesh took up the running in the straight but drifted out alarmingly, taking Earnest Ruler and Yokumoku with him. Being a youngsters race, the maiden colt got away with it as Yokumoku may well have reversed the verdict otherwise. Recent winner Spyro and Scarborough Fair ran well below expectations.

Vijay Singh’s Evesham won the the HH Maharaja Jagaddipendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur of Cooch Behar Memorial Cup over1200 meters as she liked.  The filly by Tariq out of Everybody Counts (Equus Stud) closed as the on-money public choice and was piloted by Shailesh Shinde.