It was mixed fortunes for punters at the Calcutta racecourse  on Saturday as four favourites and a couple of long-shots completed the day’s formalities. The feature event of the afternoon, The Bangalore Turf Club Cup, witnessed the afternoon’s closest encounter which saw a three-way blanket finish featuring Pick Pocket, Grand Design and the favourite  Santos (Burden Of Proof-Flamingo Fan/ Kunigal Stud) with the last named prevailing by a head, thanks to a power-packed final furlong by Trevor Patel. Without his saddle artistry, it is unlikely that Santos would have pulled it off. The surprise package was Grand Design who moved very well in the closing stages of the race and threatened to overhaul the Bharath Singh runner. While Adiella may be deemed to be an ante-post ‘false-favourite’, the disappointing runner was indeed Meet The Legend who lost five lengths at the start and then taken eight-wide at the bend to quash whatever chance he had of coming up trumps.

Leading trainer Vijay Singh had a lucrative afternoon as he notched up a treble with Lombardo (70/100), Axstone (7/1) and Glamorously (60/100). The first two named were piloted by Shailesh Shinde. Sired by Ace out of Lombardia ( Exhilaration Stud), Lombardo was handled with complete confidence by the low-weight jockey as he permitted Malibu and Flourishing Move to cut the pace while he sat tight in the mile race for The Navy Cup. As he sensed that the front-running pair was tiring and Ristretto was getting ready to make her move, Shailesh released the brakes and cracked his crop a few times. The colt responded gamely and it was all over bar the shouting in a jiffy. Ristretto finished on a good second and young Yash Narredu did his best. However, his inexperience on the nuances of the difficult local track was exposed.

Vijay and Shinde took their chances atop Axstone (Multidimensional-Stolen Kisses/ Usha Stud) and it paid rich dividends as the five-year-old lapped up the extra 400 metres and the bottom-of-the-scale acceptance in the 2000 metres race for The Tug O War Handicap. The 10-to-3-on favourite Triumphus was ridden flawlessly by Trevor but had no answer to the 10kg he was conceding to the Multidimensional youngster as the duo went hell for leather in the straight.

Christopher Alford too rode a copybook race atop Glamorously (China Visit – Glamorous Spirit/ Usha Stud) to win the Keewattin Plate as he liked. Following Crixus till the turning for home, Glamorously displayed a good turn of foot to leave the field standing.

Trainer Rutherford Alford’s Head Hunter (Emerald Cat-Flying Rani) had run a great seven furlong race last time out and those who neglected him in The INS Hooghly Cup did so at their own peril. With his new found confidence after his win on Comedian last week, jockey Kiran Naidu was not to be bullied by the local riders. Available at 8/1, he ensured with the help of his whalebone that his mount stays ahead of the pack after collaring Marilyn at the top of the straight. While joint favourite Mephistopheles needed the run, Chimeric was a little out at weights.

Vikash Jaiswal’s seven-year-old Combined Operation (Black Cash-Crepusculaire/ Nanoli Stud) showed that he is a cut above the lowest class when the top-weight moved with a fluent run in the hands of Sandeep Rajput to annex the Wansfell Handicap. Saddle Chief was a good runner-up while The Great Hannible continued to disappoint.