On an extremely warm afternoon at RCTC, Bharath Singh-trained Shourisha was handled with great expertise by Ashhad Asbar to land the spoils in the Bangalore Turf Club Cup run over seven furlongs, which was thought to be a trifle sharp for the five-year-old by Declaration Of War out of Minivet (Lingwood Stud). Public fancies Make Way For Me and Mystic Romance failed to place while the glaringly indifferent handling of Anbiorn by C.Alford was given a ‘bye’ by the umpires of the game. Despite the champion jockey’s pathetic, yet successful effort to ensure a troubled passage for his mount, the horse finished a close fifth, just 2.5 lengths behind the winner and a neck behind the favourite Make Way For Me. It is quite feasible to assume that stablemate Aptness (6/1) was being banked on to beat the favourite (which he did). Only when Shourisha flashed on the scene did Alford make an effort on his mount to squeeze through between two runners in the final 100 metres but it was too late as Cohiba closed the gap. Despite the obstacles, the horse came on again without any help from the saddle to be a good fifth.

Fancied runners fell by the wayside on Saturday, but Captain Cook (11/10 favourite)  displayed a good turn of foot in the final furlong to get the better of Arminius who collared pace-setter Beyond Expectation at the turning for home and was headed for the wire.  Imran Chisty maintained the top-weight Captain Cook (Admiralofthefleet-Potential/ Kunigal Stud) in third slot and gradually improved his position to be in striking position behind Arminius at the distance post. Thereafter, the winner of last year’s Calcutta Million and the Monsoon Derby was moving the better of the two. Chisty thus completed a double as he had earlier guided home Bharath Singh-trained Sparkling Silver (Placerville-Castle Park/ Poonawalla Stud) in the curtain-raiser.

Trainer Vikash Jaiswal recorded a lucrative double with Saudagar and Celtic King. The former was the 13/4 favourite for The Long Tom Handicap and won rather easily. Stablemate Fire Falcon lost five lengths at the  start and never recovered from that slow start. He has developed this undesirable habit which hopefully will be rectified soon as he is indeed at a winning mark. Following pace-setter Buckle Up till the bend, six-year-old Saudagar (Hurricane State-Adralyn/ Hargobind Stud) was taken to the front by brother Vinay Jaiswal who kept him going under the stick as stablemate Impression drifted out. Despite winning the race, the trainer felt the pinch of making a quadruple entry in  a race. He was slapped with a fine of Rs 50,000/- for the unsatisfactory running of his charge Dayavan. The rider of the latter (Md Imran) has been suspended for the month of March. While the guardians action is commendable, they should also keep in mind that rules should hold the same for all professionals irrespective of their stature and standing among those with influence.

Jaiswal sealed his double with Celting King (Noverre-Odabella/ Sohna Stud) who bagged the Up Guards Handicap by the skin of his teeth. Sandeep Rjput had o go flat out to get the better of runaway Sage Valley in the very last stride by the proverbial whisker.

The race for the High Born Handicap provided a nail-biting as Sabeel Shareef’s public choice Ramasses locked horns with season winners Fire Song and Miraculix. Thanks to S. John’s competent handling of his mount, Miraculix (Kingda Ka-Esoteric/ Nanoli Stud) prevailed by the shortest of verdicts. While John chose the shortest route home for the Manvendra Singh ward, apprentice Hindu Singh took the turn seven wide and then cut across sharply to be a nose in arrears at the wire.

Vijay Singh-trained Ambries (Burden Of Proof-Abdicate/ Kunigal Stud) picked up the IMA Cup after pegging back piping hot favourite Ashi Nangsey close home. Jockey Shailesh Shinde rode a forceful finish to bring home the honours.