Calcutta’s mid-week races provided more than its fair share of thrills and spills. While fancied runners pulled off some glorious wins, a nasty mishap in the fifth race (the lower division of The Royal Double Plate) marred an otherwise splendid afternoon of racing.

Ace jockey Dashrath Singh was at his brilliant best when he piloted Bharath Singh-trained Apple (Phoenix Tower-Princess Killeen/ Manjri Stud) to a smashing victory in The Punters Delight Cup. Earlier called Cafe Rio, the filly (available at 5/2) was kept in the rear of the field till heads turned for home and reminded of her task at hand with a couple of cracks near the distance post. She moved fluently thereafter and Dashrath rode her out hands and heels to collar the runaway surprise leader Native Speaker near home.

Dashrath however had a narrow escape in the fifth race. Three horses went down in that race, dislodging their respective riders. Dashrath’s mount Balvenie was right behind the first faller and pace-setter Brave Soldier (Shezad Khan up) and in trying to avoid the fallen rider, Balvenie and Dashrath went down. The incident occurred near the 800metres marker in the seven-furlong race. Dashrath rolled well with the momentum of the fall to avoid injury. However, MF Ali Khan atop Star Aact, who was in the rear of the eight horse field veered severely to the outside and the rider suffered a fall near the outer rails and fractured his shinbone. Brave Soldier was put down on compassionate grounds – the saddest sight in thoroughbred racing for animal lovers. Ofcourse, there is a category of racegoers who only have their eyes on the buck and couldn’t care less as long as the public choice wins.

In this case, the on-money public choice was Ballister (Chevalier-Ballibay/Ruia Stud) who was travelling on the outside of Brave Soldier was gathered well after being taken aback momentarily, by the vastly experienced Christopher Alford. Ballister won fairly easily from Blazing Bullet.

The afternoon commenced with Javed Khan-trained Avilome Vilome (Declaration Of War – Victoria Rose/ Lingwood Stud) pulling off a good gamble for the connections in The Fire Flash Handicap. Lying a handy second behind the pace-setter Breach Candy till the home stretch, B.Mahesh on the favourite pulled away without much ado.

The Fuse Box Handicap saw the punters take a beating as the repeated failure Words (Ikhtyar-Wild Glory/ Nanoli Stud ) finally came good in  the hands of apprentice Ranidan Singh. The 7/1 shot from Sarfraz Khan’s yard put paid to the pretensions of the 10-to-6-on favourite Clairvoyance with his usual start-to-finish effort despite an outside draw. Those who followed him one last time were rewarded with a rich dividend. Unfortunately, his surprise defeat at the hands of the somewhat erratic Treasure Island last time out, discouraged yours truly from giving him much chance against Clairvoyance who had gone down to crack sprinter Winning Fortune by the narrowest of margins.

The most facile winner of the afternoon was Vijay Singh-trained Cadman (Dancing Forever-Limbancy) who won the upper division of the Royal Double Plate effortlessly from the front with Kamlesh in the saddle. The short priced favourite was followed by Theo.

The afternoon’s biggest outsider was Robert Gowli-trained Glamorous Glory (Mull Of Kintyre – Savoy/ Sohna Stud) who bagged the Royal Challenge Handicap in the hands of Arman Khan whose fan following at this centre is minimal. The top-weight favourite Bubbly Bellini and Glamorous Glory followed pace-setter Sylvana till the straight where Glamorous Glory moved the better of the duo.

The favourite which saw a rush by punters at the bookmakers’ stalls was Bharath Singh-trained Stevalena (Multidimensional-Veena’s Pet/ Usha Stud) who won the Arabian Rose Handicap with Dashrath Singh in the saddle effortlessly. The trainer needs a pat on the back as this was the filly’s first run after a setback. The 8/1 shot Santero was poorly handled and yet finished a good second.

The curtain came down with Christopher Alford on Adrestia getting the better of Earnest Ruler at the wire in the 2000 metres race for the Romantic Liaison Handicap. Following front-runner Top Line till the straight, the filly by Multidimensional out of Gloriosa (Usha Stud) showed a marvellous turn of foot to shoot ahead with her experienced jockey riding her out hands and heels.