As if an overcast gloomy sky and a steady drizzle were not enough, the announcement that popular jockey S John will not be fulfilling his engagements for the day further dampened the spirits of the local turfites at RCTC on Wednesday. However, even despite these rather ominous early signs,  followers of money returned successful in three of the seven races. In fact, fancied runners were very much in the limelight in a majority of the events.

It would be fair to say that John’s absence from the top-weight mount Rustler probably cost the three-year-old gelding a certain race. That statement is made without taking away anything from the opportunism displayed by S Zervan astride Arti Doctor-trained colt All Rounder (Rebuttal-Allys Glory/ Hazara Stud) who pocketed the Best Of All Plate in a close finish. Substitute jockey Asbar astride the favourite Rustler, failed to realise the sharpness and brevity of the five-and-half furlong trip and paid the penalty.

The main event, The Shri Charan Memorial Cup run over 1400 metres, saw Zervan increasing his count without much ado as he capitalised on his chance ride in John’s absence and rode a flawless race to land the spoils with the Vijay Singh-trained Setaflame (China Visit – Set Aside/ Usha Stud). Pace-setter Aptness edged out Noverro for the runner-up berth.

Zervan completed a well-deserved treble when he piloted Arti Doctor-schooled Multivalue (Multidimensional - Sea Value/  Usha Stud) to a clever victory over runaway Cool Hunter in the day’s final event – The Tangiers Hnadicap. Carrying a heavy impost, Zervan switched his mount from a close fourth slot on the outside, to  the rails, as he hit the straight. The ploy worked well as the rider did not release the pressure on the top-weight till the wire.

There was quite a bit of drama in the race for The Aladancer Handicap as the favourite Adzukis, with popular local jockey Christopher Alford astride, was seen to leave all his chances at the gates. The stewards promptly held an enquiry and decided to declare Adzukis as a non-starter much to the relief of a majority of the racegoers. It appears that a mechanical failure at the fifth stall, resulted in the doors not opening fully, which saw Adzukis rear up dangerously. Fortunately Alford escaped any injury after the untoward incident. The race was won by another of John’s substitutes – Dashrath Singh.  Dashrath took the longest route on Speedy Gonsalves (Win Legend-Ray Of Sunshine/ Dashmesh Stud) and yet retired a comfortable winner. Recent Mumbai import Illidan was an impressive runner-up.

Trainer Rutherford Alford has landed some smart gambles in the past and rather astutely added one more to his tally with Sovereign Coin (Chevalier- Izwah/) in the curtain-raiser.  The three-year-old gelding had failed to place in his previous seven outings, albeit over shorter trips. On this occasion, he lapped up the 1800-metres event. Tracking the favourite  Artegal till the straight, jockey Anil Bandaal urged his mount to take up the running and he could be spotted as a winner, well before the winning post.

Trainer Bharath Singh and jockey C. Alford combined fruitfully to bring home the bacon with second favourite Tweedle Dee (Juniper - Linette/ Capricorn Stud) in the race for the Replicate Handicap. After the favourite Sans Prix had taken over the running in the straight, Alford and Twedele Dee were quick to challenge the filly and win quite comfortably.

The Court Minstrel Handicap saw the much-hyped favourite Ascend finish a poor fifth while Dysnomia was done in by her outside draw as Dashrath rode her six or seven wide throughout the race. Shailesh Shinde on Daniel David – trained The Talisman (Noverro-Debinnair/ Sohna Stud) was the wisest as he rode the colt in close attendance to the pacemaker and won without too much sweat though he had to resort to his whalebone in the straight.