A gloomy, dark sky and a steady drizzle during most of the day proved to act as somewhat of a dampener for punters at RCTC on Wednesday. Nevertheless, the handicapper ensured a few close finishes and kept turfites on their toes after a delayed start to the afternoon’s proceedings due to a heavy downpour.

The main event, The Independence Cup, saw a stellar performance from Manvendra Singh-trained Interstellar (Top Class-Eternal Spirit/ Mukteshwar Stud) with crack heavy-weight rider S John in the saddle. Despite shouldering a massive 62kg on her back and conceding chunks of weight all round, the three-year-old filly staved off a strong challenge from four-year-old Adrestia while the favourite Stevalena looked beaten long way from home. The other three-year-old in the field, Cadman, set a good pace till the distance post and succumbed to a superior pair of fillies.

The trio of winners from Arti Doctor’s yard were all piloted by western India jockey S Zervan. The duo started the ball rolling with Mr Fogg’s (Phoenix Tower-Soul Sister/ Manjri Stud) who had to be rather skilfully piloted by the rider after a tardy beginning in the six-furlong sprint for The Palazzio’s Sun Plate. Zervan had to weave his mount through the entire field to get into a striking position before he could issue a challenge to front-running Sweet Stone (who was the medium of a gamble and trying to make every post a winning one). Christopher Alford’s mount Zena ran a good race and may have reversed the verdict had she not shifted out in the straight in spite of the rider’s best efforts. It was the first close finish of the afternoon.

In the very next race, Arti and Zervan increased their tally with much neglected Fire Song (Alnasr Alwasheek-Firefoot/ Poona Stud) who had finished a poor last in her earlier essay. The reason for her neglect may be because of the fact that most turfites were unaware that she had come into season before that race. A subsequent caslick operation and a rest of five weeks did the trick for this speedy daughter of Firefoot. She was a trifle lethargic near the distance post as No Politics Please and Arshad Alam were going hell for leather, but Zervan’s stick did the trick and she stretched out well in the final furlong to win quite comfortably in the end.  Trainer Vikash Jaiswal had flown in Arshad Alam from Bangalore for a good gamble on Knighthood and the jockey did rather well atop No Politics Please. The favourite Ramasses ended up third while second favourite Jupiter finished in the ruck.

Zervan and Arti completed their treble with Silken Grace (China Visit – Five Satins/ Usha Stud) which was their easiest earned triumph of the afternoon. Though she was available at even money, the withdrawal of Jorell robbed punters of a good portion of their winning amount.

Trainer Vijay Singh had only one winner during the day in the form of 10/1 shot Bindass (Win Legtend-Intergrate/ Dashmesh Stud) who picked up the day’s opener The Safari Handicap run over 1800 metres. The four-year-old gelding made every post a winning one in apprentice Ranidan Singh’s hands while the fancied pair of  Spyglass Hill and Clairvoyance filled up the minor placings without posing any threat to the winner.

Jockey Shailesh Shinde rode a powerful finish astride Land Of Glory (Tariq-Balance Of Power/ Equus Stud) to get the better of Footloose close home in the race for the Silver Dawn Handicap. The favourite Taygetus was a good third and will be better for this run. The other fancied runner Studofiftyfour continued to be a ‘bookie’s darling’ with yet another lacklustre effort which saw him ending up an unimpressive fourth.

The five-and-half  furlong sprint race for the Alamito Handicap saw a close finish  featuring Mister Majestic, Knighthood and King Kong in that order. The first named, from Bath’s yard, is known to have burst a blood vessel in his earlier outing, and was judiciously handled by Christopher Alford (who refrained from using the whip) to make every post a winning one. In contrast, Arshad Alam on Knighthood rode a power-packed finish and fell short by a neck. Perhaps, the scurry was tailor made for the winner while the runner up may have preferred 100 metres more.

Trainer Raunak Banerjee tasted success for the first time this season with the well prepared five-year-old mare Raw Silk ( New Famous-Silken Magic/ Yeravada Stud) who was hard ridden by Ashad Asbar to land the spoils after collaring the favourite Lucky Streak close home. The winner (who was the medium of a gamble as her odds plummeted from 6/1 to 7/2) fetched well-deserved honours for the professional duo and a pocket full for the connections.