Punters took a drubbing on Saturday as only a single favourite obliged in a card of six events. The public choice whose victory brought joy to railbirds was none other than S Attaolahi-trained Satellite (Burden Of Proof-Set Alight/ Kunigal Stud) who lifted the Stewards Cup. Dashrath Singh had to pull out all stops to overhaul Evesham who was threatening to reach the winning post first after sailing past pace-maker Make Way For Me and pegging back stablemate Acrider. Both C Alford atop Evesham and Dashrath did not leave anything to chance and took the longest route on the outside of the front runners. The disappointment in the sprint was Gentle Knowledge who was never in it.   

Other than Satellite’s popular victory, it was a case of the morning showing the day. The day started ominously for followers of money as the favourite Kamchatka suffered a fall in the opening race and had to be put to sleep on humanitarian grounds. Jockey C.Alford was fortunate to escape unhurt. Leap-year jockey Rajinder Singh picked up his first win of the season when he took the opportunity to go past other fancied runners like  So Regal and Abercrombe to hoist the winning flag.

Jasbir completed his double in stunning fashion when his colt Rewalding (Rebuttal –Mullagh / Hazara Stud) won the seven-furlong race for the Antonique Plate in astonishing manner. Rider Mohit Singh had eased up his mount well before the winning post and was celebrating on the saddle with all sorts of gesticulations which did not go down too well with the Chief Stipendiary Steward. But then again, one can understand his elation. The moot point is that this full-brother to classy middle-distance runner Supreme Star (from the MAM yard) has plenty of untapped potential and may possibly have been a final entry for the Derby had the big race not been run within seven days of his maiden triumph.

 The hard drizzle which had started to fall before the first race, thankfully came to a halt prior to the second race. However, there was more drama to follow as the hot favourite Oath Of Allegiance threw down apprentice rider Akash Rajput immediately after stalling and had to be withdrawn before coming under starter orders. The apprentice was declared medically unfit to ride during the rest of the afternoon and was substituted by another able apprentice Ranidan Singh atop a couple of his mounts. While top-weight favourite legend Indienne was never in the race, Daniel David-schooled Supreme Ruler (Abbeyside-Cherry Blue) grabbed the opportunity of running against poor opposition and won fairly comfortably in Mudassar Nazar’s hands.

The win of Vijay Singh-trained Santero ( Chevalier-Santarelle/ Ruia Stud) over 2000 metres did not come as too much of a surprise for followers of pedigree as his half-brothers Unleashed and Argiano had peformedadmirably well over such middle distances. Jockey Christopher Alford Mde his move in the straight and the four-year-old responded brilliantly. It would be pertinent to mention here that the favourite Zephir burst his blood vessels.

The afternoon’s biggest outsider was nine-year-old No More Politics (Kingslsa-Sayuri) who fetched trainer Vikash Jaiswal and apprentice Ranidan the Malpensa Cup when he got the better of Triumphus close home. The favourite Captain Cook was only a shadow of his old self and finished fourth. For those academicians, it may be noted that No More Politics was 4kg better than Captain Cook for a verdict of five lengths from their earlier meeting this month.