On a bright and sunny afternoon at RCTC, Mallesh Narredu’s Whomakestherules (Multidimensional-Priceless/ Usha Stud) lifted the Calcutta 2000 Guineas in the hands of confident nephew Suraj Narredu. The bay colt was looking a picture in the paddock and took the shortest route home by making every post a winning one. Pesi Shroff-trained Accolate, the half-money public choice, was in close contact with his adversary and tried to overhaul him after the turning for home but was hanging in once the whips were out midway up the straight. Whomakestherules maintained a straight path and galloped into the RCTC record books to etch his unusual yet attractive name into the list of 2000 Guineas winners.

Trainer Mallesh Narredu remarked after the classic that he is grateful to his entire team for maintaing the colt in tiptop condition after the Monsoon Derby win and concluded by saying that “ I dedicate this superb victory the late Janak Ram Jethmalani”, whose estate is one of the part-owners of the colt. Mr Mohit Lalvani, another part-owner of the winner sated that it was a great achievement to beat one of the best milers in the country and “it was indeed our day”. A confident Suraj Narredu said that he was never in doubt that he would win and the team’s well thought out runaway tactics paid rich dividends. “I knew that I would only have to be wary of Accolade and no one else”, he quipped.

The loser Accolade was defeated but never humbled. It may well be that he may do far better over an extended trip. “As of now, our decision is to take a tilt at The Calcutta Derby”,  said Mr Zeyn Mirza.

Jockey Neeraj Rawal  scored a double with Arabian Sky and Bindass. The former won the lower division of The BOL Publication Cup, but not before surviving an objection from Trevor Patel on the top-weight Aamerican Agatta who was making a beeline for the winning post along the rails. Arabian Sky (Arabian Gulf-Leeward Passage/ Manjri Stud) shifted course in the final furlong and forced Royal Brute onto Trevor’s mount, whereby Aamerican Agatta had to stop galloping. Though Trevor’s double-objection was overruled, Rawal was fined a good sum of Rs 15,000 for boring into his rival’s path. Considering that the verdict was a close one, it was pretty surprising that the rider of Royal Brute refrained from objecting against the winner.   

Neeraj concluded his brace with Raunak Banerji-trained Bindass (Win Legend-Integrate/ Dashmesh Stud) in the MB Medhora Cup. It was a clever piece of horsemanship by Neeraj who positioned his mount behind the pace-setter Jordana and waited for the right moment. He  sailed away in the straight without too much trouble. In this mile-and quarter race, Majestic was backed to the exclusion of all others but his poor run left much to be desired. From a well-placed third at the top of the straight, the four-year-old filly did not budge an inch under Suraj’s whip. In fact, she moved backwards and ended up a very poor fifth.

The afternoon commenced with the outsider of the day as Vinay Lagad-trained Millenium Falcon (Ace-Rave/ Exhilaration Stud) with apprentice Kuldeep astride, got the better of the speedy favourite Flight Of Phoenix from Narendra Lagad’s yard. There’s no doubt that the influx of Mumbai horses has thrown the local form into disarray and made things extremely difficult for local punters and form-workers. Spotting winners is no mean task. Following money may not be the wisest thing to do in such cases. The handicapper has placed a statutory penalty of 2.5kg on all western India imports.

The race for two-year-olds, The CM Verma Memorial Cup, saw a close finish, though at the distance post it seemed that Bharath Singh-trained Sangfroid (Varenar-Saangre Azul) would run away with the race in the hands of Trevor Patel. Neeraj Rawal powered Akshaya, another Varenar youngster, finished on strongly to be a close second. The biggest disappointment in the race was the favourite Alamire.

The mile-and-quarter race for The Maharaja Of Burdwan Memorial Cup was a wide open affair as displayed by the bookmakers’ odds. The Bharath Singh-trained pair of top-weight Triumphus and Shourisha were positioned in mid-division while Adrestia and Mystic Romance were the front-runners.  The Bharath Singh duo moved up together but Shourisha  found himself badly blocked along the rails while Christopher Alford atop Triumphus (Burden Of Proof-Arizza/ Kunigal Stud) got a clear passage down the middle. By the time Dashrath Singh extricated Shourisha from the cul-de-sac, it was a little too late in the day. This is not to say that he would have overhauled Triumphus on this day, but one never knows in racing in such hypothetical situations. However, he would have been nearer at the finish, that’s for sure.

The curtain came down with Dashrath making amends on Bharath Singh-trained Leopard Creek (Burden Of Proof-Soviet Lake/ Kunigal Stud). Following Serjeant Major till the straight, Leopard Creek ran away from the field thereafter.