Owned and trained by Manvendra Singh, speedster Fortune Express (Express Wish-Set The Mood/ Mebajeona Stud) outclassed the field for the Calcutta Juvenile Sprint at RCTC on Wednesday. Retained jockey Hindu Singh allowed Sangfroid to lead till the half-way mark in the 1100m sprint and then took over the running to win as he liked. With 50 metres left to run, Hindu Singh eased off his mount. The principal contenders were all run off their feet and it was left to Gloaming to fill the runner-up berth.

Trainer Patrick Quinn created quite a stir when his recent import Bulgerian (Top Class – Vijay’s Rose/ Mukteshwar Stud) lifted the Independence Cup in the hands of YS Srinath. Lying a handy third while stablemate Summerhill called the shots, Srinath put his mount into top gear as Ayra’s Pet was trying to issue her challenge in the straight. The winner of The Northern India Cup at Delhi responded brilliantly and gave other fancied three-year-olds a beating to remember. The worst performance, relatively speaking, was from the favourite He Calls The Shots who was receiving 9kg from the winner and ended up a dismal fourth.

Quinn went on to notch up a double in amazing fashion as his ward Siempre Nueva (Arazan-Zarandja/ Poona Stud ) made every post a winning one in the race for The Great Tribute Handicap, despite his fledgling apprentice rider Vikram losing his right stirrup iron at the jump-out. The sheer speed of the five-year-old mare may have given the lad a bit of a jolt and he did rather well to get back his balance in the saddle within one furlong of the start. Realising he had a chance to win, the youngster rode out his mount in the straight though she started to drift out. She ultimately held on by the skin of her teeth from the fast finishing course favourite Scarlet Emperor.

Trainer Raunak Banerji broke his duck for the season with a victory in the Arktouros Cup. Christopher Alford rode Evesham (Tariq – Everybody Counts/ Equus Stud) to a fluent triumph in the seven furlong race. The disappointments in the race were Captain Cook and Noverro who finished last and second last. The favourite Commander ran a decent race but his age seems to have caught up with him. In retrospect, this was a very apt result as Arktouros was Christopher Alford’s favourite Khaitan ward who fetched him his 1000^th winner. The cup in his name was bagged by another favourite of Alford’s – Evesham – also a Khaitan ward. As they passed the winning post, Alford was seen patting his mount.

It was good to see champion trainer Vijay Singh get back into his groove with a well-earned brace. His Surgical Strike (Abbeyside-Special Fx/ Dashmesh ) made the Hall Of Glory Handicap a start to finish affair in the hands of Trevor Patel. Thereafter, S. John rode a power-packed finish on Romantic Magic (Multidimensional-Magical Romance/ Usha Stud) to get the better of Adzukis in the 1800m race for the Bountiful Talent Handicap. Sans Prix ran a decent third while top-weight Rewalding may have needed the run.

The opening race of the day was pocketed by Arti Doctor-trained Flying Cloud (Stern Opinion-Royal Assault/ Lumbini) after the filly produced a great gallop in the straight to get the better of Sam Houston. The favourite Xlite moved up late to be a good runner-up and will be worth keeping an eye on in the future.