Miserable weather conditions set the stage for an equally unhappy day for punters at RCTC on Tuesday. Only a single totalisator favourite (Akshaya) obliged in a card of seven races. An overcast sky, poor visibility, intermittent showers and a rain-soaked monsoon track saw fancied runners tumble like nine pins.

In the day’s main event, The Slade Valley Cup, the hot favourite Coup De Grace was extremely fractious at the gates. He backed out once and reared up seconds before the gates opened, hence it was no great surprise that he lost four lengths at the start – a setback from which he never quite recovered and yet finished a fair third. The winner Carpe Noctem (Surfrider-Princess Helen) from Javed Khan’s yard made every post of the 1100m race a winning one in the hands of apprentice P Vikram, staving off a spirited challenge from Levante.  The property of Vikram Bachhawat is known to be a speedy sort and the young apprentice made the most of a poor start by the favourite. Kudos to the lad!

Visiting jockey Trevor Patel’s afternoon was as wretched as the weather as he finished last, sixth, fifth and third on his four mounts. The afternoon commenced with apprentice Rupal Singh on Zandra (Dancing Forever- Sinner Girl/ Hazara Stud) making every post of the 1800m race for the Mandolin Handicap a winning one. Hail The Queen was given a good ride by CS Jodha but failed to match strides with the winner in the home straight after following her all the way.

A fancied runner in her last essay, five-year-old Blaze To Glory (Rebuttal-Colour Me Pretty/ Hazara Stud) showed her affinity for jockey Rajender Singh with a rousing gallop in the final furlong to peg back Dark Angel at the wire. Amaranthus once again fell apart close home after leading all the way while Bournville was never in it.

The youngsters’ race – The Alcalde Plate – was an interesting affair. The tote favourite General Duff raced in the rear all the way while the stablemate Ghost Creek ran an absolute blinder before being pegged back to the runner-up spot by Vijay Singh-trained Christiana (Burden Of Proof-Strelitzia/ Kunigal Stud) who came with raking strides in the last 100m under Nikhil Naidu’s urgings.

The Echoes Of Light Handicap saw virtually all the money coming on the first and second favourites – Advika and Bergamot. However, while the former was badly slow into stride, the latter (a recent migrant from Bangalore) ran a lacklustre race and may need some more time settle down at his new home. The race was won by Arti Doctor-trained Prancing Queen (Pinson-Premier Queen) with Shrikant Kamble in the saddle. The 10/1 shot came flying from the rear of the field to end the winning aspirations of Oath Of Allegiance who is indeed one for the notebook.

Arti completed a double when Friendship (Multidimensional-Alvarita/ Usha Stud) won the mile race for The Flamenco Star Handicap with Christopher Alford in the saddle. After chasing Artificial till the turning for home, the filly shot ahead to win comfortably from the on-money public choice Mahali who was a tame second.

Trainer Vijay Singh was the other professional who notched up a brace as the vastly improved Akshaya made mincemeat of her eleven rivals in The Silver Fox Handicap. The Varenaar-Spiffy filly gave Neeraj Rawal an armachair ride. Fancied by a section of punters, Alldero was a faraway second, while Rufus was a disappointment.