Brilliantly piloted by YS Srinath, Bharath Singh-trained Eastern Star  (Knight’s Tour-Lyocel) came with telling strides in the final furlong of The Calcutta Colts Trial Stakes  to get the better of piping hot course favourite Mongolian King at the wire. Sniper set a cracking pace till well into the straight but fell apart as Mongolian King took the lead under Trevor’s stick. Speedy Eastern Star was boxed in along the rails till the distance post and then urged by Srinath to peg back the public choice close home. In his post-race comments, elated trainer Bharath Singh said that he was extremely happy for owner S Pathy whom he described as a very nice man. “It was very important for me to win this race as this is a hat-trick for my owner and the stud farm. We did it with Tweedle Dee, Rufus and now Eastern Star”. Kudos to this meticulous mentor! Barring Sniper and Lumos who showed some early speed, the rest of the field were ‘also-rans’.

Earlier in the day, Srinath had registered a facile triumph with Bharath Singh-trained Pothus in the Defence Forces Cup. This was yet another case of the schooler’s expertise. With patience and perseverance, the trainer brought Pothus  (Midnight Interlude-Laserre) to tip-top condition aided by a couple of sprints and the swimming pool. The once highly rated gelding seemed back to his old ways with a five-length triumph.

 Trainer Vijay Singh’s Cadman (Dancing Forever-Lambency) was hard ridden by Neeraj Rawal to land the spoils in the Alternator Cup in the very last stride. Shivalik Showers looked to have the race in the bag with 100 metres to go but Rawal’s determination gained the day. The favourite Mogadishu was ridden into the ground by Zervan’s tearaway tactics which seemed rather unnecessary. This experienced six-year-old – a winner of the Mysore Derby – is known to settle in second or third slot before making his move. Since the field had a natural front-runner in Shivalik Showers, he would have done well to sit tight behind him. The final result would have been a little more encouraging.    

The Unknown Warrior Cup saw Manvendra Singh-trained Shivesh  (earlier called Emperador) come good in the hands of PS Chouhan after a couple of sharp scurries while shouldering top-weight. Considering that the on-money public choice of the Colts Trial Stakes (Mongolian King) defeated him while in receipt of 4kg in one of those  sprints, suggested a lot for his form and potential in this seven-furlong race. Mocha Loca was in a good position to pocket the race but the five-year-old by Multidimensional out of Burooq was equal to the task. The favourite Eternally was being pushed from the mid-way mark and it was only Trevor’s hard finish that fetched her the third spot.

Farley Rodrigues-trained  Adriatic Sea (Arabian Gulf-North Sea)was quietly fancied by those in the know and the five-year-old made it a start-to-finish affair in the opener of the day. The fancied pair of Arion and Hail The Queen challenged strongly but the 4/1 shot kicked on merrily in the hands of apprentice Vikram. Unfortunately, the trainer could not be present to lead him in as he was hospitalised for a bike mishap earlier in the week. This ‘welcome- back-home’ victory should keep his spirits up – no pun intended!

Neeraj Rawal made the most of a chance ride on Seventh Step (New Famous-Top Romance) to bag the Helping Hand Handicap from Airlift and Zara Go Zara. Trained by Aashay Doctor, the winner was backed down to 2/1 favouritism. The Doctor family enjoyed a double as trainer Arti Doctor led in Lady Two in the day’s final event. The four-year-old by New Famous out of Silken Dancer staved off a strong challenge from Naumee while favourite Oath Of Allegiance was a bit of a disappointment.