A smart and clever ploy employed by the champion stable of Vijay Singh and executed equally brilliantly by visiting jockey Neeraj Rawal, saw a gritty and determined thoroughbred colt named Shivansh lift the Calcutta Monsoon Derby after what seemed like imminent defeat at the hands of the favourite Peluche. In his post-race comments, Vijay mentioned that he was confident that his ward would stay. It was this confidence in his colt’s staying ability that prompted him to instruct Rawal to go on a start-to-finish mission by opening a long gap from the outset. Trevor Patel atop Peluche was an easy moving fourth for most part, about ten lengths behind the runaway leader. He cut down the lead considerably before the turning for home and made his move in the straight. Just past the distance post, Peluche had headed his rival and looked to have the winning post in his sight but the son of Top Star out of Immortal Story (Mukteshwar Stud) came back at him with admirable pluck and gained the verdict close home. After viewing this race, it would seem in retrospect that Peluche would be more comfortable over a mile at most. He has got acceleration but seems to lack stamina. The alarm bells should have started ringing when he started shortening his strides in The Leading Owner Cup at Bangalore and held on by a ‘nose’ from Gerontocrat. But in this game, ‘wisdom after the race’ is only academic. In contrast, the victorious property of Mr Subir Dasgupta may lap up an extra couple of furlongs.

 Despite losing out narrowly on two occasions (the other being atop Bergamot), Trevor ended the afternoon with a well-earned lucrative double – Lumenac and Pothus – both hailing from the Bharath Singh yard. But the surprise of the day was really Javed Khan’s eight-year-old Copernicus pulling off a win in the five-and-half furlong race for the Dandified Cup. Till the distance post, it seemed like a two-horse race featuring One Man Army and Shivalik Story. That was till Copernicus (Mathematician-Heroine’s Beauty) ranged alongside after ambling in the rear of the field and taking the turn six wide. With just one reminder from Ranidan Singh, the experienced ‘old’ warhorse sailed ahead for a comfortable victory.  Kudos to the trainer and jockey for a difficult victory!

Javed had earlier won a thriller with second favourite Dancing Lord (Phoenix Tower-Ovation) who annexed the upper division of the Gloriosa Handicap. With CS Jodha playing the waiting game that the six-year-old gelding is known to relish, he moved with giant strides in the straight under Jodha’s stick to pip the runaway public choice Seventh Step at the wire.                                                                                                               
Bharath Singh and Trevor Patel combined to open their account with Lumenac (Tazahum – Longoria) who won the seven furlong race for the Tiger Tops Handicap by making every post a winning one. Summerhill was a notable runner-up. The duo completed their brace with Pothus (Midnight Interlude – Laserre) lifting The Palazzio’s Sun Cup. With Trevor playing the waiting game on this occasion, both the favourite Hartnell and the eventual winner were locked in a keen tussle for supremacy in the final furlong of the 2000m race. The fact that Hartnell was conceding 5.5kg to the winner helped his avenge his Grand Anuual Handicap defeat of last year where  he was conceding a big chunk of weight to Hartnell.
The opening race of the day, The Free Energy Handicap,  saw the Manvendra Singh stable land a good gamble with Midnight Magic (Gaswar –Minnie Mouse). YS Srinath rode a magical finish on the favourite to edge out three front-runners in a blanket finish.

James McKeown’s Rising From Ashes showed that he is a versatile customer by recording a facile win in the mile race for the lower division of the Gloriosa Handicap. Coming in the wake of his five-and-half furlong triumph, it was a feather in the cap for the Win Legend-For An Angel four-year-old.

Bergamot’s defeat in the Amorina Handicap was a bit of a shocker as was the poor run of Sheer Force. It was visiting jockey Akshay Kumar’s third poor ride of the day after Mustang and City Heights. The race was won by Aashay Doctor’s Naumee (Arabian Gilf-Autocop) with apprentice RS Bhati astride, after a ding-dong battle with Bergamot.