Looking picture perfect in the paddock, James Mckeown-trained Adjudicate went on to maul the opposition in the Calcutta 1000 Guineas at RTC on Saturday. The dark bay filly by Multidimensional out of Alvarita was allowed to settle in third slot by British rider David Allan while Advika set a scorching pace closely followed by stablemate Aashna. The latter cried off after the turning for home while Adjudicate stretched out spectacularly to make it a one-horse race in the straight. The public choice Punjabi Girl was labouring to hold her position and ultimately finished an unimpressive fourth under Trevor’s stick. After her earlier run on November 4, this website had carried this report on her.

“A smart piece of horsemanship by YS Srinath saw Bharath Singh-trained Eastern Star  get the better of the favourite Punjabi Girl in the seven furlong sprint for The Bahrain Cup. Considering that the filly was in receipt of 5kg from the winner, it was a poor show from her and in all fairness, the half-length verdict flatters her.  Srinath had already eased up his mount about 30 metres from home. He rode a well-planned race from the word ‘go’. Once the pacemakers began to tire at the bend, Srinath cleverly slipped his mount through along the rails (after lying a handy fifth for most part) and drew away from the field. In contrast, Punjabi Girl was forced the take the turn six wide and Sandesh had the stick out from well before the distance post. However, despite this somewhat unimpressive effort from the 1000 Guineas candidate, one would have to keep in mind that it was her first outing on an alien soil and she definitely has the potential to improve. It’s quite possible that she may enjoy running freely up front as Sweeney asked her to in the Alcock Arabian Million. But then I suppose the trainer knows best in these matters.”

It was an afternoon of mixed fortune for punters. Rank outsider Born To Win from Vikash Jaiswal’s yard  – a seven-year-old gelding – got the better of three-year-old colt Bojangles in the lower division of the Silver Beauty Handicap. In fact, Bojangles finished a relatively unimpressive third as six-year-old Tough Enough ran a great race to offer a serious challenge to the ultimate winner. It was a stunning result and this was reflected in the tote win dividend of Rs 823/- for a Rs 10/- win ticket. It seems that Born To Win (Senure-Auto Cop) is proving to be the nemesis of the promising sprinter Bojangles. On the opening day, with Jugnu Gurung astride, he literally knocks him cold, while on this afternoon with leap-year jockey Sk Israil, he outpaces him fair and square!

The upper division of the same race saw another Jaiswal ward  (Tibidabo) running in the same colours as Born To Win, run a great race. It was Trevor’s hard riding on the favourite - Bharath Singh-trained Lumos (Arazan-Sea Queen) - that ultimately won the day for him. Trevor had ridden another forceful finish astride Manvendra Singh-schooled Princess Elena (Top Class-Impulsion) to get the better of Darsh close home in the mile race for the Cameron Handicap.

The two divisions of the Liberty Handicap saw fancied runners I Me N Myself (Noverre-Sexy Gal) from Jaiswal’s stable and  Bharath Singh-trained Viserion (Diffident – Winged Light)  deliver the goods. Though Sixth Seal finishd a close second to the latter, he was ultimately disqualified for hanging out near home and boring into the path of Super Chic and Hurricane Storm. It seems there were several objections in this race but as there was no official announcement made, punters were in the dark for quite some time. Finally, the CCTV showed four jockeys in the Stewards Room, but even then, it was not clarified just how many revised placings were at stake, or even whether the winner was involved. This is especially important for inter-venue punters at other centres.

The six-furlong race for the Burning Fire Cup witnessed Vikash Jaiswal-trained six-year-old Denny Crance (Arazan-Blue Horizon) make every post a winning one in the hands of apprentice Sujit Kr Paswan. This was the lad’s second win on the horse having won a race during the last winter meet. Nobu was a fair runner-up but seemed outclassed by a superior sprinter.

The curtain came down with a thunderbolt from the Javed Khan yard as six-year-old Dancing Lord (Phoenix Tower-Ovation) edged out the runaway Alyssa at the wire. Avarua finished a good third while the others were not really in it.