Super filly Adjudicate from James Mckeown’s yard, made her four rivals (comprising two colts and two geldings) eat humble pie as she simply steamrolled them on her way to lifting the Calcutta 2000 Guineas at RCTC on Saturday. The fashionably bred   three-year-old by Multidimensional out of Alvarita, bred at Sohna Stud farm,  thus took pole position for the Calcutta Derby next month, having already decimated the opposition in the two classics held so far this season.  Saddle artist David Allan sat in a box seat behind front-running Shivansh till the straight and simply released the brakes thereafter. The wonder filly belonging to the renowned Khaitan family was striding majestically and David was seen petting her a good 70 metres from home as he knew the prize was in the bag. Adjudicate stopped the clock at an incredible time of 1min 35.403sec which was barely half-a-second outside the record set by Whomakestherules in March when the track is much faster.

Nostalgia swept the lawns of  RCTC as the close kin of the late RCTC chairman Deepak Khaitan, led by his wife,  lined up to receive the trophy. It was also a proud moment for trainer James Mckeown who has maintained the wonder filly in tip-top condition and has the highly prestigious Indian Derby in Mumbai (to be run in February) in his cross-hairs, but then one should not jump the gun. First things first - the Calcutta Derby looks well within his grasp as the daughter of Alvarita is likely to get the mile-and-half trip. It is quite possible that the filly will give the Oaks a bye as the gap between the Oaks and The Derby on January 13 is only 17 days. Then again, such crucial decisions rest with her mentor and connections. Whether the Calcutta Oaks will be used as a ‘race gallop’ for the Derby is left to be seen. It is also left to be seen whether the indomitable colt Sir Cecil will take a tilt at the Calcutta Derby after running in the Indian 2000 Guineas at Mumbai on Sunday (December 16).

The supporting event, The Indian Gold Vase, was bagged by Vijay Singh-trained Multitude (Multidimensional-Haedi) who got the better of the favourite Governor General without much ado. The sire Multidimensional had a field day as two more of his progeny did the honours. First Bharath Singh-trained Alldero (out of Allaire) returned to form by edging out Midnight Phantom in the Eastern Command Cup with Dashrath pulling out all stops, and then, Vijay Singh-nursed Vallerysthal (out of Romatique) displayed an abundance of class to bag the Hong Kong Jockey Club Trophy in the calm and confident hands of Sandesh. She looks a classic sort,  which must have pleased her popular sporting owner Vikram Bachhawat immensely.

The two divisions of the Lt General Jameel Mahmood Memorial Cup went according to script, though Javed Khan-trained Tomorrow Forever (Lucifer Sam-Loveatfirstsight) did face a bit of traffic problem in the day’s opener before Sandesh got her on even keel and squeezed through along the rails. Trevor Patel atop Bharath Singh’s Coup De Grace (Aaraazan-Nijinsky Bullet) had no such issues as he quite easily collared the pace-maker Whitewalker for a comfortable triumph.

Jockey Imran Chisty was seen at his brilliant best when he guided Bath-trained Fiorelle (Sedgefield Alsabecaa) to a thunderous victory in the Army Service Corps Cup. The winner edged out the favourite Alyssa and Devotion in a blanket finish. The exciting afternoon of racing came to a close with Javed Khan’s The Sixth Seal (Burden Of Proof-Six Sigma) making it a well-deserved treble for jockey Sandesh.