Mallesh Narredu-trained Oriana, with nephew Suraj Narredu in the saddle, lifted the Calcutta Oaks at RCTC on Saturday. After collaring the runaway Advika at the top of the straight, Suraj had to pull out all stops to keep at bay the favourite Exception.  The winner received nearly Rs 15 lakh in prize money.  Sired by Multidimensional out of Silken Star, Oriana is bred at the Usha Stud farm. The Vijay Singh pair of Advika and Aashna finished third and fourth. Advika was given a free rein very early in the race and seemed to run out of steam. However, there’s no doubt that the best stayer prevailed. The runner-up Exception stayed well and put up a worthy show. The victory completed a well-deserved treble for Suraj who had earlier guided home Oak Brook and Aquaracer – both from the stable of Bharath Singh.  

One race earlier, the prestigious D Khaitan Memorial Calcutta Gold Cup was bagged by another outstation challenger – Cambridge – in breathtaking style. In the absence of jockey Sandesh, Christopher Alford got a chance ride on the favourite and made the most of it. Gracing the wrong end of the small field for most part while Whomakestherukes and Sana ran up front, Alford merely had to show his mount (a four-year-old gelding by Burden Of Proof out of Chimerique) the gap between the front-runners near the distance post and he did the rest. It was great show of strength by the Pesi Shroff ward.  What was rather discouraging was the fact that the local lot got beat rather easily in the two graded races of the day.

The afternoon commenced with an outsider as Shafiq Khan-trained Lhotse (Tejano-So Perfect) pulled off a difficult win in the Police Martyr’s Cup. The aged seven-year-old’s task was made that much easier as top-weights Bengal Tiger and Seventh Step fought for most of the way. Apprentice RS Bhati made good use of his allowance to land the spoils from a fast finishing Expensive Affair.

In the next race, The Calcutta Mounted Police Cup,  Oak Brook (Net Whizz-Oakdale) was ridden with total control by Suraj who had him in mid division till the straight before making his move near the distance post. There was a mishap in the race. Jockey Nikhil Naidu suffered a fall from Summerhil and has been kept under observation at a city nursing home.

Bharath Singh-trained Simon Templar (Burden Of Proof – Chilli Girl) notched up his third win from his last four starts. Dashrath Singh made the upper division of the Police Commissioner’s Cup a start-to-finish affair once again. The lower division of the same event saw Vijay Singh-trained Splash Proof (Whatsthescript-Splash Of Class) win in almost similar fashion. Suraj then rode Aquaracer (Lord Admiral-Watch) to a facile victory in the Calcutta Juvenile Stakes. Magnificent Star is one for the notebook in this race while Shivalik Sight it must be said finished well to be a close third.

The curtain came down to the day’s proceedings with Sarfaraz Khan-trained Power Of Freedom (Sharp Attack-Sweet Pea Jamie) going on to bag the 2000m race for the Fire Flash Handicap despite drifting out to the outer rails. Shezad Khan rode a waiting race with the top-weight and it paid rich dividends.