The city has been experiencing a cold spell of late and visitors welcomed the warm sunshine at the Calcutta racecourse on Saturday. A large contingent of the city’s police force was present to witness the running of the seven-furlong race for The Police Commissioner’s Cup. Like the other major event of the afternoon, The Champions Sprint Trophy, it turned out to be a thriller. The pair in the betting for the Police Commissioner’s Cup was Rocket Ball and Triunfo.

The former, a 10-to-8-on favourite was not given a smooth ride by Neeraj Rawal, not that he would have won anyway. The normally forward colt had to make up lot of ground through considerable traffic (as it was a large field of 14 runners) but failed to collar front-running Moon Flower. In contrast, Prakash on Triunfo bided his time in third slot while Moon Flower and Fire Within called the early shots. At that point of time, the eventual winner, Island Rhythm (Mischievous Music-Table Dancing) was in 10th position. Jockey A Imran Khan started working on the chestnut colt from the 600 marker and the sprinter from MAM’s yard picked up a rousing gallop in the straight to peg back the fast-finishing Triunfo. The favourite was a tame third.

The Calcutta Champions Sprint Trophy saw Bharath Singh-trained Cayenne installed as the second favourite after Ikaria. Top-weighted Palazzio’s Sun was going hell for leather from the word go, but rather unfortunately David Allan lost the leather (meaning the whip) 150 metres from home and had only hell to pay. Considering that the verdict was a head, it may have made a difference at the wire. The front-runner was first challenged by Cayenne at the top of the straight but kept going well till Allan dropped the whip.

Thereafter, Habbu-trained Ikaria (Juniper-Symphony) got the better of him, thanks to Prakash’s hard riding from the top of the straight. Arti Doctor’s Razmaden (Razeen-Almaden) made it back-to-back wins by bagging The Aphroze Handicap. Though he has been known to burst a blood vessel in the past, the cool clime must have helped him in his quest for a second win at this centre. This bay gelding is a somewhat unusual case of successful in-breeding. The dam Almaden is also by Razeen. Kamlesh rode a measured race and got the better of Secret Love in the straight.

Sing Along showed early speed before packing up well before the home run. The afternoon started well for the Vikash Jaiswal stable as six-year-old Swiss King (Diffident-Cyclonic) justified his favourite status with a thumping triumph over Ijlal. The latter tried his utmost to make ends meet but fell to a superior horse, on whom Imran Chisty made no mistake. There were no other triers in the 13-horse field. It is a pity, as the race would have been a little more interesting. Vijay Singh-trained Alayir (Alnasr Alwasheek-Starcent) won The BK Poddar Memorial Cup despite running a little green. Her stamp of superiority was there for all to see.

Second favourite Sokudo had all the chances but Paul Mulrennan could find no answer as Alayir lengthened her strides in the straight. Incanto Bliss was hard-ridden to finish third. In the very next race, The Bountiful Treasure Handicap, Mulrennan decided that he was not going to let the trip to city go in vain. He shot ahead with Satsuma Star (Placerville-Imperial Satsuma) and stayed there all the way.

Trainer Darius Byramji and rider S De Sousa were hoping that Hadrian would be able to carry his favouritism to a popular triumph but the colt was outclassed by the winner. The duo had a miserable afternoon as Rimpuche was a poor fourth in the Champions Sprint. In the last race of the day, Pesi Shroff-trained Petra was backed to the exclusion of all others but she failed to hold on to her early lead. In fact, none of the front-runners could bag this sprint. It was left to Arti Doctor and her trusted knight in pigskin Kamlesh to do the honours astride Bayberry (Warrshan-Mulberry) in the final few metres. Another latecomer on the scene, Rutherford-trained Secret Gallop, was the worthy runner-up.