Bateleur (Western Aristocrat – Al Khazneh, Nanoli Stud) took just one race after a long layoff to return to his blistering best as he romped home to score an emphatic victory and claim the Royal Calcutta Turf Club Trophy in style.  The Vishal Gaikwad trainee had finished a commendable second last time out returning to the race track after nearly thirteen months. He was duly installed the favourite, available at even money at best and he justified the miserly odds with a splendid show of speed against proven top Class sprinters.

Bateleur was expected to win alright, but few would have expected him to way in the manner he did. He was off to a quick start and galloped into the lead straight away, even past the usual front running Wild Fire. Once into the straight, Bateleur got even stronger and started to stretch away from his rivals, reigning all through the homestretch. Jockey Neeraj Rawal literally had little to do as Bateleur never needed any assistance from the saddle at any given time. He won by a whopping seven lengths plus clocking a fiery timing without having to fire on all cylinders! Holy Smoke moved up in the straight to finish second ahead of Queen Credible.

Pesi Shroff trained Sullivan (Phoenix Tower – Lisa’s Kitten, Manjri Stud) also had it relatively easy while notching up his maiden victory on his third start.  Favourite Jet Fire was quick to move up into the second position behind Angels Harmony until into the straight. Sullivan moved along the rails while Kanchenjunga was not too smooth in his gallop and raced a touch wider out right through and this was not helping his cause one bit.

On turning for home, Jet Fire darted ahead and with Angels Harmony not going anywhere, Sullivan with jockey Zervan astride, set about his chase. He took a brief while to draw closer to Jet Fire and once he found his rhythm, Sullivan picked up speed nicely to surge past Jet Fire and then finish off on cruise mode to carve out a win by close to three lengths. Jet Fire ended runner-up clearly ahead of Its a Deal. Kanchenjunga disappointed as he was lacklustre and made no impact at all.

Texas Gold (Chinese Whisper – Oceanic Wisdom, Tohna Stud) chose his moment to return to his best and produced a fiery gallop towards the business end to win the Class II Marchetta Plate. On-money favourite Arabia led them into the straight, but when Texas Gold challenged her, the filly failed to counter. Excellent was stuck behind Arabia and Spitfire and had to be switched out from the rails. By then Texas Gold had surged past and gotten into a good momentum. Excellent conceded that bit of ground to Texas Gold at that point and was never to recover from that glitch. Texas Gold was freewheeling nicely at that stage and build on that early run to hold on pretty easily. Excellent did show that he was inching closer, however, could never muster that dazzling speed to make this one count. It would have been a lot closer had Excellent enjoyed an unhindered passage at that crucial moment. Spitfire had a good airing and bears watching over a shorter distance.

Choo Mantar (Intense Focus – Clogher Clove, Hazara Stud) finally brought about her maiden win on her seventh start. This was the first time she ever hit the frame as well. In lighter vein, Trainer Faisal Abbas seems to have waived his magic wand for Choo Mantar to deliver a winning performance.

Name of the Game led them into the straight and faded out. Royston Rock looked good for a moment but only until Choo Mantar got alongside. Choo Mantar then accelerated well and was pushed into the lead by jockey Sandesh who rode out relentlessly to the end. Royston Rock fought hard and kept going all out, Cray Cray was in contention but had to be checked as he got squeezed between horses and lost his chances. Eternal Dancer arrived with a big late run, with She’s a Tiger and We Break the Rules also putting in a late dash. Choo Mantar held on narrowly to clinch victory warding off Eternal Dancer, the winning post certainly could not have come too soon for trainer Faisal’s ward. She’s a Tiger flew towards the finish to pip Royston rock and We Break the Rules to earn the place stakes.

Fanfare (China Visit – Veena’s Star, Usha Stud) was another one to achieve a memorable maiden win and this was her eighth start. This was the most closely fought race of the day with the 1800m race culminating in a three-way finish.

Whoopsidaisy led them into the straight with Sylvester breathing down her neck. Rouge One started to flex his muscles while Fanfare switched lanes for clearer passage. Sylvester had barely taken charge when Rouge One challenged him from the outside. Fanfare was still a length or two adrift but was warming up. Rouge One drew abreast with Sylvester and as these two were raging a hard battle, Fanfare with jockey CS Jodha in the saddle, flew from the wider out to time her run to a nicety and get the nod right on the wire. Rouge One was unlucky to have missed out while Sylvester too finished agonisingly close in a fantastic finish.

Flower Dust (Mull of Kyntire – Fatinat Al Melouk, Bloodhorse Stud) produced a powerful burst in the final furlong to run away with the concluding race of the day. Arabian Storm led them in and soon fell back. There was a bunch of horses scrambling for the finish with Ridgewood Star at the helm fighting for survival. Flower Dust arrived with a big gallop to soon trounce the front bunch. Bounty Queen was warming up but Flower Dust sped away with a powerful run and shot away from the rest. Bounty Queen ended a fir second considering she had improved positions in the straight. Invictus Maneo finished on well to snatch the third place, pegging back Ridgewood Star.