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IT’S SWEET MUSIC - BUT FOR BOOKIES’ EARS ONLY

By Epsom Ace | 29 Jan 2019 | KOLKATA


Trainer Arti Doctor leading Sweet Music (R S Bhati Up), winner of The RWITC Cup

For the second successive race day, followers of money took a drubbing at the Calcutta races on Tuesday as not a single favourite obliged in a card of seven events. The bookmakers had a field day with bulging satchels. The main event of the afternoon, The RWITC Cup, saw Mygrator installed as the favourite, followed by Flag Flying and Rufus.  But none of the three had any answer to the rousing gallop raised by Arti Doctor-trained Sweet Music (Dean’s Kitten-Zahwah) in the home stretch. After lying in mid-division for most part of the 1400m race, a couple of cracks from apprentice Bhati’s whip  saw him shoot ahead near the distance post and hold on to his advantage from a fast-finishing Rufus.

If you had no sucess today with betting then it might be time to check out The Winners Enclosure for some tips and predictions on the horse racing!

The win of Jasbir Singh-trained Artiste Royal (Tariq-Absolutely Royal) in the day’s opener, The Spats Colombo Handicap, was an indication of what was to follow. City Heights set a good pace till the home stretch where he was collared by Romantic Zeal who seemed to be travelling rather well. However, Afzal Khan’s persistence on his mount saw the six-year-old land the spoils close home.  Singapore Sling was backed to the exclusion of all others in the mile race for the King Wajid Ali Shah Of Oudh Cup but his run was far from encouraging. Onderboy appeared to find the mile trip a trifle out of his ambit and faded in the straight while both Expensive Affair and Princess Elena waged a hard fought battle for honours in the final furlong. It was HS Bath’s Expensive Affair (Sedgefield-Belligerent) who ultimately prevailed in the hands of Shezad Khan. The four-year-old deserved this success as he did finish on the board on several occasions.

The third race of the day saw three horses being backed in the ring. They were Bacaardi, Fireburg and Casablanca. It was the last named who shot ahead as the gates opened but the filly’s exuberance was shortlived as she was soon passed by Fireburg. The latter was galloping merrily up front much to the delight of his connections but was  soon overhauled by the in-form Mustang (Diffident-Marquise) who made it a hat-trick with apprentice jockey Rupal Singh. Kudos to trainer Shafiq Khan for getting it right  with this sprinter and reforming him into a forward runner. Good training, clever placement and choice of an able apprentice rider fetched him this well-deserved success.

On the last occasion, the filly Enchanted was having her first outing on a new track and had jumped out awkwardly. It was hoped that with Sandesh in the saddle she would show her Mumbai sparkle in her second run. But alas, it was not to be.  The once formidable sprinter failed to match strides with eight-year-old Bidstone Hill and Sereno who were fighting for honours all the way down the straight. Apprentice Sujit Kumar Paswan atop Shyam Habbu’s Bidstone Hill (Mull Of Kintyre-Indiscretion) came back at Sereno with a second wind to land the spoils by the proverbial whisker. This was one of two races which pleased the handicapper no end, the other being the last race of the day – The Moon Emperor Handicap run over 2000m. The favourite Sabrejet led till the distance post before being collared by Lochinvar, Smith and Wesson and Far Sight almost simultaneously. Bharath Singh’s Lochinvar (Admirlofthefleet-Loch Katrine) won the blanket finish narrowly in Dashrath Singh’s hands.

As if flowing with the tide on the day, the maiden’s race, The David Jacob Cup, witnessed a close verdict featuring four horses. Not surprisingly, considering the day’s trend, it was the longest odds that prevailed. Vikash Jaiswal’s Knight Of Thunder  (Varenar – Cogito Ergo Sum) was hard driven by PS Chouhan to get the better of the fancied pair of Adhira and Valeria, and front-running Rush For Gold.