James Mc Keown-trained Trafalgar proved that he is top notch material when the colt pegged back his four rivals without much ado in the Grand Annual Mile at the RCTC on Saturday. After a brief tussle with Top Notch at the top of the straight, jockey David Allan and Trafalgar pulled away near the distance post to spare two lengths at the wire. The son of Western Aristocrat out of Blue Grass Phenom has thus won two races from as many starts. Jockey PS Chouhan was indisposed and the connections flew in Trevor Patel to ride Top Notch. There’s no doubt that Trevor got the best out of his mount but at the end of the day, the better horse won. Cherubic Englishman Mc Keown has enjoyed a successful season at this centre, having won three classics with Adjudicate and now the Grand Annual Mile with Trafalgar. To cap it all, he made Calcutta proud by lifting the Invitation Cup at Hyderabad with his wonder filly Adjudicate. Kudos to him!
The Elusive Pimpernel Cup saw a nail-biting finish as Suraj Narredu on Vijay Singh-trained Cadman (Dancing Forever-Lambency) had to pull out all stops to keep fast-finishing Raise A Grand at bay. The latter incurred a penalty of 24 points for this runner-up berth as it was a terms event. The connections took a calculated risk which unfortunately fell short by a whisker. Dashrath on Raise A Grand had earlier lost out narrowly to Suraj in a three-way blanket finish comprising Alyssa (El Johar-HavaNagila),Lumos and Kantai in the Mamma’s Mink Handicap. Once again, it was Suraj at his best on the Vijay Singh ward  as at one point it seemed Lumos and C. Alford might pull it off. The winning filly is best suited to the seven-furlong trip.
Despite losing out narrowly twice, Dashrath Singh also notched a brace with Zena and Sereno. The Raj Coomar Gujadhur Memorial Cup run over five-and-half furlongs saw Bharath Singh-trained Sereno (Pinson-Serenity)pick up his second win of the season. The connections of Stallone were sweet on their ward and he finished a good second after closing as the totalisator favourite. One is not quite sure just why the Jaiswal stable declared Trevor on Kramer for an also-ran effort from a normally forward animal. Possibly because there was no local jockey of ‘equal  merit’ to the indisposed Chouhan who was originally supposed to ride the horse. It was a pathetic run that is best forgotten.
The afternoon commenced with Harvinder Singh Bath’s Zena (Rebuttal-Mellow Jazz) surprising punters and pundits alike as she traversed the mile trip with a degree of comfort.  City Heights set a good pace till after the distance post but the eight-year-old had no answer to Zena’s spirited run in the straight. Despite three quick races in succession, small-made filly Constance did well  to edge out City Heights by a nose for the runner-up berth.
This column has earlier mentioned Jaiswal’s ability to maintain aged runners in tip-top condition for a coup every now and then – and he did it on this afternoon with I Me N Myself. The eight-year-old by Noverre out of Sexy Gal was ridden with great gusto by apprentice Sujit Kumar Paswan to land the spoils by getting the better of Dark Angel in a keen contest. The handicapper enjoyed a good afternoon as there were close finishes galore.  The last race of the day also witnessed a tight finish as leap-year jockey R Shelar bagged his first winner of the five-month season/while astride Aashay Doctor-trained Seventh Step (New Famous-Top Romance). Mc Keown’s Romantic Zeal was withdrawn on veterinary grounds while his fancied runner Nobleman finished in the ruck.