A gloomy sky and intermittent drizzles failed to deter crack sprinter Eastern Star from shining at RCTC on Tuesday. Trainer Bharath Singh’s four-year-old gelding Eastern Star (Knight’s Tour-Lyocel) was given a flawless ride by Dashrath Singh to lift the Make My Day Cup run over seven furlongs. Following pace-setter Amorous White till well into the straight, Dashrath smoothly moved into top gear to leave the field standing. Barbaresco trailed the field for most part but finished on an eye-catching sixth and is one for the notebook. It was a refreshing change to listen to the distinguished voice of Cyrus Madan calling the main event. The commentary was error-free and captured the attention of the racing aficionados. Calcutta is the only centre where two of those doing duty in the Stewards box are proficient callers – the other being the ever popular Enrico Piperno. It goes without saying that the centre’s regular commentator - Anit Casyab – is one of the best in the country.

Trainer Aashay Doctor was in great form as he led in three winners. One has to admire the commendable preparation he had pumped into Glorious Leaps and  Izzy as they both won their first starts of the season despite running after a lay-off of six months. Izzy survived an objection from Dashrath atop second placed Rosina. Doctor completed the treble with Seventh Step  in the day’s final event run over 1800m. Both Izzy and Seventh Step were piloted by Dhanu S Deora.

Glorious Leaps (Lucifer Sam-Perfect Rhythm) was ridden confidently to land the Azureus Handicap. It was a No Whip race and Tejeshwar did rather well to stave off a strong challenge from Happy Returns. There were three withdrawals in the race including the much fancied Princess Rumela. Izzy (Western Aristocrat – La Joie De Vie) was given an opportunistic ride by Deora. There was really no substance in Dashrath’s objection. Rather, he played into Deora’s hands by being boxed in between two runners – Izzy and Demonstrate. It doesn’t always pay to be a ‘gentleman rider’ once you are in the saddle and none knows that better than champion of yesteryear – Christopher Alford.  After her notable second to Murakami last week, Seventh Step (New Famous-Top Romance) was given a regulation ride by Deora.

The day commenced with Javed Khan-trained Incendio (Win legend-Angels Glory) doing an encore, thanks to CS Jodha’s hard riding. The disappointment in the race was the horrendous run of Swanlite – possibly she didn’t take to the tongue strap and blinkers. Gaurish and Miami ran prominent races. Vijay Singh-trained Astoria made no mistake as she carried the public purse to victory in the sprint for the Arapahoe Handicap. The filly was piloted by western India’s apprentice AS Peter. Tiberon was the notable runner-up.

Shyam Habbu’s Arashi  (Rock Of Gibraltar – Hoboob) showed that she has plenty of early speed as she made every post of the Star Phoenix Handicap a winning one. Lumos was a game second while Mygrator failed to match strides with the winner and finished a fair third.