Trainer Shafiq Khan and his trusted knight Imran Chisty opened their winter season campaign in great style on Thursday with a quadruple and treble respectively. Shafiq’s brilliant placement of his wards helped him pull off this magnificent coup. Among their conquests was the Hilliard Cup which the pair lifted with Brainstorm (Dream Ahead-Roof Fiddle), who was available in the ring at 8/1. The last-minute withdrawal of The Kiss due to her unruly behaviour at the starting stalls, appeared to throw the race wide open. In a way, it was a blessing in disguise as jockey Sandesh was declaring 2kg overweight which could have a telling effect over seven furlongs. Unless weights are raised, her connections should ensure a rider of 50kg weight to give their ward the best chance possible since this is the first time that she will be meeting Class I opposition.

Neither of the two fancied in the bookies’ ring – Eastern Star and Shivansh – had any form to go by. Having raced in Bangalore summer with some of the best sprinters, Shafiq Khan’s ward had a clear advantage over his local rivals. Shafiq exploited the superior class of the horse by giving him a thorough preparation. Following Shivansh till the top of the straight, the five-year-old shot ahead to win well. Shafiq’s other winners were Artist Royal, Oracle and Caiden. Chisty’s other two winners were Artist Royal and Caiden. Sharing the limelight with Shafiq and Chisty were trainer Vikash Jaiswal and PS Chouhan with a double comprising Dil Mange More and Montecasino. Chouhan had replaced Akash Rajput on both these runners.

The afternoon commenced with the connections of Artiste Royal (Tariq-Absolutely Royal) landing a good gamble as their runner was backed down to even money. Chisty rode a waiting race on the six-year-old while Asmita and Scorpion Queen cut the wind. Once into the straight, the bottom-weight responded well to Chisty’s urgings while second in demand El Mulano finished a tame second. Vallerysthal’s early speed came to nought when collared by Dil Mange More (Samidd-Bold and Classy) in the straight in the day’s second race.

Trainer Vijay Singh’s Hukumat (Win Legend-Epic) lived up to his billing and collared runaway Rush For Gold in the straight. Jockey Suraj Narredu was his usual confident self as he registered a regulation victory atop the youngster. Thereafter came Shafiq’s incredible trio of winners of Oracle (10/1), Brainstorm(8/1) and Caiden (4/1). A recent migrant from Pune, The Oracle (Phoenix Tower-Age Of Magic) outpaced the more fancied sprinters like Sereno, Arashi and Aquitania. Jockey Afzal Khan did the honours.

After failing over sprints early in his career, Caiden (Net Whizz-Kentucky Queen) has been thriving over the mile trip. After his monsoon success, he went one better and got the better of youngsters Rosina and Shivalik Sight. It is unlikely that the last named pair will participate in the 1000 Guineas next Saturday after this showing. Vikash Jaiswal’s five-year-old Montecasino (Multidimensional-Sea Of Grace) is another who was pining for distance and he proved it with a thundering victory in the day’s final event. The compact gelding moved with giant strides from the rear of the field to sail past Avellino who looked menacing at the distance post.