Trainer Vijay Singh and jockey Suraj Narredu combined fruitfully once again to fetch home a treble comprising Inca, Silver Bracelet  and Advait. Vijay’s  on-money public choice Silver Bracelet (Win Legend-Silver Profile) was hard ridden by jockey Suraj to bag the Acorn Stakes at RCTC on Saturday. Stablemate Namiki made a bold bid to get on level terms with her closest adversary but Silver Bracelet always remained a stride ahead.The other professional to make a mark during the day was trainer Shafiq Khan who completed a jack-in-the-box hat-trick with Artiste Royal, Artful and Christiana. All credit to him for using two apprentices and a rookie full-timer to accomplish this difficult task.

The Mayor’s Cup was lifted by speedster Fortune Express (Express Wish-Set The Mood) who made every post a winning one in the hands of apprentice P. Vikram. The winner was available at 5/1 as Surf Romance closed as the 3/1 favourite. The speedster’s pace was too hot for any of his rivals and the six-year-old stretched out beautifully in the straight to win as he liked. The best of the rest was Gaurish while the favourite ended up a tame third.

The opening race, The Zeeba Handicap, run over a mile-and-a-half saw the filly Inca (Air Support-Systematic) defy the handicapper and produce an encore. It was probably Suraj Narredu’s most difficult victory of the afternoon as he had to coax a rousing gallop out of her after she looked beaten in the straight as both Avellino and Roll Call had collared her. She came with a second wind to pip the duo at the wire. Fancied by the connections, the disappointment of the afternoon was second favourite Raqs Sharqi who was reduced to being a ‘plodder’ after heads turned for home. It was an inexplicable reversal of form and a definite cause for concern. The win of Advait (Top Class-Ice Fantasy) in the day’s final event was encouraging as it was a ‘No Whip’ race. Both Rarebird and San Remo looked as if they needed a little help from the whalebone if they were to collar Advait at any stage of the race.

Trainer Shafiq Khan’s Artiste Royal (Tariq-Absolutely Royal) was ridden with great vigour by apprentice Sujit Kumar Paswan to land the spoils in the INS Hooghly Cup run over a mile. The seven-year-old was totally neglected in the ring and available at 12/1. Much fancied Lesley appeared to have the winning post in her sight with a furlong to go but the apprentice had other ideas as his mount was responding well to his urgings. The first five horses were separated by about a length and deserves to be noted for future races.

The sprinter Artful (Varenar-Sine Qua Non) closed as the favourite for the Navy Cup and apprentice Tejeshwar rode a flawless race. Allowing Shimmering Star to call the shots till the distance post, the apprentice turned on the heat at the right point to get the better of the front-runner close home. Shafiq had two demoted runners in the upper division of The Own Ability Handicap – Siroco and Christiana. Both were on the job and the superior runner prevailed. Known to prefer a longer trip, Christiana (Burden Of Proof-Strelitzia) moved with telling strides late in the race under RS Bhati’s single reminder. The youngster went hands and heels for most part. Much hyped Uncrowned King finished up a  none too impressive fifth even with a notable jockey-change – Suraj Narredu instead of PS Chouhan.  

The lower division of the same race went to Vikash Jaiswal-trained Caledonia whose forward runs helped her in her quest to hoist the winning flag. Apprentice Hasib Alam rode in a controlled manner to guide her home along the rails. She incidentally is a full sister to Silver Bracelet.