After nine months of slumber, the Calcutta racecourse was throbbing with excitement on Tuesday, albeit sans spectators. The sweet echo of thundering hooves was music to the ears of the restricted gathering of owners, trainers and a handful of media men present  on this memorable occasion. To top it all, it was also a red-letter day for online racing enthusiasts as the RCTC online betting app was launched in conjunction with betindiaraces.com. It is learnt that the response was highly encouraging on the opening day. That Calcutta races are well received at other centres of the country can be judged by the feedback from a reliable source that the Bangalore morning sales counters which were opened for only three hours, fetched a substantial amount of revenue. Once the season is in fully swing, it ought to be rosy returns all round despite the high percentage of GST that has to be forked out by punters.

It was business as usual for jockey Trevor Patel who notched up yet another treble in his long and illustrious career. Trevor booted home Zoya, Violin and Castlebridge. Trainer Bharath Singh’s double comprising the three-year-old filly Zoya and six-year-old  Castlebridge was largely due to Trevor’s amazing saddle skills. After repeated failures last winter, Castlebridge (Burden Of Proof-Castlebridge) was powered with great understanding by Trevor to land the spoils in the Surfside Handicap after a keen tussle with Sullivan in the straight.  Zoya – a full sister to the highly successful classic filly Sana (Multidimensional-Yana) – was hard ridden by Trevor to pocket The Satellite Handicap in the last stride from top-weight Right Move. It’s quite possible that the filly will relish a longer trip as she matures. Speaking after the race, trainer Bharath Singh mentioned that he will have to work on her gate manners.

Bangalore-based trainer Neil Darashah had two notable three-year-old runners during the afternoon – the filly Violin and the gelding Mountain Lion. Both are considered to be potential classic contenders. Both were piloted by Trevor. While Violin (Phoenix Tower-Nojoom) won the Miss X O Lence Handicap with a degree of comfort, Mountain Lion bit the dust at the hands of the centre’s best three-year-old filly thus far – Silver Bracelet. Sired by Win Legend out of Silver Profile, Silver Bracelet with Suraj Narredu in the saddle mauled her nearest rival despite conceding a good 6kg to him. Trainer Vijay Singh was elated at the filly’s fourth win on the trot in as many runs. She will be the one to beat in the 1000 Guineas. It seems that both Violin and Silver Bracelet are likely to be the prime contenders for the season’s first classic. 

The afternoon commenced with trainer James Mckeown pulling off a thunderous win with his three-year old filly Astral Star (Multidimensional – Astral Flash in The Coxcomb Handicap). Jockey B Mahesh appeared to have left it too late but the filly moved with raking strides in the final 100 metres to get the better of People’s Pride at the post.   

Trainer Vikash Jaiswal’s speedy colt Fenicia Mist (Samidd-Yamuna) bagged the scurry for the Partisan Handicap. Moskova made a bold bid to overhaul the front-runner but fell short by half-a-length. Apprentice Sujit Paswan did well to keep his cool in the final furlong.

Trainer Vijay Singh completed his brace and brought the curtain down with a bolt from the blue – appropriately called Ghost. The colt by Win Legend out of Lyrical Lass, with Md Azharuddin in the saddle, flew past his more fancied stablemate Mystic Wonder close home. 

It is a matter of pride that two of our stewards (Cyrus Madan and Enrico Piperno) are experienced callers and did duty in the commentator’s box during the day. Trainee commentator Albert Khare has put in considerable effort in order to ply his trade with a greater degree of confidence. One wishes him the best in the months ahead. Adding spice to the afternoon was our new paddock commentator Melissa Alford who was very much at ease on her debut day of her new vocation. All in all, it was an enjoyable afternoon at the races for the few present and both General Manager Amit Chaturvedi and Secretary Kanchan Jana are hoping that the turnstiles will soon be open to the local railbirds.