The most dreaded moment in thoroughbred racing came to the fore during the running of the Calcutta Derby Stakes on Sunday, when a hale and hearty filly named Zoya snapped her left fore cannon bone and collapsed on the track near the 1000 metres marker. On New Year’s Day, the filly had successfully negotiated the mile-and-half race for the Oaks by leading from the front and was on a similar mission on this day. She was quite obviously running her heart out and doing a great job when the mishap occurred. On humanitarian grounds, she had to be euthanised, leaving behind a pall of gloom upon the racecourse. It is the saddest sight in racing to be witness to such an incident and it is more so for the owners who in this case are known to be a sporting syndicate and animal lovers. Jockey Trevor on the filly escaped unhurt. Cliffhanger, who was behind Zoya, was taken wide to avoid a collision but Apsara Star ran into Zoya and dislodged her rider Srinath who too fortunately escaped any injury. The on-money favourite Black Pearl from Vijay Singh’s yard, was last of four runners at this stage, and Suraj Narredu hugged the rails to emerge unscathed. The colt by Planetaire out of Alvarita followed Cliffhanger till the distance post where he went ahead to win quite easily.

The supporting event, The CROS Champions Sprint Trophy witnessed a keen tussle in the straight between Awesome One and Prince Satsuma (Suraj Narredu up) before the latter pulled it off at the wire. The front-running Amorous White finished third. The Vijay Singh-trained runner by Win Legend out of Refreshing had been knocking for some time and chose the right moment to put his best foot forward. The fourth horse Into The Spotlight incurred a 6kg penalty while Cliffhanger was rather fortunate to get away without any change in his rating. As the Derby was not a true run race, the handicapper has obviously ignored his effort.  The Alokananda Stakes saw Aashay Doctor-trained Delphini (Bated Breath-Performer) win as she liked in the hands of PS Chouhan.

There were quite a few unfancied runners during the afternoon. Shyam Habbu’s Yahalla (Arazan-Mine Forever) bagged the curtain-raiser – The Bruckner Handicap. JockeyRS Bhati had her racing third till mid-way up the straight where she sailed past the favourite Adorinda. The disappointment in the race was the other fancied runner Jinsoku. Another unfancied runner to come good was James Mckeown-trained Avelino (Top Class-Riverdown Empress) with Neeraj Rawal in the saddle. The duo had won on New Year’s Day by the narrowest of margins from Ghost. The extra 400 metres that Avellino had to travel on this day seems to have helped his cause. Neeraj did well to keep him going and keep at bay top-weights Kimaya and Ghost. The most impressive winner of the afternoon was Vijay Singh-trained Rainbow Trout – a recent import from western India. He too was available at 6/1 like Avellino. His stablemate Dandi March was being fancied but it is quite possible that the seven-furlong trip is a trifle out of his ambit. Hindu Singh on Rainbow Trout (Letir Mor-Rainbow Queen) took the shortest route after the turning for home to leave the field standing. The other runner to win a lucrative odds was Arti Doctor-trained Shimmering Star (Strong Suit-Shining Glory) who carried his top-weight to victory in the final event of the afternoon. Jockey PS Chouhan did the honours. Tasch chased him all the way. The favourite Court Jester veered out alarmingly under the whip and ran erratically in the straight. There’s no doubt however, that the best horse on that day won.

There was another top-weight winner during the day – Devine Chakra from Javed Khan’s yard. After falling to Cliffhanger in his previous essay, the colt by Letir Mor out of Avec Plaisir made amends over an identical trip of 1600 metres. Jockey Dasrath never looked back after hitting the front early and quite easily outpaced Intellection.  

This was the first afternoon of this Calcutta racing season that the public were permitted into the members’ and general enclosures. It was heartening to see that nearly all visitors were wearing masks and generally enjoying a long-awaited afternoon at the races.