The Arion Horse Company Calcutta 1000 Guineas run on Saturday saw a keen tussle in the final furlong between the two fancied runners – Scruples and Kamilah – with the latter prevailing over her rival under jockey CS Jodha’s perseverance. Trained by SK Sunderji, the property of Geoffrey B Nagpal looked a beaten horse midway up the straight as Scruples sailed past her but the big-hearted filly came back at her foe with telling strides to grab the verdict close home. Sired by Roderic O’Connor out of My Lakshmi, Kamilah was available at 3/1 as the favourite Scruples closed at 6/4. The run of the favourite was rather intriguing. Some critics might opine that Sandesh made his run a little too early as he went over a length clear before the distance post.  It’s quite possible that like many other fillies in the past, Scruples folds up when shown ‘daylight’ too early. Winning trainer Sunderji commented after the race that he was going to run his filly in the 1000 Guineas irrespective of the result of her lung-opener at this centre – referring no doubt to her somewhat fortuitous victory over Legendary Striker.

One race earlier, Vijay Singh-trained Shivansh (Top Class-Immortal Story) had bagged The Mayfowl Cup in dramatic fashion. The six-year-old veered out to the outer rails. Jockey RS Bhati did well to ride him out hands and heels in the straight as the 15/1 shot was galloping quite freely. The filly Violin finished second, ahead of Rainbow Trout and Awesome One, but paid a massive penalty for her heroic performance in a ‘terms’ race. The handicapper has pushed up her Class I  rating from a relatively low 86 to an incredibly high 121 – a colossal jump of 17.5kg! After this laudable effort, it is unlikely that Violin can participate in a handicap event in the near future.  

With this victory, jockey RS Bhati completed a brace as he had earlier guided Javed Khan-trained Ahnika (Air Support-African Sky) to a fluent victory in the day’s opener. Another youngster to show his mettle was apprentice Sujit Kumar Paswan. He opened his account atop Vijay Singh-trained Mogul (Excellent Art-Vittoria) who won the sprint for The Cameron Handicap by eight long lengths. The colt was lying fifth of ten runners till the top of the straight but displayed amazing acceleration once Paswan showed him daylight and released the brakes.  Needless to mention that this colt can win again despite his 9kg penalty.

Apprentice Paswan completed his double astride Neil Darashah-trained Sea Of Cortez (Phoenix Tower-Connessa) who thus achieved a hat-trick while winning the AA Apcar Cup in a close finish from Silver Bracelet. Reno Star was a notable third.

Trainer Faisal Abbas’s Agrami (Excellent Art-Only For Gold) won the seven furlong race for The Kariba Handicap quite comfortably. Jockey Zervan gradually improved the mare’s position from the rear of the eleven horse field and took his chances on the wide outside. It paid dividends as Agrami sailed past Topnotch who was threatening to pull it off at the distance post.

The curtain came down with bay colt Third Avenue (Ampere-Avant Garde) pocketing his second consecutive mile race this season. The Arti Doctor-trained ward won his maiden start from the front but was held back in sixth slot on this occasion due to a crowded field. PS Chouhan made his run on the outside in the straight  and the colt responded very smoothly to suggest that he may win again if placed judiciously.