Trainer Vijay Singh’s six-year-old bay horse Shivansh (Top Class-Immortal Story) floored the opposition at RCTC on Boxing Day with a thunderous victory in the seven-furlong race for the Army Cup. The win also sealed a popular treble for Vijay and jockey Suraj Narredu. The 14/10 favourite was looking magnificent in the paddock and lived up to his impeccable looks with a stunning turn-of-foot in the straight that delivered a knock-out punch to his six rivals. Suraj had him racing off the pace in the dead last slot for most part, while stablemate Silver Bracelet set a cracking pace, and only asked for an effort with a couple of backhanders after entering the straight. The response from Shivansh was spontaneous and he could be spotted a winner long way from home. This was a ‘new’ Shivansh that the spectators were privileged to witness – not the forward one-pace miler that was his customary style of racing in his younger days. Kudos to trainer Vijay Singh for transforming this grand specimen of equine flesh from the stable of leading patron Subir Dasgupta into a versatile sprint-miler.

The Vijay-Suraj combination set their ball rolling in the Aayush Plate for two-year-olds. The filly Raisina Star (Top Class- Malakeye Ziba) made every post a winning one. Mashobra was extremely fractious and refused to be loaded, thus reducing the field to four runners. The big-boned Randolph looked impressive in the paddock but may prefer a longer trip.

In the Supreme Choice Handicap, Vijay’s Dandi Satyagraha (Chevalier-Salt) completed a hat-trick of wins. He raced off the pace in last position while favourite Mountain Lion followed front-running Trump Girl into the straight. When asked for an effort by Suraj, the colt produced an awesome gallop despite moving eight wide and collared the front-runner in the shadow of the winning post.

The supporting event, The General AS Vaidya Memorial Cup, saw the favourite Third Avenue (Ampere-Avant Garde) from Arti Doctor’s yard, carry the public purse to a bloodless victory with Neeraj Rawal in the saddle. Third Avenue thus completed a hat-trick of wins as well. The smooth and facile triumph of the three-year-old colt and his proven staying ability must have boosted the expectations of the connections considerably. After this grand show, it is more than likely that they will take a tilt at the Derby next month.

The afternoon commenced with Shafiq Khan-trained Mosset ( Chevalier-Bloody Mary) getting the better of the heavily gambled favourite Bunting at the wire in the sprint for the Ageless Handicap. An able apprentice like HM Akshay or Rupal Singh atop Bunting would have been a more prudent choice of rider, since the seven-year-old was the medium of a large gamble.

Jockey Nikhil Naidu was at his best in the Deep Water Blues Handicap – a ‘No Whips Race’. He coaxed a winning gallop out of Bharath Singh-trained Essos (Ejohar-Hava Nagila) to collar the runaway Mr Batalobaaz close home. Bharath completed a brace in the day’s final event when his Senturion (Smuggler’s Cove _Rebecca) pocketed the seven-furlong race for The Snow Forest Handicap with Chetan Gowda in the saddle. The favourite Stagger is more suited to six furlongs.