On a bright Saturday afternoon at RCTC, punters enjoyed the better of the exchanges with bookmakers as six first favourites obliged them in a card of seven races. Among them was Shyam Habbu-trained five-year-old dark bay horse Tigrio (Phoenix Tower-Tigresse Noire) who won the mile race for the Governor’s Cup in the hands of RS Bhati. Placed in a handy third position behind Psychic Force while Consigliori set a cracking pace, Tigrio swooped on the front runners at the top of the straight as did top-weighted Shivansh. The duo went stride for stride for a hundred metres before the property of Salman Tarique pulled away for a comfortable victory.

Jockey Dashrath Singh had a field day as he booted home three winners. He set the ball rolling in the curtain-raiser, The Amor Amor Handicap. He guided home Neil Darashah-trained filly Regency Gold (Strong Suit-Katural) who made every post a winning one in the seven-furlong race. The runner-up was Mr Gucci while the fancied runners Azai and Southern Light failed to make any impression on the winner. Dashrath next lifted the Eastern Air Command Cup in stunning fashion as he rode a power-packed finish atop Bharath Singh-trained Santana (Declaration Of War- Gaslight) to get the better of runaway Sherwin close home. Bharath and Dashrath next combined to fetch home the honours with the three-year-old filly Sonata (Win Legend-Bold Reply) who won the Tollygunge Club Cup in style – making the six-furlong event a one-horse race after the turning for home. It was a well-deserved cup double for sporting owner Joydeep Datta Gupta and his band of merry men.

The Indian Airforce Cup was reduced to four runners after the withdrawal of Fenicia Glint at the gates. However, there was no dearth of thrills at the wire as three of the four runners were involved in a blanket finish which must have pleased the handicapper no end. Though recent winner Dornish was out of the scale by 2kg, the weights were raised by 3.5 kg which played to his advantage. Nevertheless, Nikhil Naidu atop Aashay Doctor-trained Justified (Multidimensional-Secret Garden) made every post of the 2000 metres race a winning one with both stablemates Cletus and Dornish breathing down his neck. At the wire, a nose and a long-neck separated the trio. This was the second victory over an identical trip for the big-hearted property of the Sumant Dalmiya syndicate.

The Comedy of Errors Handicap saw Vijay Singh-trained Little Finger (Planetaire-Lightning Speed) produce an encore in the hands of Hindu Singh. The speedster made every post of the 1100 metres race a winning one without much ado. The trainer completed a double when his filly Wencheng (Smuggler’s Cove) won the mile race for the Brave Gesture Handicap. It was a clever placement by the champion trainer as the filly had won a sprint a fortnight ago. His pinpoint assessment fetched home the honours and completed a double for jockey Bhati. It was sad to see the over-raced Scarlet Witch trip near the 800 marker and eventually pull up lame.