A fortuitous change of rider on the morning of the race-day aided Manvendra Singh-trained Victory Parade (Top Class-Harmonica) bag the Romantic Dancer Cup by the proverbial whisker at RCTC on Wednesday, the concluding day of the cold weather season. An excellent piece of horsemanship by substitute jockey Dashrath Singh resulted in Victory Parade staving off a strong challenge from the favourite Tigrio in the final furlong of the seven-furlong race. The rules of racing clearly state that a rider of equal merit should replace the one who is unavailable. Whether Dashrath Singh – a winner of several championships – can be classified in the same bracket as K Sai Kiran is open to debate! That apart, racing on the final afternoon was pretty exciting with several well-backed horses obliging. 

At the conclusion of the brief cold weather season which saw no racing during the month of January, Vijay Singh was crowned champion trainer and R S Bhati champion jockey. Sporting owner Vikram Bachhawat was declared the leading owner while the champion horse of the season was Christopher Alford-trained Eastwood.

The final afternoon commenced on a happy note for punters as Vijay Singh-trained Amazonia (Speaking Of Which – Astral Flash) got the better of Thiago to pocket the Aeronative Handicap. Both runners were backed in the ring. Thiago broke away into a five-length lead with Lightinthesky and Amazonia in tow. With Hindu Singh urging Amazonia in the straight and Thiago shortening his strides, the former sailed passed his adversary in the last 100 metres to register a comfortable victory.

Daniel David-trained Castillo (Smuggler’s Cove-Bering Sea) put his best foot forward to peg back the favourite Devushka in the nick of time and pocket The Icelandic Handicap. Apprentice Rupal Singh coaxed a rousing gallop out of the big made bay to sail past favourite Devushka in the straight. Though the winner had been knocking at the door for some time, his last run was extremely poor, hence he was neglected by punters. Nishk was very fractious in the stalls and had to be withdrawn as was Bunting who was in the adjacent stall. Such runners may fare better during the forthcoming monsoon meeting commencing in July.

Patrick Quinn-trained Dream Chaser (New Famous-Commelina) was installed as the favourite in the Esquire Handicap and the recent Bangalore import did not disappoint his connections with C S Jodha astride. Tracking Jinsoku till the top of the straight, Dream Chaser pulled away to register a comfortable victory in the seven-furlong race. The Bruckner Handicap saw the withdrawal of the fancied runner Who Dares Wins on veterinary grounds. Aashay Doctor-trained Cape Tanaros (Western Aristocrat-Laurita) produced an encore in the hands of Nikhil Naidu. Following Fuhrer till the top of the straight, Cape Tanaros sailed away for another comfortable victory. Trainer Vijay Singh’s Bold Style (Top Class-Spyglass Hill) won the Burning Fire Plate for Maidens in a close contest from stablemate Island Lass and Harvestime. Suraj Narredu did well to keep the winner on even keel in the straight and keep the runner-up at bay.

A clever ploy by the Faisal A Abbas stable saw their bay gelding The Protector (Excellent Art-Mauna Kea) get the better of the favourite Galen in the six-furlong sprint for the Maltese Prince Handicap. Tracking stablemate Exotic Queen till the straight, jockey S Anthony Raj put The Protector into top gear near the distance post and held on from a hard-ridden Galen. H S Bath-trained on-money favourite Circle Of Love (Kingda Ka-Sentimental) brought the curtain down with Neeraj Rawal astride when she won the mile race for the Roubaix Handicap without much ado. Allowing the front-runners to call the shots till the distance post, Circle Of Love moved well thereafter to register a comfortable victory.