Fortune hunters in horse-racing would not have wished for a better start to the new year than what Thursday’s game at Mahalaxmi delivered for them. Yet it did nothing to enhance the RWITC brand name as the card had predictability written all over it and gave a monotonous look to the mid-week proceedings. In fact two or three races were so impoverished that they gave an appearance of being “framed” no matter which way one tried to look for the purpose.

It would be insignificant to try to find out how and why Niall McCullagh came into the picture on the Dallas Todywalla trained mare Indian Fashion because her credentials had been established as opposed to the two maiden novices, A Royal High and Diplomatic Licence.

Yet the difference made by the Irishman's presence in the saddle to fetch her ante post tag is undeniable. However when serious trading started on the race day, it was A Royal High ridden by the other Irishman Colm O’Donoghue who became the favourite.

Meanwhile the smart money was slowly but surely flowing in Diplomatic Licence’s direction. All these developments made the curtain-raiser resemble a jig-saw puzzle. Putting the pieces in the right places required nothing more than clear thinking. The real picture all but emerged with the ultimate withdrawal of A Royal High a few seconds before the starter’s flag came down. Indian Fashion called the shots over the Derby trip till Diplomatic Licence warmed up to his task in the straight.

In one of the smoothest transition of leadership seen on the racetrack, Indian Fashion surrendered the lead to Diplomatic Licence. The latter drew away to leave his rivals stranded. Not many people would like to read too much into it but as a matter of coincidence, both Indian Fashion and Diplomatic Licence are sired by Local Talent. R. Rupesh ridden Diplomatic Licence thus ended his master Dr Anil Kumar’s agonising wait for success. Glorious Fantasy (Razeen – Magical Moments) obliged her followers but the mare trained by Dallas just managed to escape the clutches of O’Donoghue driven Silver Tern.

The all-out efforts of jockey P. S. Chouhan aboard Glorious Fantasy was one contribution but the chunks of weight Silver Tern was conceding to Glorious Fantasy actually delivered the crucial blow to the chances of the Imtiaz Sait saddled candidate. Last-outing winner Flying Rani let her stablemate corner the limelight on this occasion.

Avec Plaisir (Tirol – Symphony) from Narendra Lagad’s yards graduated from the maiden ranks after a dramatic minute of racing but her supporters had to spend many anxious moments after Chinese Whispers’ rider dragged her to the Stewards’ room. It was nothing else but the overconfidence of Sunny Chinoy that created the problem for Avec Plaisir on her road to victory. Avec Plaisir jumped out well but Sunny wanted to get her close to the rails quickly and went on to Chinese Whispers whose traumatic initiation into the sport had just begun.

The hotly fancied Compliment also swerved out at this juncture to worsen the matters for the Subhag Singh nurtured progeny of China Visit and subsequently dropped out of contention. Don’t Be Silly showed the way to the field of even as the wrestling match between Avec Plaisir and Chinese Whispers continued with Nirmal Jodha getting a bit more aggressive when turning for home. He tried to manufacture an opening for Chinese Whispers by forcing his way between his tormentor and the front-runner. Nirmal didn’t get the desired result instead took Avec Plaisir out and sealed his own fate. Both horses rolled on to each other before the favourite made a decisive surge forward. Nirmal then sought justice from the Stewards, who rightly refused to disturb the judges’ order of placing.

Due to advance publication of weights C. D. Katrak’s ward Sea Storm (Diffident – Livardi) escaped a stiff penalty for his maiden win on new year’s eve. He carried the statutory 6kg extra which was further negated by the 2.5kg allowance claimed by Dashrath Singh. Sea Storm took the shortest route home and was spot on for the second time in quick succession. Le Chaim piloted by Niall didn’t bother to put a spanner in Sea Storm’s work and was happy to play second fiddle. Sea Storm thus set the ball rolling for his talented young saddle partner who went on to achieve a well-deserved treble.

Dashrath atop Altaf Hussain saddled Sovereign Power (Alnasr Alwasheek – Adam’s Treasure) earned a hard-fought victory over Malesh Narredu steered Premier Star in the feature race, the Mulraj Goculdas Trophy. Sovereign Power relished running in the front and made every post a winning one despite being threatened by Premier Star. The flow of adrenaline in Dashrath’s veins helped Misty Stream (Sir Bruce – Ardor) score in the midst of several uninterested contenders.

The aged mare from Magansingh Jodha’s yard was inspired by Dashrath to both nail and thwart Osprey and Open Season in the same stride respectively. Cabinda with K. P. G. Appu in saddle remained invisible for most of the journey and materialized out of thin air only when the race was all over bar the shouting. Pesi Shroff’s classy looking ward Diego Riviera (Diffident – Rahy’s Serenade) gave Niall McCullagh an armchair ride and won as effortlessly as he had on debut. His adversary Star Conquest got blocked at the start though it would have hardly done much difference to the outcome of the race.

Yes it did help Take On, FlyMeToTheStars and Tearaway to earn some stake money. Even Niall’s best effort of the season astride Pesi Shroff trained Chagall failed to prevent C. D. Katrak from leading his second winner; Torque (Don’t Forget Me – Beautiful Ballad). The bay filly was spurred into the lead by C. Rajendra after the early leaders retired two-furlongs away from home with Chagall trying to find his rhythm. At one stage it appeared that the Burden of Proof progeny would consume Torque but it was a mirage. Star O’ War ran dismally after being done in for pace while most of the rest were out for an airing.