A large attendance of over 20,000 visitors made the New Year’s Day races at RCTC a grand success. Several professionals shared the limelight. Trainer Bharath Singh combined with much improved jockey R Vaibhav to fetch home a brace, as did trainer Anil Kumar with his rider Ashhad Asbar. Trainer Aashay Doctor scored his double with the help of jockeys Saqlain and Yash Narredu. The latter too had  a fair day in office, completing his brace while Arti Doctor’s Sky Force. Six tote favourites in a card of nine races fell by the wayside on a difficult day for punters.

Top-weight Ramiel (Win Legend – Angelique) put his best foot forward to fetch home the honours in the 2200 metres race for the RCTC Gold Vase. Gracing the wrong end of the field for most part of the middle-distance race, Ramiel came with a fluent run in the straight to overhaul front-running favourite Golden Kingdom. The winner’s owner-mate Trevalius moved late to edge out the favourite at the wire for the runner-up berth. Speaking to www.indiarace.com after the race, proud owner Joydeep Datta Gupta said that there was very little to choose between the two runners who were both available at 7/1. The sporting owner said that he was has happy that his colours fought for the top two berths. Exuding his new found confidence, jockey Vaibhav commented post-race that he put Ramiel ‘to sleep’ at the 1400m marker and only ‘woke’ him to his task at hand at the 400m marker. The horse responded brilliantly.

Earlier, trainer Bharath Singh and Vaibhav had combined fruitfully to fetch home the honours in the upper division of the Shourisha Cup with Eagles Flight (Tenth Star – Tsesebe) who thus completed a hattrick of wins. As she is wont to do, the top-weight once again made every post a winning one in the 1100 metres sprint.

Trainer Aashay Doctor’s colt Pantazi (Western Aristocrat – Waveband) made the Indian Produce Stakes a start-to-finish affair in the hands of Yash Narredu. Ante-post favourite Kyoto followed him home five lengths behind. Two races earlier Aashay had tasted success with seven-year-old Raffaello (Excellent Art – Stravella) who won the Xotica Cup with Saqlain in the saddle. The on-money public choice Global Influence may have found his weight a stopper as he was conceding 7.5kg to the winner.

Trainer Rutherford Alford’s well-prepared chestnut gelding Sativur (Excellent Art – Forest Fairy) bagged the mile race for The Falcon Cup with Imran Chisty in the saddle. Though he drifted out alarmingly in the straight, he nevertheless had enough in the tank to win by five lengths from Norwegian Wood.

Trainer Anil Kumar and his rider Ashhad Asbar combined fruitfully to bag top honours with Mathangi and Liban – both available at high odds. The filly Mathangi (Sedgefield-Colombianaprincess) pocketed the lower division of the Shourisha Cup after a brief tussle with Honey Cake in the straight. In a ‘no whips’ event, Asbar rode a great finish to edge out the favourite Dona Sienna with Liban (Total gallery – Megara) in the six-furlong sprint for the upper division of the Vallerysthal Cup. The lower division of the same race was quite easily pocketed by the on-money favourite Sky Force (Fiero – Ha Vallarta Tonka) from Arti Doctor’s yard.

The afternoon started successfully for racegoers as trainer Neil Darshah’s well-backed favourite The Presence (Multitude-Southern fantasy) won the Red FM 93.5 Cup after jockey Arul brought her with a fluent run in the straight to sail past front-running Magnite.