Heavy showers at the Royal Calcutta Turf Club prior to the third race of the afternoon on Tuesday resulted in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh races being cancelled on the opening day of the Calcutta monsoon meet.  It proved to be an anti-climax of sorts after local turfites hadeagerly waited for over four months for this day. After the third race, A senior stripe walked the track with jockeys Trevor, Neeraj and Vaibhav and decided to call it a day. In fact, Trevor mentioned to the stipes that he could not get the best out of his mount Impressive Annie in the third race due to the poor visibility.

Trainer B Mahesh set the ball rolling with his six-year-old gelding Kindred Spirit (Mondialiste-Singing Bird) who won the Mercury Handicap by six long lengths at relishing odds of 8/1. Jockey Shrikant Kamble took no chances and made every post a winning one. Mahesh commented after the race that his runner was at a winning mark and the work he had pumped into him helped his cause. Apprentice Sonu Misra did well to follow the winner home on Artemis Zelda. From this season onwards, whip-less apprentices will be entitled to claim 5kg allowance in handicap races instead of the 4kg last season. RCTC has very rightly reverted back to the old system to be at par with the other clubs in the country. 

In the very next race – The Great Tribute Plate – three-year-old dark bay gelding Cortado (Win Legend – Mannat) made every post a winning one of the five-and-half furlong sprint. Ace rider Trevor enjoyed an armchair ride. In his post-race comment, trainer Aashay Doctor opined that he always knew he was a good sort which was the reason he had run him in the Produce Stakes last winter. However, today’s field was a weak one and it was too early to say where he would go from here, though in all likelihood he might run one of the monsoon ‘classics’.

The truncated afternoon of racing drew to a close as Sabeel Shariff’s Bundle Of Charm (Excellent Art – Skyelady) made every postof The Pentagon Handicap a winning one in blinding rain. Jockey Vishal Bunde did well to take advantage of the elements and never look back after a smart jump-out.