Trainer Patrick Quinn’s Dubai Princess (Gusto – Whistling Strait) - the only filly in the field of six – made her five rivals look rather ordinary as she strolled home to a six-length victory in the Calcutta Monsoon Sprint. Jockey Trevor Patel shifted gears in the straight and his mount responded brilliantly – moving from last to first in a trice. The stick in Trevor’s left hand was only used as a ‘magic wand’ – being shown to her once as she sailed past the front-runner.

Quinn went on to complete a classy double as Akshay Kumar piloted five-year-old mareMadras Cheque (Top Class-Immortal Story) to a thumping victory in the seven-furlong race for The Roubaix Handicap. Lying a handy fourth atop the 5/1 shot as Blinky Bill called the shots, Akshay turned on the heat in the straight and the mare did the rest. The favourite Go For The Moon suffered a mishap in the straight as his heels were clipped by the runner behind him. His tendon was seriously injured and he may be out of racing for some time. Quinn said after the race that Madras Cheque does not require much work and is an easy mare to train.“Go For The Moon was my only threat in the field I thought. His unfortunate mishap removed all opposition from my ward’s path.”

Jockey Antony Raj was a picture of confidence as he guided second favourite King Of Mafia (Roderic O’Connor – Pandora) to a comprehensive three-length triumph over Sky Force in The Sprightly Handicap. This was the seven-year-old’s second win of the monsoon meet – all credit to trainer B. Mahesh. The filly Sky Force lost quite a few lengths at the start and never quite recovered from that set-back.  The favourite Roman Spirit faced traffic problems and ended up a poor sixth. 

One race earlier, The Maid Of Athens Plate for three-year-old maidens, proved to be quite a thriller as the two fancied runners – Rosalia and Live It Love It – were pegged back by the 15/1 outsider Zalia (Well Done Fox – Anahi). Jockey Vaibhav rode a rather opportunistic race on the Aashay Doctor- trained filly as he exploited a gap that materialised along the rails due to the shifting out of front-running Live It Love It which also hampered Rosalia who was making her run on the outside after a tardy beginning.

The afternoon commenced with Neil Darashah-trained Goodwill (Deauville-Gloriosa) winning the 2000 metres race for the Pickwick Handicap in great style in the hands of Neeraj Rawal. Rather interestingly, Neil commented after the race that the colt was ready for a mile-and-half trip two months back “but there was no suitable race for him prior to this mile-and-quarter trip”. So the three-year-old chestnut is definitely to be noted over the longer trips as his mentor is confident about his staying prowess.

The curtain came down with a successful gamble by the Rutherford Alford stable on their ward Rudra (Total Gallery –Elysee). The three-year-old gelding with Imran Chisty astride, carried 61kg on his back to a fairly impressive triumph over stablemate Swift Lady.