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Regal Classic Lives up to His Name

By Epsom Ace | 03 Apr 2011 | KOLKATA


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The penultimate day of the Calcutta Winter Season had just about every element of racing that a new visitor could wish for – flying favourites, stunning outsiders, shocking horsemanship and a magnificent blanket finish. To top it all, Giocometti completed a hat-trick of wins after being backed down to favouritism in the final event. Apprentice Arman Khan was in the eye of the storm after the odds-on Cherish The Moment drifted out to 6/4 and the lad was happy to sit tight at the rear of the field till it was too late. It was a blatant case of ‘indifferent handling’ as he did not make any effort to improve his position while another fancied runner Beethoven (Epicentre-Corn Fleur) lay a handy second behind pace-setter Fit For Fray.

The Sarfaraz Khan-trained chestnut gelding was made to hit the front by top-weight jockey Imran Khan just after the bend, and he responded well to lift the Flash Toy Cup for owner Rustom E Daroga. Arman and Cherish The Moment took the bend miles wide and finished on impressively in the straight. The Stewards promptly ordered an enquiry after being unhappy with Arman’s handling of his mount. His fate will be decided on Monday after the last race. Arman made some amends for his poor horsemanship when he made a start-to-finish affair of The Absolution Handicap while astride Daniel David-trained Regal Classic (Inner City-Royal Rex). The four-year-old has improved in leaps and bounds this season and gave the lad an armchair ride.

Nearest rival Rocket Ball was in futile chase for most part. Earlier, hot on-money favourite Queen Vic had gone down narrowly to Bharath Singh-trained River Pride (Royal Gladiator-Leros) after a keen contest in the straight. It was to apprentice Mohit Singh’s credit that he maintained his cool while Christopher Alford allowed the favourite to gallop freely up front. The apprentice gave the champion rider a dose of his own medicine as he squeezed his mount through along the rails for a great victory. With this win, Bharath and his owners (Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan and Prem Tharani) completed a brace as they had earlier led in River Divine (Royal Kingdom-La Tour D’Argent) after a thumping victory in the upper division of The Right Ahead Handicap. Jockey Malcolm Maseyk had no problems whatsoever in collaring the front-runner Aeropostale and striding clear.

The afternoon commenced with Christopher Alford riding a confident finish on the on-money public choice Alearia (Gaswar-Alannah) after losing a little ground at the start. The ace rider opted for the rails at the top of the straight and pulled away from the second favourite Flightning. The winning filly from Vijay Singh’s yard is a full sister to Rocket Ball. The most entertaining race of the afternoon was the lower division of The Right Ahead Handicap which saw a three-horse blanket finish minus the favourite Vacheron. ‘Noses’ separated I’ve Done It, Fascinating and Black Falcon in that order. As Black Falcon and Fascinating were battling it out in the straight, Deep Shanker brought Vikash Jaiswal-schooled I’ve Done It (Conquering Hero – Brave Ballerina) with a thundering gallop on the outside to land the spoils.

The spectacular finish must have given the handicapper something to smile about. The curtain came down on the proceedings with Shailesh Shinde riding a power-packed finish on Christopher Gleich-trained Giocometti (Greensmith – Indrayani) to complete a well-deserved hat-trick for the seven-year-old. Once again, Alize played bridesmaid after doing all the hard work till the distance post. Had she won, it would have opened the account for apprentice Pradeep Kumar at this centre. But it was not to be as Giocometti was the better horse.