Saiko, which translates to ‘the best’ in Japanese, lived up to his name as saddle artist Sandesh brought him with a thunderous gallop in the straight to peg back Shrishti in the last stride and lift the season’s piece de resistance – The Gaitform Calcutta Monsoon Derby -for veteran champion trainer Vijay Singh at RCTC on Saturday. The son of Multitude out of Amore Mio loves to play the waiting game and Sandesh provided the colt with the bestopportunity as he went from last-to-first in the short Calcutta straight. Ante-post favourite Admiringly set a good pace as he did not permit Dardanus to hit the front. The filly Shrishti was always in the third slot. Saiko was sixth of six till the turning for home when Sandesh made his move on the wide outside. It was a well-timed effort and fortune definitely favoured the brave on this occasion. By vying for the lead with Dardanus, Admiringly may have reduced his own chances of glory but that’shypothetical conjecture. As the drama unfolded for real, Shrishti was the first to make her move opposite the grandstand and looked good for a while till Saiko and Sandesh decided otherwise.

Speaking to www.indiarace.com, owner Vikram Bachhawat said- “Winning a Derby is always special, but today is truly unforgettable for me. To have Saiko win The Derby and Shrishti finish a magnificent second is a dream result for any owner. I am immensely proud of both horses and grateful to our trainers, jockeys and the entire teams behind them. Racing gives you very few days like this and this is one I will cherish for a lifetime.”

An emotional Sandesh had this to say to www.indiarace.com: “The last two months were the toughest phase of my career as a jockey. No wins, only pressure. But today, with Saiko, I won the Derby.
I want to thank God for giving me strength when I was low; my mom and dad - for your prayers and unconditional love, my wite - for holding my hand and believing in me when I couldn’t, my brother, sister, and brother-in-law - for your constant support and encouragement.” He added, “A big thank you to my trainers and owners for trusting me and guiding me and to all my friends who cheered for me even in my bad times. This Derby belongs to all of you. This comeback would not have been possible without you.”

Punters were given a torrid time during the long afternoon of racing as only two favourites obliged – Mindful and Trakila. The other eight fell by the wayside. The trainer who capitalised on the day’s proceedings was Vikash Jaiswal with a treble comprising Noble Pursuit, Simran’s Attitude and Foujita – all at lucrative odds. 

The Monsoon Cup which was considered the highlight of the rainy season before the days of the Monsoon Derby, saw Aashay Doctor’s Trakila (Western Aristocrat-Nickel Chrome) and Trevor win quite easily from second favourite Heart, Cashius Gold was a notable third and may see the winning post during the winter. The afternoon commenced with Jaiswal pocketing both divisions of the mile race for The Captain Cook Handicap with Noble Pursuit (Whatsthescript-So Perfect) and Simran’s Attitude (Dreamfield -Aymaras). Both won hard-fought races with Varun and Yash Narredu respectively. Jaiswal’s stars were shining bright as Azharuddin rode another close finish for him astride Foujita (Lucifer Sam-Enzina) in The Destroyer Cup to peg back Queen Anula who was the medium of a gamble.

Jockey Suraj Narredu rode an absolute blinder atop Javed Khan-trained Royal Member (Sedgefield-Brahmani) in the mile race for The Amorina Handicap as he took the shortest route home while public choice Stormchaser and Antony Raj chose the longest. The biggest outsider of the day was however Golden Warrior (Speaking Of Which – Star Of Harmony) from Sabeel Shariff’s yard who won The mile race for The Tiger Tops Handicap start to finish with Md Sameer up.

Trainer Deepesh Narredu tasted his only success of the day as Yash Narredu rode Mindful (Deauville-Armaity) to a start-to-finish victory in the 2000 metres race for The A Star Is Born Cup. The win was however enough to fetch him the champion trainer sash as his nearest rival BR Reddy drew a blank with his limited string.

The upper division of The Precision Handicap saw SS Habbu -trained Sultana (Leitor Mor – Angel’s Touch) come good in the hands of Sah Farid Ansari. Akshay Kumar brought the curtain down with Aashay Doctor-trained Tetsu (Dali-Music Divine) who pocketed the lower division in a close contest with Laamika and Saseka.

The champions of the Monsoon Season were – P Trevor (champion jockey), Deepesh Narredu (champion trainer), Saiko (champion horse), Mindful (horse of the season), leading owner (Kaushik Dutta) and leading stud farm (Poonawalla).