When doing a season’s summary of 34 action-packed days, one is compelled to pick and choose the salient features of the long-drawn five-month meeting. In a nutshell, it would be fair to say that racing was by and large form oriented, though local horsemanship left much to be desired. In the game of thoroughbred racing, assessment of one’s ward and placement is half the battle won. That is where Darius Byramji-trained Born To Fly scored over his ownermate Hall Of Glory. Ambition is fine but over-ambition can kill an upcoming colt or filly – metaphorically speaking of course. ‘Horse of the season’ Born To Fly is by the stallion China Visit out of Born To Dance. He won his first race after being gelded during the Bangalore Summer Season.

Though the prolific dam has been known to produce a couple of middle-distance runners in the past, the connections were spot on with the assessment of their ward’s strength. That is precisely what helped them to pick up four handicap races – a couple in Class II and two more in Class I. The gelding is extremely comfortable over seven furlongs and his potential may be stretched to term him as a ‘forward miler’. He may well have added the Madras Race Club Cup run over the metric mile to his kitty, had he not been lugged with a rider who was declaring 3.5 kg over-weight. Like over-ambition, overconfidence too is a killer. Though the two six-furlong sprints in the highest category that he won were a trifle sharp for his liking, he won them both close home as he was pretty neatly handicapped. He, however, failed in his final start of the season (The Elusive Pimpernel Cup) which was a ‘terms’ race.

By contrast, ownermate Hall Of Glory was left with only one victory during the marathon season. This champion three-year-old and winner of the Calcutta Million of last year has a tested bloodline (Placerville-Hall Of Honour), yet one has to stretch one’s imagination to term him a ‘miler’. The chestnut gelding has shown time and again that he is most comfortable when he is dictating terms up front at his own scorching pace. He has inevitably found one better when placed over longer trips under sufferance, commencing with the Monsoon Derby. Nevertheless, it would be pertinent to mention that he did finish a good second to Stayers Cup winner Arabian Prince in the Indian Champion Cup but that undoubtedly took the wind out of his sails. His dismal showing in the St Leger and Queen’s Cup is ample proof of that.

Had he been rested after the Indian Champion Cup and taken a shot at the Super Mile for which he was nominated, he may well have got the better of the aged Mr Greedy. But that will only remain a hypothetical discussion now. One can only hope that the Calcutta Million winner of this year, Dandified (Rebuttal-Dandoona) will put up a superior performance as a four-year-old. But then, this stablemate of Hall Of Glory has a long way to go and must prove his mettle as a three-year-old first. Not surprisingly, the filly Xisca (China Visit-Altimara) was nominated as the ‘Champion Horse’ at this centre. The winner of the Golconda Derby during the monsoon at Hyderabad, improved further over here and notched up a well-deserved classic treble comprising the 2000 Guineas, the Oaks and the cash-rich Calcutta Derby.

Jockey B Prakash, who rode this Pesi Shroff-trained filly in the first two classics, rated her very highly indeed and saddle artist Stephane Pasquier gave her a dream ride in the Derby to win as she liked. It would appear that the stallion China Visit keeps cropping (pun intended) up every now and then and may be a worthy replacement (at least in so far as this centre is concerned) for the pair of giant stallions Razeen and Placerville who passed away in quick succession. The top five trainers, Vijay and Bharath Singh, Daniel David, Pesi Shroff and Arti Doctor were all in their element and accounted for nearly 50 per cent of the total races. Daniel, who was bereaved early in the season, understandably took his time to come into his own. But hat-trick horse Desert Image and Island Rhythm were sufficient proof of his professional competence.

The joker in the pack was once again young Vikash Jaiswal whose miraculous treble with aged horses on the ultimate afternoon was unmatched. The manner in which he has maintained his lot is admirable. As mentioned in my earlier review, the performance graph of Andrology was truly one that any budding small-time trainer would be proud to emulate. As long as we are talking about aged horses, it would be relevant to mention another hat-tricker King’s Desire from Jasbir Singh’s yard. The eight-year-old very nearly added to his tally on the final day as he stretched Debonaire Girl to the hilt. While the saddlers have been doing a pretty decent job, jockey coach Nicky Bird feels that unfortunately the same cannot be said about the riders. Barring men like Christopher Alford and visiting foreign and Indian jockeys such as Prakash and Srinath, the void was there for all to see.

Shailesh Shinde was the odd man out as his hunger for wins egged him on to greater heights. Among the apprentices, apart from Shezad Khan, the rest were appalling for most part of the season. It’s a fact that apprentices Mohit and Arman piloted quite a few winners towards the fag end of the season but by then punters were an exasperated lot. Boys like Kishore Kadam, Babu Singh and Sreenivas Rao had let them down very badly. Perhaps, the monsoon will see them in better light. The stepping down of dynamic chairman Mr. Cyrus Madan in mid-March took the racing fraternity here by surprise, but he passed the baton on to the experienced hands of Mr Deepak Khaian who also happens to be this centre’s leading owner. Moreover, his family has been associated with the Royal Calcutta Turf Club for nearly half-a-century now and that should stand the club in good stead.

He will be assisted in the Racing department by a well-balanced professional team comprising the experienced GM Robin Corner and handicapper Virani, along with the competent and exuberant DGM Amit Chaturvedi and his assistant Anit Casyab. In the last named, we have one of the best commentators in the game today. As long as the youngster keeps his feet firmly planted on the Calcutta turf (no pun intended), he should do well in his chosen career.