Sunday’s racing had an ‘end-of-season’ look about it. A few unlikely winners, a nasty fall for apprentice Arman Khan from Roman Centurion, the bit slipping through a favourite’s mouth, a withdrawal of a 10-to-6-on favourite (Satsuma Star) on veterinary grounds and another withdrawal of an ante-post public choice for lack of a suitable replacement for Arman were all part of the afternoon’s proceedings. The professional to have benefited from these unforeseen happenings was trainer Daniel David, who recorded a somewhat fortuitous double. Satsuma Star, running in the Kalied Handicap, was found to be lame as she was on the verge of being led onto the track.

Jockey Christopher Alford dismounted and the veterinary doctor of RCTC made a public examination of the piping hot favourite before declaring her unfit for racing. This left a four-horse field with Daniel David’s Desert Image (Bee’s Prospector – Source Of Light) as the tote favourite. The other runner to be backed was Avon Creek. As apprentice Arman Khan had suffered a fall one race earlier, Shezad Khan replaced him atop Desert Image. He rode a copybook race, in that he allowed The Gordian Knot to call the shots till the bend before taking over the running and staving off Avon Creek who was always over a length behind him.

David had opened his account in the upper division of The Tom Pip Handicap with rank outsider Kinshasa (Emerald Cat – Nature’s Miracle) who made it a start-to-finish affair. The favourite Acrilan finished dead last as C. Alford lost all control of his mount after the bit slipped through. The other two fancied runners, Secret Gloss and Peppermint, showed early speed before calling it a day as the winner was travelling too well. Girl Of Flowers ran on to finish second. The lower division of the same race saw Bharath Singh-trained Benjamin (Royal Kingdom – Bien Sur) pull off a great victory in the hands of Malcom Maseyk. Bath-trained Priceless Pearl seemed to be heading for an upset victory when Malcom guided his mount away from the rails to the outside of the front-runner to win close home. Arman Khan suffered a bad fall from Roman Centurion but is reported to have recovered the next day.

David’s runners were in the news for a major part of the afternoon. His Flying Wonder, installed as a favourite in the Comedian Handicap, looked to be heading for victory a hundred metres from home as jockey M Ali Khan slipped him through along the rails. Then, the unthinkable happened. He veered out drastically and squeezed out Andrology (who was making his move) and very nearly knocked out the eventual winner Accomplished (Diffident-Abound). He lost the runner-up berth to Andrology after a Stewards Enquiry. The Maseyk family commenced the day’s proceedings in great style. Mysore-based Melvyn made the opening event, The Fiddler Handicap, a start-to-finish affair with Christopher Gleich-trained Aeropostale (Meritocrat-Super Smile). The aged grey was challenged by I’ve Done It in the straight but displayed great guts to kick on. Barring these two, there were no real triers in the race.

The Midnight Cowboy Cup was lifted by Vijay Singh-trained Record Breaker (Placerville-Shalaya) without too much trouble. A close second favourite, Secret Fire, failed to be the sole leader up front as Bharath Singh-trained Spitz matched her stride for stride till the bend. C. Alford on Record Breaker was content to watch the proceedings from a box seat four lengths behind. He urged his mount after the duo were seen to tire and then had to stave off a strong challenge from Credit Squeeze who moved well at the close. The withdrawal of the favourite Must Be Magic from the final event opened up the race quite a bit. She was far better placed than Zillionaire (Senure-Zillion Figlia) and her withdrawal enhanced the latter’s chances considerably. Kamlesh completed a well-deserved hat-trick for the Arti Doctor-trained runner while the unfortunate Star Impact (who ran a fine race) found one better.