It was a warm, sunny afternoon at the Calcutta mid-week meet. The Irish squad of cricketers and their attractive WAGS (wives and girlfriends) lent glamour and colour to the proceedings. The Ireland Trophy proved to be quite a sprint. While the favourite Arbroath (Hurricane State-Integral) was given a copybook ride by Shailesh Shinde, the rest of the fancied runners in the ring were hard put to keep up with the scorching pace set by Asiatic Star. Bharath Singh-trained Arbroath collared the front-runner after the turning for home but drifted out as he is wont to do. It was left to the handicap horse Royal Dance to raise a late gallop and occupy the runner-up berth.

King’s Desire put up a good show once again despite being long in the tooth, but Royal Saga was a disappointment. Bharath and Shailesh combined once again fruitfully in the Mysore Race Club Cup to bag the trophy with Credit Squeeze (Young Senor – Annella) who was a 12/1 shot. It was once again a hot pace which suited the winner to the hilt. He was tucked in fourth snugly along the rails and only made his move after the turning for home. Once he saw daylight, there was no stopping him. Bharath, of course, had a ready explanation for the horse’s improved showing.

“Ruzaan couldn’t hold him back last time and he bolted. The rider had asked me to change the bit but I stuck with the old one and instructed Shailesh to keep him covered up before the turn,” he said. That was the explanation that the Stipes accepted, take it or leave it! The rest of the afternoon belonged to goldie-brown stable of Dr MAM Ramaswamy, his able trainer Daniel David and an apprentice called Arman Khan. Under the aegis of their renowned owner, the last two named professionals rose like a phoenix from the ashes and gobbled up just about everything in sight.

After his father passed away earlier in the season, Daniel had been maintaining a low profile and it was indeed good to see him back on track. As for the apprentice, he was pretty highly rated after his first win couple of years back. Somewhere along the line, he had gone sour, but if he continues to ride in this fashion, he has many more winning mounts in store from one of the leading stables in the country. The much-backed Ocean Dancer (Diffident-Perfect Storm) finally came good in the afternoon’s main event, The Siranoosh Handicap. The dark bay, however, had to stave off strong challenges from both Oriental Magic and Fit For Fray, both of which were fancied by their respective stables. The disappointment was the favourite Italian Dream.

The David-Arman duo’s next win was with Brief Encounter (Ikhtyar – Kia Ora) in the Pentire Handicap. Though the apprentice lost some control on the top-weight as he ducked in at the top of the straight, he got him on even keel almost immediately thereafter and got up in the straight to pip the front-running favourite Il Bronzino at the post. Queen Vic was a decent third. The piping-hot combo was next on view in the Roubaix Handicap.

The withdrawal of Andrology due to veterinary reasons made the task of the winner Desert Image (Bee’s Prospector – Source Of Light) a little easier. Arman showed wonderful presence of mind in this 2,000 metres race. He found the pace a trifle slow which would have in effect helped the top-weight Saddle Chief. By shoot with his mount to the front, Saddle Chief was made to gallop that much faster and he was off the bridle well before Arman’s mount. With the rationed use of the whip, Arman kept his mount going in the straight and left the favourite stranded.

Not happy to rest on his hattrick, David picked up one more race, The Touch Of Silver Handicap. Ridden by Hyderabad jockey M. Ali Khan, 10/1 shot Incanto Bliss (Emerald Cat – Fabulous Fortune) came with a stupendous gallop along the rails even as the favourite Two In One was making her move down the centre of the straight. The rest of the field were not in it. The only other winner of the day was Sarfaraz Khan-trained Naughty Lass (Epicentre – Nautilus). With a dam’s name like that, no prizes for why she is called ‘Naughty Lass’, though she lived up to her name and was rather frisky in the paddock. After her good third in the Delhi Derby, she was given a good mock race at this centre and working well too. She closed at even-money and won The Phoenician Handicap as she liked in the hands of the experienced top-weight Imran Khan.