Under the care of trainer Bharath Singh, the five-year-old gelding Strauss (Placerville-Romantic Memories) has improved considerably. The bay was piloted competently by Shailesh Shinde to land the Ramkirpal Cup run over 1600 metres. Lying third behind pace-setter Glorious Knight and Arctic Force, Shinde set his mount alight after the turning for home. Though Arctic Force was threatening to pull away, Strauss (from the stable of Dr Vijay Mallya) showed that he was very much the form horse by striding clear. The favourite Ballantyne appeared to be done in by his 6.5kg penalty and never appeared a threat.

It was a fairly lucrative afternoon for punters as several favourites obliged. Christopher Alford’s double comprising Silencio (10-to-8-on) and Agent Archie (10-to-5-on) were the most popular bets and made him the darling of the crowd. In the seven-furlong race for the Amberetta Plate, Christopher kept the on-money public choice Silencio (Sunday Doubt-Self Decision) in a box seat behind the front-running Peppermint. The Bharath Singh-trained filly was expertly handled by Alford who urged her to take up the running in the straight and had to push her to keep at bay the fast-finishing stablemate Happy Princess.

Another runner which was seen to finish on well was the enigmatic Cee Four. Vijay Singh-trained Agent Archie (Glory Of Dancer-Hunan) was given a copybook ride by Alford who had him racing second behind Moon Flower while the second favourite Triunfo was along the rails. As the heads turned for home, Agent Archie shot ahead and had Triunfo chasing him (without any serious threat) all the way down the straight. Touch of Magic burst her blood vessels and faded out. Outstation rider YS Srinath was another who completed a double. The top-weight rider rode his first winner Italian Striker (Ajaad-Crystal Sky) in the opening event. The aged chestnut was flawlessly handled by the competent saddle artist, positioning his mount early in the race before collaring the runaway Aeropostale in the straight. Art of War and Agustin were both fancied but disappointed. Nevertheless, they will be worth keeping an eye on.

Srinath completed his double with Local Warrior (Local Talent-Shimmering Star) in the mile race for the Star Contender Handicap. Here again, his positioning was a treat to watch. The withdrawal of Credit Ease may have made his task that much easier. Jockey Kishore Kadam was once again in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. His mount Bernardino was the piping hot favourite but handled rather indifferently. There was no urgency to position him before taking the bend seven wide and making a lukewarm effort to catch up with Local Warrior. Kadam has been suspended for another four race-days which effectively means he will be out of action from February 12 to March 2 (both days inclusive). Some guys just don’t learn unless it’s the hard way. Over a five-and-half furlong sprint, it’s rather unnecessary to declare a whipless apprentice on a horse whose declared starting weight is 53 kg.

The only feasible reason would be to gain high starting odds. The plan however backfired for trainer Patrick Quinn as Ocean Clipper’s odds never increased to more than 7/2 and the whipless Gurang had no answer when the horse drifted out and was shortening his strides. One crack of the whip with his left hand was all it needed to fetch him the last race of the day – The Robert Bruce Handicap. It was not to be. A bold gamble on eight-year-old King’s Desire (Major Impact-Walk On Turf) saw him carry top-weight and hand out a beating to youngsters like Stormette and Ocean Clipper. Much of the credit must go to rider Pawan Sharma as he rode a high-power finish along the rails.