Calcutta: Aashay Doctor trained-Awesome One (Akshay Kumar-up) claimed the 1xbet Metropolitan, the feature event here in Wednesday's card. Monfortino (Hindu Singh) set a scorching pace in the race but Akshay had the 2/1 favourite settled last of the five runners. Gradually improving places, thereafter as Monfortino shot his bolt entering the final stretch.
It was easy for the consistent eight- year-old who soon took charge to score a long overdue win. Anastasia (Neeraj Rawal) finished second while Tactical Command (Dhanu Deora) placed third. Incidentally, Awesome One was the lone favourite to score in the seven event card.
The Queen's Court Plate – a race for maidens three-year-olds, witnessed the biggest upset on the day when trainer Daniel David friendless runner, Twenty Six Black (app Alex Rozario), got the better of the fancied duo of Jamaica (Neeraj Rawal) and Acantha (Akshay) to score a gusty victory. Sweet Legacy (Hindu Singh) finished with a rattle to finish an impressive third, ahead of her tiring stable-mate, Acantha.
Patrick Quinn was the lone schooler to score a brace in the afternoon’s seven-event card. In the Golden Can Handicap, over 1100m, Suraj Shaw's Ahren (Dhanu Deora) was a strong public choice. However it was Patrick Quinn's long shot Dubai Bay (Nikhil Naidu) who won the race.
The horse picked up the momentum from mid-bunch to sail past the favourite for an easy victory. Another less fancied runner, Eastside (app Rozario), a Daniel David-trained runner, rallied late from tail end, to also get the measure of the long-time leader, Ahren, for the second berth.
Patrick's Thousand Words (app Prathvi Singh) was well supported in the Misty Melody Handicap, over 1100 meters. The 7/4 favourite attempted to win the race from start, but the apprentice lost control of the horse rounding the home turn.
The horse drifted out alarmingly to finish on outer rails. In a dash for the finish, Bharath Singh's Senturion (app Hasib Alam) won the race. The 8/1 chance in the betting was at the tail-end of the field but got the right openings in the straight to score from the late finishing Morning Star (app Rosario) who opted for a circuitous route. Thousand words finished third.
The Bid For Gold Handicap, over 1400m, was also picked up by Patrick’s Dubai Star (Sujit Paswan), who had advertised his fitness in last start, easily got the better of the front running Tycoonist (Hindu Singh) and last outing winner Agostino Carracci (H. Rahul) in final 200meters.
The day began with Arti Doctor trained-Sea Dragon (Hindu Singh-up), an 8/1 shot gaining his maiden victory. However, the winner faced a strong challenge from Lightinthesky (Sujit Paswan) and Copper (Rupal Singh). The strongly fancied Daddy's Dream (Akshay), from Vikash Jaiswal’s stable, performed poorly.
The concluding event witnessed one of the closest finish of the season. In an open betting affair, the top three fancied runners flashed past the post almost abreast, with Harvinder Bath's recent import from Bangalore, Banksy (Neeraj Rawal-up), managing to nose out the top-weight runner, Roka (Akshay Kumar) while short head further behind was Mandela (Hindu Singh). The race was a fitting tribute to the handicapper as the first five runners placed in less than two lengths behind the winner.