Calcutta: Pesi Shroff-trained Botero (Trevor Patel-up ), claimed the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Cup in an effortless manner over the grueling 2800m trip, here on Saturday.
Trevor had the Western India challenger in lead for the first few furlongs before allowing first Psychic Force and later Arabian Queen set a cracking pace. Approaching the final turn, Botero had taken command and gone on to score easily from the late finishing Cliffhanger (Vinay Jaiswal) Stockbridge (Akshay Kumar) finished third.
There were two incidents in the above race that saddened the race goers: first, passing the 1000m Mandeville (Dashrath Singh) who was trailing the field collapsed and died. Second; Cliffhanger, later after finishing second collapsed and died due to cardiac arrest on his way back to the unsaddling enclosure.
Now returning to day’s programme, the afternoon’s honours were shared by trainer Aashay Doctor and jockey Akshay Kumar who combined to score a popular quadruple a piece.
The Philippines Cup, over 1600m, saw the ultra consistent Roka set the ball rolling for Aashay and Akshay duo. Kept in mid-bunch, Roka accelerated well in the home stretch to gain her maiden victory. The five-year-old mare, beat the front running duo of Randolph (Dashrath Singh) and last start’s easy winner Devine Chakra (Chisty).
The Olympia Technology Park Cup over 1400m witnessed Harvestime appearing on the track after nearly three months, which saw his odds expanding at race time. The Western Aristrocrat colt showed no rustiness in his performance as he scored a lot easier than the official verdict. Senturion (Dashrath) finished second in the race while the Hyderabad challenger Makhtoob (Gaurav Singh) was an impressive third.
The Ranjit Sinha Roy Memorial Cup, over 1200m saw the two time runner-up Delphini finally getting into the winners enclosure. Akshay rode a neat race on the winner, ultra consistent Regency Smile (Chisty) placed second while the long time leader Thousand Words ( Prathvi Singh ) was third. in the same race the much fancied Faith (Trevor) was left too much to do in the straight and was not being able to get the horse into a favourable position after the start. He finishing the race on the outer portion of the track to place just over three lengths of the winner. Faith must be kept in mind when she races over a slightly extended trip.
The Caring Minds Cup Div-I over 1200m saw the Aashay-Akshay combine complete the quadruple through the well supported Pepper, a recent western India import. The 9/10 favourite, proved too good for his rivals, finishing seven long lengths ahead of Jean Lafette (Chisty). D My Heart (Md Islam) was third in the race.
The Duflating Tea Cup, the opening race of the day saw Javed Khan trained, Tres Bien (Chisty), receiving all round support to close favourite. The Roderic O’Connor gelding was being hailed as a winner when caught and passed by the first timer Romero (S. John) in the shadows of the post. The long time leader Weronika (app Hasib Alam) faded out to finish third. More races are in store of the B. Mahesh trained Romero.
The Serendine Cup for maidens, saw last start impressive runner Contribute (Chisty) being quoted at cramped odds. The Vijay Singh’s charge gave no anxious moments to his supporters to score easily from a late finishing Macchiato (Akshay). The long time leader Gael ( Nikhil Naidu) ended up third.
The Caring Minds Cup Div II, the concluding event of the day, was picked up by Shyam Habbu’s neatly handicapped Taimur’s Choice (Hasib). He made every post a winning one. Agostini Carracci (Chisty) and Mezcal (Dashrath) chased the winner home.