Calcutta: Rajesh Narredu-trained A star Is Born (Suraj Narredu-up), claimed the cash rich Coromandel Indian Champion Cup, a terms race for horses four years old and over, here, on Monday. Suraj was seen at his brilliant best, judging the pace to a nicety, as he brought the son of Roderic O’Connor with a well-timed run from the tail end of the field to sail past the battling duo of Success (Imran Chisty) and Botero (Trevor Patel) to score a two lengths plus victory. Stockbridge filled up the frame.
The afternoon, otherwise belonged to jockeys Imran Chisty and Trevor Patel who were the only professionals to score double apiece.
The Alaskan Handicap, for horses in lowest category, saw B. Mahesh-trained, last start impressive runner Toronero (Alex Rozario) easily scoring from the late finishing Indian Star (Vinay Jaiswal) while El Patron (Imran Chisty) holding on to third place. Ignore the run of heavily supported Asterix, who ran green when put under pressure.
Trainer Javed Khan’s The Protector (Imran Chisty) caused the biggest upset on the day, winning the Mysore Race Club Cup, a race for horses in the highest class, over 1400 meters. Hidden Gold (Neeraj Rawal) battled on gamely to finish second ahead of Summer Night (Trevor Patel). In the same race, favourite Presidential lost all his chances after a slow start but still managed to fill -up the frame.
The INS Hooghly Cup saw Trevor Patel in his customary style drive the Bharath Singh-trained Mezcal to score easily over the Vikash Jaiswal-trained Sporting Trainer ( Imran Chisty ). Castillo finished third in the race, ahead of Tres Bien (S. Saqlain). Mezcal can complete a hat trick, if judiciously placed.
The Navy Cup, a race for horses in category (41 to 66 ) over 1600m was decided in the stewards’ room. Cold Pursuit (app Hasib Alam) battled on to hold Full Of Grace and Arrow Point on the track but lost the race in the stewards’ room on the grounds of interference to Arrow Point in the closing stage. Imtiaz Sait’s Full Of Grace (Imran Chisty) was , therefore, a lucky winner and Arrow point was declared second while, Cold Pursuit was relegated to third place.
In the concluding event, Vijay Singh-trained Rasina Star, under the forceful riding of Trevor Patel got the better of Aashay Doctor trained Delphini (Neeraj Rawal) in the closing stages. By The Bay finished a faraway third.