Calcutta: The Bharath Singh-trained, even-money favourite Agnostic (P. Trevor) won the feature event the Skyexch Unleashed Cup here on Wednesday. The afternoon, otherwise, belonged to trainer Neil Darashah for scoring a back to back double with Sicily (A. Imran Khan) and Roudy (J. H. Arul). Sicily a 4/1 shot won the Stay In Shape Handicap from start to finish from the course favourite Nazaakat (app. P.Tejeshwar).
The afternoon also had it’s share of incident. The visiting jockey Chethan Gowda had a nasty fall from El Patron, right after the start of the Stay In Shape Handicap. The jockey suffered a head injury and was rushed to ICU in a city hospital.
Agnostic won the feature event with authority. Content to lie almost last till turning for home, the four-year-old came with raking strides, to wear down Sea Of Cortez and the top weighted Soaring High, who was right behind Trump Girl was pushed into the lead at the top of the straight and was being hailed as a winner when P. Trevor asserted his superiority.
Roudy came out of maidens rank in an emphatic manner. The horse had run on the board down South in all his career starts. Therefore, he treated the opposition with less regards. In the same race, Immeasurable (Angad) finished a good second with Sonata (P.Trevor) coming with a late run to finish third. More races are in store for the winner.
Trainer Patrick Quinn celebrated his birthday with the victory of his well backed Properly Posh (Angad) who lifted the Fairy Heights Handicap from Regency Gold (J.H.Arul). Shivalik Silk (Vinay Jaiswal) finished third in the race.
The concluding event was an open betting affair that saw a blanket finish with Vikash Jaiswal trained Indian Tiger (Sujit Paswan) just managing to hold on from the late finishing Cape Tanaros (Nikhil Naidu) by a long neck. Further short head behind were Essos (S.Saqlain) and Sheer Force (Rupal Singh). It will pay to follow Cape Tanaros who took a fly jump-out and was also shifting out in the home stretch.
The opening event the Picture Perfect Handicap was lifted by the Daniel David-trained Lightinthesky. The filly looked a picture in the paddock and justified it with a start to finish effort -- just holding on from the top weighted Moon Art (Vinay Jaiswal) by a neck.
Wednesday, 08 May 2024