Calcutta: Trainer Neil Darashah stole the limelight at RCTC on Friday with a dazzling treble. His triumphs were made all the more special by young Vishal Bunde, who partnered two of the three winners with remarkable poise and precision. With a string of promising youngsters under his care, Neil looks set to be the trainer to watch this season.
The feature event, the Delhi Race Club Cup over a mile, saw Darashah’s King Louis lie patiently at the rear while Raffaello dictated the pace. At the top of the straight, Vishal switched him out, and the seasoned six-year-old produced a scintillating burst to overhaul the favourite Sativur close home.
Vishal struck again in the next race — the 2000m Not Much Handicap — aboard Natural Grace, riding with rare confidence from the front. Controlling the early pace to perfection, he quickened smoothly in the straight to seal back-to-back wins for the stable.
Darashah’s treble began earlier in the day, with Enola Holmes, who made light of an extreme outside draw to make the Captain Morgan Handicap a start-to-finish affair under apprentice Abhishek Mhatre.
Trainer Aashay Doctor too had his share of glory, saddling a smart double with Morano and Aeropoli. Morano won the Tangaroa Handicap stylishly under Antony Raj, while the10/1 shot, Aeropoli (Imran Chisty), returning from a long layoff, stunned his younger rivals Star Studded and Galway Girl in the 1600m Dalkeith Handicap.Star Studded with this exposure,will be a different preposition when saddled next.
Earlier, Patrick Quinn opened his account with Princess Peach (K. Mukesh Kumar-up), who looked a winner long before the finish in the Chios Handicap.