Calcutta: Adhirajsingh Jodha’s Golden Kingdom (M.S. Deora up) turned conventional wisdom on its head with a rousing display to capture the 1,600m B.M. Khaitan Memorial Calcutta Gold Cup at RCTC on Saturday. Fresh from a confidence-boosting Guineas success, Deora rode with supreme belief, sending the six-year-old straight to the front and daring the field to catch him. They never did. Galloping relentlessly, Golden Kingdom refused to yield an inch, and Deora’s fearless, front-running ride sealed a memorable triumph.
Favourite Trakila (Suraj Narredu) endured a nightmare passage, racing five wide down the backstretch and fading without ever entering the fray. In contrast, Patrick Quinn’s Dubai Princess (Shezad Khan) produced a sparkling effort to finish second and earned plenty of admirers, while Duke Of Tuscany looked in need of a longer trip.
On an afternoon when favourites tumbled, race after race, jockey A. Prakash and trainer Aashay Doctor stole the spotlight by recording trebles. They struck early in the Madras Race Club Cup over 2,000 metres, where Great Guns stalked favourite Sativur before unleashing a decisive burst from the 600m to score emphatically. Third Avenue followed him home, while Sativur finished a disappointing last.
Prakash then delivered a pair of front-running rides, steering Pesi Shroff-trained Cosmology to a pillar-to-post success in the Hong Kong Jockey Club Cup for juveniles, before completing his hat-trick aboard the impressive Zalia, who won the Police Martyrs Cup at attractive odds of 10/1. The front running favourite, Most And More weakened well before the race came alive.
Doctor completed his treble with the consistent Light The World (Hasib Alam), who emphatically powered past Into The Storm in the final 200 metres.
The seven-furlong Police Commissioner’s Cup saw B.R. Reddy’s recent import Golden Glow (Gaurav Singh) easily overtaking long-time leader Bharat (A. Prakash). Ignore the run of favourite Aeropoli.
Neil Darashah’s Victoria Cross (Vishal Bunde) just managed to annex the 1,200m Ivanoe Cup, holding off favourite Abhichandra, who was poorly positioned in the early stages by R.S. Bhati.
The afternoon concluded with Rajesh Narredu’s Resplendence (Suraj Narredu) trouncing the opposition in the 1,100m Avalanche Star Cup.
Runs to Remember:
Abhichandra, Dubai Princess, Duke of Tuscany, Zalia and Cosmology,