Calcutta: Trainer Vijay Singh’s Saiko (Trevor Patel-up) stamped his class to justify top billing while cruising home in the 1,400m Indian Champagne Stakes, the feature event here on Friday.
The even-money favourite was settled at the rear as stablemate Dreamlight cut out a moderate pace. Trevor judged matters to perfection, pushing the button in the straight as Saiko unleashed a dazzling turn of foot to surge clear and win going away with ease. First-timer Admiralty (Mukesh Kumar) made a pleasing debut, finishing a clear second.
Trevor enjoyed a day to remember, riding with supreme confidence to complete a sparkling quadruple.
The supporting event, the 1,600m Governor’s Cup, delivered a rousing finish. Satish Narredu’s Casteel (A. Vikrant) came from well off the pace with a powerful late charge to collar the battling duo of King Louis (Vishal Bunde) and Raffaello (Vinod Shinde) right on the post.
Trevor’s golden touch continued as Aashay Doctor’s Garth broke out of the maiden ranks, edging past rank outsider Cascade (Varun) and Divine Gift (Mukesh Kumar) in a nail-biting three-way finish. Doctor then completed a fine double when Pantazi made amends for his last failure with an effortless pillar-to-post victory in the 1,200m Castlebridge Handicap.
Trevor rounded off his superlative afternoon aboard Shyam Habbu-trained Oshika, who notched up her third win of the season.
Earlier, the well-handicapped Power Racer (Gaurav Singh) made light of the opposition to land the 1,600m Sniper Handicap in dominant fashion, while trainer Sabeel Shariff’s Jimmy Bee (Vishal Bunde) produced an emphatic encore to bring the curtain down on an absorbing day’s racing.