Calcutta: Vijay Singh trained Success continued with her winning spree by claiming the WOLF777 Calcutta Oaks (Grade lll) over 2400m. Suraj Narredu had the filly settled in third behind Sonata and Kiefer till about the final bend before unleashing her trade mark burst to sweep past the leaders and record her fourth straight win. Imtiaz A Sait-trained Kiefer necked out long time leader Sonata to finish runner-up. Shabelle who had run behind Success in the 1000 Guineas was a close fourth, also finding the winner a hard nut to crack over the grueling trip.
The Day’s honours were equally shared by the Singh brothers each of them saddling a treble. The visiting jockeys Suraj Narredu and P. Trevor were also among winners, scoring a double apiece.
The most impressive winner of the afternoon was the Bharath Singh-trained Agnostic (P.Trevor -up) in the Army Cup, a terms race for horses four-year-olds and upwards, over 1400m. The bay gelding notched up his sixth win in-a-row. Trevor had the bay gelding settled in the mid- bunch as Mystic Bay, Sea Lion, Monfortino & Malwa were fighting for lead but soon after straightening, Agostini shot through the middle to leave the field cold. The consistent Awesome One, although aging, finished second while Dandi Satyagraha finished third.This win places Agnostic among the top sprinters in the country.
The So Amazing Handicap over 1400m saw another Bharath Singh trained Silverita completing a hat -trick of wins in Calcutta. The bay mare was available at 8/1, as money poured in the direction of D Yourplayyourway, a B. Mahesh-trained recent migrant from the South. Galen and Basharat too had their supporters, However, it was the Sujit Paswan-partnered Silverita – settled behind Galen till the final bend – who triumphed after a brief tussle over the tiring Galen for a fluent win. D Yourplayyourway just managed to finish third.
The concluding event -- a No Whip race for horses rated 21-46 -- saw Trevor drive out Mezcal through the rails to get the better of the public rage, Dr. Doom, and Jawai, a stablemate, albeit a long shot, who caught the eye by finishing third.
Vijay Singh’s Leonardo -a derby hopeful of the stable had a dress-rehearsal for the big event when he easily won the Gen. A.S. Vaidya Memorial Cup while Javed Khan’s Creation of God placed a poor second.
The B.M. Varma Memorial Cup -- a race for maidens 2 yrs. old over 1200m, saw Vijay Singh’s Dedicate (Suraj Narredu-up ) scoring an impressive pillar to post victory over La Dominate (Neeraj Rawal). In the same race, Vijay’s Acantha finished an impressive third.
The opening event saw Vijay Singh’s trained favourite- Yazh being declared a non- starter after playing up at the starting gates. Imran Chisty drove out Sporting trainer in the race, to get the better of High Spirit and Silken Lady while the long time leader, Lion Queen, faded out to finish a close fourth. High Spirit, who was handled tenderly, needs to be followed.