To say that Sana won the Calcutta 1000 Guineas, on Saturday, will be an under-statement, the Bharath Singh-trained filly, in fact, totally decimated the opposition. The Multidimensional/Yana daughter, ridden by Dashrath Singh, won the coveted trophy from the Bangalore challenger, Implicit Trust (Trevor Patel) by more than five lengths in a fairly fast run race. The South India challenger has no cause to complain as she made her own pace but the Win Legend daughter proved no match for the 3/10 hot favourite at the top of the final turn when Sana cruised into the lead.

The afternoon was otherwise ruled by trainer Vijay Singh and jockeys S. John, and also Ashhad Asbar who reeled off a treble apiece. Trainer Rutherford Alford, on the other hand, scored a priced double.

The story in the 1,600m D.R. Gupta Memorial Cup was slightly different. Trainer Vijay Singh`s 2/1 favourite, Setaflame (S. John), won the race after allowing the speedy Bull Run (app. Sujit Paswan) to call the shots till about 300m from the winning post before taking the matter in his own hand to score comfortably, by a length-and-a-half. Trainer Arti Doctor`s Taygetus (C. Alford), who was a good second in the race, would have definitely finished closer to the winner, had the Arabian Gulf son not been layed off for about 14 weeks. Taygetus would be a force to reckon with in his next start.

Setaflame`s victory also ensured a well deserving treble for the champion trainer and his retained jockey, John, having started their day with the victory of a promising youngster, Namcha (John), in the lower division of the Artwork Plate.

An hour earlier, John had guided Vijay`s Shivalik Story in a similar manner to victory, in the 1,200m Own Beauty Handicap. In a hot chase of trainer Sarfraz Khan`s Cocoanut (app. Rupal Singh) till about the distance post, the winner settled the issue, leaving the long time leader, and the late finisher Leopard Creek (Dashrath), with little hope to do anything worthwhile.

Namcha`s victory was a mere formality. John had the money-back favourite, settled in the mid-division and cruised to the winning post to record a victory which was not only impressive but was also the biggest, on the day, in terms of the verdict.

The upper division of the Artwork Handicap produced a shocking winner, Modification (Ashhad Asbar), from trainer Rutherford Alford`s stable. The margin of Modification`s victory over the course-favourite, Outsider (A. Imran Khan), however, does not say much. Modification went all over the course and yet scored easily, indicating that the four-year old had managed to conceal her form a lot more over the weeks than what she revealed.

Ashhad was, in fact, was the chief destroyer, in the eight-event card. In the 1,400m Wheels Handicap trainer Bharath Singh`s another three-year-old, Shohin`s (Dashrath) was considered to be a good thing but Ashhad got the best out of Patrick Quinn`s long shot, Summerhill (Ashhad), to take all by a surprise. Shohin, therefore, lives to fight another day.

Barring Namcha`s victory, every winner was pain in the neck, in the opening five events. Ashhad was back in action in the 1,100m Fly Like The Wind Plate, the first of the baby races of the season. The race was won from the start by trainer Rutherford`s Sheer Force. In the same race, Vijay`s Alyssa (Dashrath) went to the start as a 16/10 favourite but gave the indications that the Eljohar daughter needed the run.

Knives were out from the start of the afternoon and the concluding event, the 2,000m Striking Handicap was no exception. The race was won by trainer Jasbir Singh`s 121 shot, Zandra (app. Rupal Singh) from a fancied James McKeown`s runner, I Told You Know. Both horses came with late runs but the 15 kg difference in weights worked to the advantage of Zandra.