The Calcutta Monsoon Derby produced the kind of finish that makes racing such an irresistible sport. The horse given the least chance of winning produced the biggest shock of the day, with Saiko storming home to snatch the richest race of the season in a thrilling finish on Saturday.

Jockey Sandesh deserves much of the credit. He kept Saiko tucked away at the rear, biding his time while the principals fought their own battle up front. Turning for home, he swung Saiko wide into the straight, found daylight and pressed the button. The progeny of Multitude, himself a prolific sprinter, responded with a powerful burst of speed, flying down the outside to neck out Shrishti in the dying strides.

For much of the race, however, the script appeared to be writing itself. Fillies Championship Stakes winner Shrishti and the prolific Admiringly had been installed joint favourites, and for a while it looked as though the punters had got it right. They fought out every yard in the final furlong, with Admiringly eventually tiring and Shrishti, under Suraj Narredu, gaining the upper hand.


Then came Saiko.


The wide outsider flashed into the picture and suddenly all those carefully constructed calculations went out of the window. The horse that many believed would struggle to stay the mile and a quarter had just produced the decisive finish.


Racing has a wicked habit of making fools of emphatic opinions. Give a horse a firm verdict and, quite often, the horse will take it personally. Saiko did exactly that. He did not merely prove the doubters wrong; he added another chapter to racing`s enduring appeal, where certainty is often the first casualty and surprises are part of the entertainment.


For trainer Vijay Singh, the victory offered a welcome reminder of past glory. He pointed out that Saiko`s sire, Multitude, had considerable versatility and had himself finished behind the great Desert God in the Calcutta Derby over a mile and a half, suggesting that stamina need not have been the concern many had imagined.


For Sandesh, the victory was equally significant. After a relatively quiet patch, the Derby provided a timely reminder of his ability to produce the goods when the big moment arrived.


Derby Day itself was a long and eventful affair, with ten races keeping the crowd occupied through a card that had almost everything racing could offer: favourites fighting for survival, reputations being tested and, finally, an outsider rewriting the script in the most dramatic fashion possible.