Christopher Alford`s filly, Euphrates (Neeraj Rawal-up) not only won the first Classic for her trainer, it was also a first for her relatively new owner, Andre Anthony Augustine, when the Phoenix Tower-Age of Magic daughter won the 2,400m Calcutta Oaks on Saturday. Neeraj Rawal was also at his best on trainer Harvinder Singh Bath`s 7/2 chance Nova who provided the crafty jockey with a priced double in the afternoon`s eight-event card. However, it was jockey C.S. Jodha who stole the limelight with a rich treble. The champion trainer Vijay Singh also had his share of luck when his strongly fancied mare delivered the goods in the 1,200m Castlebridge Cup.

The start of the Oaks was unduly delayed, thanks to the antics of the winner and other 3 contestant in the seven-horse field. It was further delayed when trainer Vijay Singh Choegyal unseated Suraj Narredu and bolted before the field came under starter`s order. In total, the start of the race was delayed for about 30mins.

The 6/1 shot Euphrates was ignored in the betting as a bulk of money went in the directions of the 2/1 joint favourites -- trainer S. Sunderji`s 1,000 Guineas winner, Kamilah (C.S. Jodha) and another of western India challenger, Mystical Rose, from trainer Malesh Narredu`s stable.


Neeraj did not need to do anything special but struck on the second berth while Lady Laurane cut a gentle pace upfront. The pace picked up from the half way mark and soon enough prompted Neeraj to take over the running, turning for home. Taken by a surprise, there was a big scramble in the opposition for a chase to catch-up with the leader. Although, Kamilah accelerated faster than the rest to come somewhat close but by then the race was well sewn up by Euphrates for a shade over a length victory. As expected Mystical Rose was best of the rest.

The fact that the normal five weeks gap between the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks was cut down to three for the Covid reasons and it proved inadequate for most of fillies to produce their best.

Nova was spotted a winner long way from home, a furlong from the post. In a box seat fourth, turning for home, Neeraj bisected the tiring pair of Astral Force and Divine Chakram to shoot into the lead as Suraj struggled to make the top-weighted Resolute move. Coming from way back C.Alford`s Eastern Crown was a good third in the race.

Sitara (Jodha) lifted the 1,200m Castlebridge Cup, providing Vijay his lone winner. The five-year-old almost made every post a winning – allowing the top-weighted C. Alford`s Soaring High (app, H,M, Akshay) to make his presence felt for a very brief time.

Redoutable (P.Ajeeth Kumar) was a firm favourite in the 2,000m Grand Madame Handicap but fell victim to the bolted stable-mate, Sheer Force`s (Arman Khan)own story. The race was won by trainer Aashay Doctor`s Justified (Jodha) who enjoyed every yard of the slated trip to easily counter Vijay Singh`s Cliffhanger`s (Suraj) challenge. Redoutable was a poor third in the race.

Shyam Habbu`s Basharat (R.S. Bhati) was a good second to Third Avenue, in his last outing and the topweighted runner cashed in on form in the 1,600m Surfside Handicap that he won by a wide margin.

The maiden two-year-old babies` race, the first of the season, saw trainer Manvendra Singh`s colt, Social Truth (Jodha) winning the 1,100m C.M. Varma Memorial Cup in great style. Allowing Misty Grey (Shailesh Shinde) to a marginal lead till below the distance post, Social Trust took over to score going away to an easy victory with Jodha sitting on the horse like a moot spectator.

Vikash Jaiswal`s kitty has been overflowing. The trainer`s horses have been delivering the goods ever since the new season started. His four-year-old Indian Tiger (app Sujit Paswan) led from the start to score a narrow victory over Rare Bird, trained by Aashay Doctor.

The day`s opener, the 1,400m Fair Haven Handicap produced a blanket-finish , with six of the seven runners being covered within a length but trainer Javed Khan`s Xfite (R.S. Bhati) got the judges` verdict at the wire.