Rain being notable absentee last week, trainer Vijay Singh's Arktouros found the going easy, in perfect track conditions on Saturday. The five-year-old galloped resolutely in the stretch run to treat his 10 rivals with disregard on his way to winning the 1,200m Calcutta Monsoon Sprint, the afternoon’s feature event.

Ridden by Christopher Alford, the top weighted horse was, however, lucky to get a wide galloping room soon after the field turned for home to cruise past frontrunners Palme Dor, Whispering Wind and Cameo. Alacrity, the 6-4 course-favourite finished second but the Darius Byramji-trained four-year-old was only marginally superior to Thundering Hooves and Cameo at the wire.

Early in the afternoon, the Singh-Alford combinations also had claimed the 1,200m Whispering Grass Handicap, the curtain-raiser, when their hot-favourite Silver Guest made a pillar-to-post effort to score with an equal ease. In the same race, trainer Sarfraz Khan’s Mafia Chief was a strong fancy after the hot-favourite but the White Crown son proved no match for the winner even after coming close enough nearing the distance-post, prompting Alford to use the stick on the 9-20 hot-favourite to quicken up. Honitus was best of the rest in the six-horse field.

The 1,200m Topspin Cup, on the other hand, was hotly contested between Royal Scandal, Sun Dancer and Royal Ballerina. It was the last named horse, from trainer Javed Khan's yard, who snatched the verdict virtually at the post. Almost trailing the field while Scorsese tried to win from the start, with Sundance, Royal Scandal in hot-chase, Royal Ballerina’s waiting tactics paid off as Mahesh brought the fancied mare the shortest way home to pounce on the tiring leaders.

Javed went on to score a back-to-back double, having saddled a brace of winners last Wednesday. It was Javed’s Roxy, who won thanks to jockey Shailesh Shinde who gave the five-year-old a judicious ride by in the 1,400m Ballet Master Handicap. Shinde had the 6-1 shot settled in the rear and used Roxy's late burst to the horse’s advantage on his way to a decisive victory over a fancied runner Portpatrick. The beaten horse also had his chance as he galloped marginally ahead of the Roxy but failed to match the winner’s acceleration. Requite, the course-favourite, remained glued to the fourth slot along the rails, going backwards when the heat was on, past the distance-post.

Trainer Dipak Karki’s Focus proved too good for his for his seven rivals in the 1,100m Rising Bell Handicap which the 4-1 shot won with authority. In hot-chase of the 2-1 favourite, Arizzano, ridden by Alford, Focus displayed quick turn of foot when apprentice Babu Singh changed the gear in the last furlong of the race. Kuhaylan, the 5-2 second favourite was also right behind Arizzano approaching the distance-post but the horse failed to respond to Shezad Khan’s urging to suggest that the Javed-ward wasn’t an apprentice’s ride. A lot was also expected from Blue Mountain, who was a good third in his last start. The Vikash Jaiswal-trained horse, however, galloped leisurely with the back-benchers throughout the journey. He needs to be watched over a middle distance race.

Validate was expected to cash in on his handicap advantage in the 2,000m Friendly Dancer Handicap but the horse failed to do anything worthwhile, finishing a poor third Andrology won the race after Andeana tried to steal a march over his three rivals but was found to be out of steam in the last furlong of the race. A dubious objection lodged by Validate’s jockey, Alford, against the rider of the winner met with a logical conclusion in the stewards’ room. Alford was slapped a fine of Rs 5000 for wasting stewards’ precious time.