Trainer Bharath Singh`s aged galloper, Bullet, galloped to glory on a rain soaked track and murky weather conditions to lift the 1,400m Stewards Cup, on Saturday. Jockey R. Vaibhav partnered the seven-year-old to an easy victory over a fancied trio of Gentle Knowledge, Adabella and Multimagic.

It rained relentlessly since the race day morning and the failure of the two piping hot favourites – Barocci and Pick Pocket, who detested the underfoot conditions – hardly came as a surprise. The other public choices, in the seven-vent card, were also put to test as the rain, combined with the poor visibility, left a sizeable race crowd to take the beating. However, jockey B. Mahesh reveled in the prevailing conditions as he went on to notch up a double through Smart Hunter and Beyond Expectation.

Bullet was always in hunt, inspite of his poor and limited past record over the slated trip. Vaibhav allowed the Major Impact son to settle behind the longtime leader, until the final turn before kicking clear of the opposition. A late challenge from the Gentle Knowledge – a 2-1 joint-favourite with Multimagic – looked like a wild goose chase as Bullet`s commanding lead saw the horse sailing through for a near-length victory. In the same race, Multimagic (P. Kamlesh-up) was also performed poorly, finishing fourth behind another fancied runner, Adabella, who was equally at discomfort on the slushy racetrack.

Early in the afternoon, Kamlesh`s waiting tactics, atop Arti Doctor`s Primrose, a 13-4 second chance in the betting, had paid off as his charge downed the mighty Pick Pocket, a half-money favourite, in the 1,200m Defence Forces Handicap. It was trainer Jasbir Singh`s Bongani who tried to steal a match over nine rivals with Primrose kept at a safe distance behind. Kamlesh took the charted course, what Vaibhav had planned for Bullet, later in the day, and the outcome of the race was quite similar, though the margin of victory was huge – five long lengths.

Pick Pocket (S. Rajput-up) placed second in the race and his apathy was understood, in view of two reasons. The first and the foremost being the 1,200m trip which was a bit too sharp to the Rutherford-Alford-trained horse and, secondly, the horse was up against a sprint specialist in Primrose in the opposition.

Rutherford planned and successfully executed a coup early in the afternoon, in the 1,100m Armed Force Handicap. His charge, Head Hunter, ridden by a virtual riding boy, Mohammed Imran, was backed like a good thing to start as a 2-1 favourite, and five-year-old also delivered the goods. The horse, though badly shifted out in the final 250m of the stretch run, had the measure of Eternal Instinct and the second favourite, Ambicka, trainer by, father, Richard (B. Nikhil-up).

The day, for punters, had started on a disastrous note when trainer Patrick Quinn`s half-money favourite, Barocci, had gone down tamely to trainer Shafiq Khan`s Massachusettes (apprentice Ranidan Singh) in the 1,800m Amar Jawan Handicap. The handicap favoured Massachusettes who was no match for Barocci in their previous clash. The possible reason for the defeat of the favourite could be the underfoot condition, combined with the riding of the horse`s stable-apprentice, Zarar Alam, who is yet to come out of the trauma after his near-fatal fall last year. Zarar has not been doing well since he returned to the saddle after the fall.

Jockey B. Mahesh, in contrast, seems to be putting his mind back to serious racing, after being neglected by most, until recently. The jockey scored a rich double on the day. Mahesh`s first winning effort was when he guided trainer Manvendra Singh`s Smart Hunter to an easy victory in the 1,400m Unknown Warrior Cup. Quoted at 7-2 in the betting, Smart Hunter is known to be a difficult ride. The horse needs to ridden well off the pace and his timing of challenge has to be to perfection. Mahesh, who had partnered the Smart Hunter to a narrow victory in his last outing, was wiser on this occasion as the horse coasted home – spotted as a winner long before the winning-post.

Half-an-hour later, Mahesh was back in the winner`s enclose, having partnered the Javed Khan-trained favourite, Beyond Expectation, to victory in the Ex-Servicemen Plate. However, the 14-10 favourite was a fright by trainer Vijay Singh`s Aculeus (Shailesh Shinde-up) who also in the betting at 7-2, in his debut run. Aculeus was positioned right behind the favourite in the mid-division as Arti`s Lanner Falcon, also making his debut, dictated the terms with Marylin in a hot chase. The favourite took over the running, inside the last furlong and was cruising when Aculeus was brought into the fray with a thundering run on the wide out. The horse cut an erratic course in the final 200m as he drifted in to the relief of the winning trainer.

If Aculeus failed, Vijay`s long shot, Ace Of Fire – ridden in a similar manner by apprentice – succeeded and brought the curtain down. In the 1,100m Helping Hand Handicap, Petaloid, Hayata, Colourful Dreams and Richest Treasure attracted almost an equal support and were also at the helm. However, the tiring lot paved the way for Ace Of Fire`s victory.