After winning four races in five starts within a short period of about six months and finishing second in her only other run, the small-made Lady Duff propelled herself to the top of Class I. The speedy filly thereafter was a fancied runner in graded company, but on that occasion, was unable to handle her superior opponents. After a break of about three months, she re-appeared during Bangalore Summer. Three unplaced efforts, including the last one wherein she burst her blood vessels, saw her coming down the scales. Darius Byramji decided to give her a longish rest, as she had obviously gone a bit sour.

Lady Duff was subjected to some steady preparation in recent weeks, and being fully satisfied with her progress, was entered in The Shantiniketan Trophy on Friday at Bangalore. The connections decided to improve her chances by claiming an allowance, and entrusted her to apprentice N Rajesh. Lady Duff (Burden Of Proof – Anonymity) was one amongst a group of ten runners that had accepted to face the starter. On the basis of her only start this season, Irfan Ghatala's Tanzanite cornered the maximum support. In the hands of an apprentice boy, Tanzanite had carried the top weight and finished a game second.

The trainer decided to run her at a low weight in the higher class. The presence of the talented Chris Hayes in the saddle added to the aura around this runner. Punters threw caution to the winds while supporting her chances. They forgot that the top-weighted runners in this event, amongst themselves, had won numerous times in this very category, while it was going to be Tanzanite's debut in the highest class. Bookmakers installed her as the 14/10 favourite ahead of Einstein, Spark Of Bronte and Lady Duff. The last three could be backed at 5's and over in the betting rings.

Miss Ruby charged out of the starting gates and set a good pace in this race. Lady Duff was quick to get into her strides and was soon alongside the leader. Successor, Einstein and Spark Of Bronte raced in close order while Tanzanite took a little time to join the fray. They raced in more or less the same order till straightening for home. Lady Duff cruised into the lead at this stage and was seen cantering in front. The others had come under pressure and were seen being hustled to go in chase. N Rajesh was obviously following instructions, as he refrained from pushing her till they reached the final furlong. He got into the filly at that stage and guided her safely across the winning post.

Tanzanite was under pressure on the wide outside to finish a fair second ahead of a tired Spark Of Bronte and a late rushing Classic Charge. Veteran professionals are often heard saying that "horses make jockeys". We must remember that however good a horse may be, it still needs to be guided across the winning post. The Bangalore Turf Club had recently licensed a bunch of youngsters to ride at Bangalore and Mysore. Within a period of three months, these boys have won in excess of 30 races. These figures establish a couple of points. The first one relates to the tight handicapping at this centre. A few kilos off the back has a big say in the final result of a race.

The second and more important one pertains to the riding talent available in the country. With a shortage of top-class jockeys, the system needs to encourage fresh youngsters. The emergence of Nausad Alam and N Rajesh has been significant and heart-warming. The ride that N Rajesh gave to Lady Duff was impeccable. He was alert at the gates, had complete control over the filly, was perfectly balanced throughout the race and his final urgings were strong and powerful. The manner in which he took the final bend was equally good. Punters would definitely profit by following the fortunes of these two boys.

Friday's racing saw the domination of horses bred at The Kunigal Stud Farm. More than 50 per cent of the races were won by horses bred at this establishment. Apart from Lady Duff, the others to come out with flying colours were Adonis, Joriki and Crown Vision. Adonis and Joriki enabled Dhariwal and Sylvester Desouza to score a well-fancied double. After numerous efforts, Adonis (Burden Of Proof – Adventure) finally managed to pick up a terms race for maiden three-year-olds. He made full use of his fitness as he had already run on the opening day of the season. Backed to the exclusion of his rivals, Adonis had to weave through a rough passage before delivering the goods.

His job was made slightly easier by the antics of Secretary General. This horse led from the start and veered out in the straight. In the process, he marginally hampered the chances of Lad Fury. This first-timer had been charging from behind and had travelled on the wide outside. Desouza made good use of the yawning gap that he found through the middle of the group, and wasted little time before pushing Adonis through for an exciting victory. Lad Fury will definitely benefit from this experience, and this compact-looking horse should be supported strongly in his next start.

His victory astride Joriki (Burden Of Proof – Empress Ann) was more emphatic. The Class III sprint saw the eclipse of favourite Glory To Dancer. There is no doubt that this horse was running after a longish gap of over ten months, but the fact that he had won a mock race, was enough for his supporters to go nap on him. Glory To Dancer had trounced the likes of Immense and Criminal Lawyer in the said barrier trial. The bookmakers were quite alert in this race. The moment they saw big money being wagered on Joriki, they smelt a rat. Within a matter of seconds, they increased the odds on Glory To Dancer from a measly half-money to 7/4. In fact, many of them offered more than half-money for this favourite to place in this race.

The race was run on the same lines, as reflected by the betting trends. Glory To Dancer performed like a dud and finished off the frame. Joriki arrived from the rear like the "Chief Guest" and sailed past Modern Art, Sweet Timer and Leading Lady. The stipes asked the vets to take a surprise sample from Glory To Dancer, and have decided to wait for the results before making any further enquiries. The fourth Kunigal bred to win today was the Mahesh-trained Crown Vision (Brave Act – Crown secret). In one of the closest finishes of the day, the small-made filly lasted out to hold a strong challenge from the favourite Wild Nexus. The latter appeared to be under some pressure in the final furlong and was definitely uncomfortable with his bandaged legs. The late-rushing Valahak added to the excitement as the three of them flashed past the winning post. In the hands of apprentice Pradeep, Crown Vision made every post a winning one. Valahak was the fastest finishing runner in this race.

He will be too good to miss at a low weight in the higher class. Ganapathy's classic hopeful Magisterial (Placerville – Queen Ann) made heavy weather of his debut run in open company. After two back-to-back victories during the summer, this big-made horse was entered in The Hemavathi Cup on Friday. This mile event for horses in Class II had attracted a small field of eight, with Appolonaire and Sweet Caroline attempting to repeat their earlier victories. Magisterial was the 4/10 favourite in this event. Imran Khan allowed him to settle down in mid-division, and the pair of them were happy to bide their time till they reached the final bend. Magisterial swept past the leading group and looked set for an easy triumph before he felt the pressure. He was soon joined on the outside by Sweet Caroline. Imran Khan's stronger handling of the favourite, as compared to apprentice M Kumar's on the challenger, enabled Magisterial to scamper home to a narrow victory. On the basis of this run, it is difficult to visualize this horse getting the better of Sun Kingdom and Immense in the Bangalore 2000 Guineas.

The afternoon concluded with a popular victory for the Amit Caddy-trained Trillion Win (Duja – Trillennium). Brazilian VR Desouza scored his first win on Indian soil by steering her to a start-to-finish victory. This filly had shown that she was in good form, when she had finished an unextended third to Nectar Crown. Trillion Win was meeting her vanquisher at better terms today. The rider took her to the front and led into the straight. He allowed his pursuers to come close to him, before making a serious move. With the use of his stick, he goaded the favourite to lengthen her strides and run away from Nectar Crown and a late-rushing Snow Peaks. The young man was jubilant on his return to the unsaddling enclosure.