After a longish absence from a race track, Arjun Mangalorkar's Immense (Gaswar – Alto Miss) produced a sparkling turn of foot to win The Civil Service Cup at the Bangalore races on Saturday. He handled his heavy impost with a measure of comfort and made it look fairly easy in the straight. He hadn't run after finishing a close sixth in the Indian 2000 Guineas in mid-December. Arjun Mangalorkar, who is known to campaign his horses regularly, had given the colt a break of almost six months. Even though Immense came into this race with the best credentials, this fact somehow played on the minds of the punters and they chose to ignore him from a betting perspective. A dozen runners had accepted to face the starter. While most of them were seasoned campaigners, there were two of them who were making their debut in Class I. After some brilliant performances, Accurate and Valahak had made steady progress towards this category. They were handicapped at the bottom of the scales and were set to receive chunks of weight from Immense. The betting was confined to Accurate, Clear Mandate and Valahak, while the odds against Immense had risen alarmingly.

Noel Callow eased Clear Mandate into an early lead and the pair of them showed the way to Accurate, Valahak and Immense. The others were led by Tanzanite and Hatsuhana as the runners took the rising ground and turned for home. The front-runners drifted off the rails as they swung homewards. Clear Mandate held a small advantage over Accurate and Valahak. The scene altered at this stage. Clear Mandate came under pressure and started to shorten his strides. Accurate burst a blood vessel and dropped out of contention. Valahak found the extended trip a bit too long for his liking and refused to respond to Chouhan's urgings. At almost the same juncture, Immense took the gap on the rails, responded immediately to John's call and charged powerfully towards the winning post. Ladjadj Stephane and Hatsuhana moved menacingly on the wide outside, but that was all they could do. Immense was much too strong for all of them today, and it was difficult to go anywhere near him. Hatsuhana, Clear Mandate and Valahak settled for the minor placings. With this performance under his belt, Immense shapes as a likely challenger to Siachen in the forthcoming "graded" races this summer.

Despite Hatsuhana's loss in the day's feature, the Neil Darashah camp had plenty of compensation during the rest of the afternoon. A large number of runners from his yard had been beaten into second place in the last few weeks. There was no such problem today. Lad King, Rezoom and The Guardian carried the confidence of the racing public to runaway victories. Ladjadj Stephane rode with confidence, and the horses turned out to be too good for their rivals. Lad King (Steinbeck – Roses In The Snow) had lost as a money-back favourite on the opening day of the season. The trainer decided to run him in open company, and the horse was handicapped in class IV. Even though he was conceding weight to his ten rivals, there was hardly anybody at the races who wanted to oppose him. He was sent to the gates as an odds-on choice in this race. After following Ann Arbor and Gold Venture till the top of the straight, Stephane relaxed his grip. Lad King bounded forward and scored by a widening margin from Gold Venture, Sudden Magic and a tired Ann Arbor.

The victory astride Rezoom (Brave Act – Wild Rezonution) was achieved with equal ease. The only difference was in the style of running. With rain beginning to pour down at race time, Stephane refused to take any chances. He decided to stay out of trouble by making all the running. Rezoom made it look very easy by lengthening his strides in the straight and charging away from the others. There was a battle for the minor placings, in which, Emerald managed to finish a short head in front of Hard To Pin Down and Royal Surprise. The last-named looked threatening near the distance post, but failed to improve thereafter. The winner can improve on this run and pick up another long-distance race on promotion.

Neil's followers suffered a few anxious moments in the last race of the day. On the basis of some solid preparation and an impressive gate practice, The Guardian (Rebuttal –Rafaga) received all-round support to start as a firm favourite in this event. The 11 runners charged out of the gates in this scurry. While Sun Rich, Saphira and Inquisition showed a lot of speed in the early stages, The Guardian took time to get into his rhythm. He was last but one at the top of the straight. Just as his backers were beginning to lose hope, the chestnut started to gallop. He picked up the front-runners one by one, and made them look pedestrian. The manner in which he quickened thereafter was almost unbelievable. He tore away from them to register the most impressive victory of the day. The well-bred horse has great potential and it will be worth following The Guardian in his future engagements.

Irfan Ghatala's Hillsboro (Mr Mellon – Associate) had made a fine impression while graduating from the maiden ranks in February. The handicapper was quick to gauge his potential. Hillsboro had been assigned a high rating at the end of the Winter Season. Despite giving weight to most of his adversaries in The Sir Charles Todhunter Memorial Cup, a sprint handicap for horses in Class III, the colt was supported strongly in the betting rings. PS Chouhan managed to occupy the box seat behind Win Again, and Hillsboro galloped well within himself till the top of the straight. He came alongside the leader in the final furlong and wore him down with each stride. The jockey gave him a couple of taps at that stage and the nice-looking colt responded like a seasoned campaigner. He increased his momentum to register a facile win over a late-finishing Spark Of Silver and Take My Word. The second-placed filly lost a few lengths at the gate, and started galloping when the race was almost over. She appears to be better suited over a longer course and it will pay to back Spark Of Silver when the "right" money comes on her.

Ganapathy's Southern Bay (Alnasr Alwasheek – Priceless Glory) registered her second straight successes of this season. Having graduated from the maiden ranks a couple of weeks ago, the filly showed a lot of determination to beat early leader Silver Springs near the winning post. Mark Gallagher was seen scrubbing her at the top of the bend, but the filly was unable to make up ground on the leader. In a sudden turn of events, the gap disappeared and Southern Bay emerged victorious. The shortening strides of Silver Springs led to this scenario. Top-weighted Radical Attraction managed to hold Delta Delight for the minor placings.

The two divisions of a Class V sprint were the only other races in the day's card. Amit Caddy's Legend Reborn (Misschevious Music – Royal Standard) finally entered the winner's enclosure in the day's opener. This smallish horse carried the top weight to an easy victory. Vivek managed to take a good jump from his wide draw and brought him alongside Beautiful Dancer and Smart Edition. It was only a matter of time, as the public choice was noticed to be travelling the best of the lot. Legend Reborn seized the initiative in the last furlong and sailed home to a comfortable victory. Absence came with a late bid to take the second spot ahead of a well-backed Spark Of Diablo. This is the first time that the latter has been seriously targeted. Spark Of Diablo looks capable of winning a similar event later in the season.

The upper division witnessed a gamble being successfully landed by the Sharat Kumar stable. Four-year-old Smooth Glider (Emerald Cat – Adams Bounty) had been recently gelded, and this was his first run after the said operation. The horse was given a lot of swimming, but had been absent from the training track. The only evidence of his chances in today's sprint was available in the betting rings. The horse was installed as a joint favourite alongside Sachimore, as the runners lined up near the starting gates. Sachimore did the customary front-running and brought the nine-horse field into the straight. Smooth Glider was racing right behind him at that stage. The moment jockey Rathod brought Smooth Glider with a run down the middle of the track, the race was over. He lengthened his strides in the final furlong and beat Sachimore comprehensively. Silver Court ended a poor third while Aanchal's Pride filled the rest of the frame.