Padmanabhan-trained In The Spotlight (Alnasr Alwasheek-Radiate) caused one of the biggest upsets in recent times by winning The Nanoli Stud Bangalore Summer Million (Grade III) on Sunday. The filly came with a second run to pip favourite St Catz on the winning post. After a couple of starts in maiden company, she was one of the nine acceptors in this event. Her listless performances thus far had failed to inspire confidence, and the same was reflected on the betting boards. In The Spotlight was backable at over 100/1 at the totalizators. St Catz, Ridgeway, Loveatfirstsight and the Mysore challenger Shaka Zulu were considered to be the "big guns" in this race. Nosher Cama's St Catz was the best performed of the lot and the filly was accordingly installed at the top of the charts. Ridgeway had clocked a fine timing while winning his only start this season. Since he was receiving weight from Shaka Zulu and St Catz, Ridgeway was obviously a strong contender for this trophy. The unbeaten Shaka Zulu was running for the first time on the local track. Despite conceding weight all around, the connections of Shaka Zulu were optimistic about his chances. On all known form, St Catz looked like the runner to beat in the day's feature.

Suraj and Ridgeway took a good jump and showed the way to a group of runners led by In The Spotlight, Veyron, Violent Storm and Migrolino. The fancied trio of St Catz, Loveatfirstsight and Shaka Zulu brought up the rear. The order remained more or less the same as the runners tackled the first half of their journey. The scene altered thereafter. After leading into the straight, Ridgeway burst a blood vessel and faded from the scene. In The Spotlight seized a brief advantage before she was joined and passed by St Catz. The sight of the favourite leading into the final furlong was greeted by a roar from the stands. Neeraj Rawal had timed his challenge perfectly and the filly looked set to win this coveted "million". However, jockey Appu had other ideas. Sensing an opportunity, he pulled his mount towards the centre of the track. The filly saw daylight and charged towards the winning post. Responding gamely to Appu's whipping, In The Spotlight got up on the last stride to nail the leader. A hushed silence greeted the result of this race. A beaten horse had actually regained momentum to stun the favourite. For the records, this was perhaps the longest priced winner ever from the powerful Padmanabhan stable. Loveatfirstsight and Shaka Zulu filled the rest of the frame. One thing that emerged from the result of this race was the form of three-year-olds based at Mysore. Because they run against poor opposition, their ratings get highly exaggerated.

Trainer Ganapathy and Mark Gallagher were associated with an easy double during the afternoon. Both Own Empire and Golden Quest scored with a measure of comfort and enhanced Ganapathy's tally by a couple of points. It seemed as though Own Empire's (Alnasr Alwasheek-Habibi) victory was preordained. The favourite Raaga hurt himself on the eve of the race and got withdrawn on veterinary grounds. At race time, Yourewindsofchange cornered smart support and left the paddock as a fancied runner to lift The Squanderer Trophy. Soon after reaching the inner sand track, Tony Bernard lost control of his mount and the horse bolted towards the starting gates. The dazed jockey reported sick and Yourewindsofchange was withdrawn from this race. This enabled Own Empire to lead all the way and post an authoritative victory over Bavaria and Grey Matter. It is difficult to read much into Own Empire's performance as the beaten brigade comprised of some very ordinary runners.

Golden Quest (Alnasr Alwasheek-Exuberant) produced a nice turn of foot in the final furlong to sail past Ice Mint and the others while winning her event. In a fairly fast run race, even though Ice Mint had managed to skip away from his rivals, his domination was short-lived. In fact, he slowed down suddenly and managed to lose place money for his backers. Under some hard riding from Gallagher, Golden Quest kept a late-finishing Fiorucci and Crown Vision at bay. Strongly fancied Illustrious led till the bend before feeling the pressure. She slowed down in the straight to finish a dismal last. There is something definitely bothering her and it will be prudent to refrain from supporting her after she returns to Pune. Gluteus Maximus was unable to handle the penalty that he had received for winning his previous start.

Suraj Narredu was the other professional to score a brace today. He delighted his fans by winning astride a couple of strongly fancied runners. Irfan Ghatala's Sunstone (Razeen-Allosaki) was racing against horses that he had been meeting all season. He was fancied alongside Gazaki to win this seven-furlong handicap for horses in Class II. Allowing Camorra to lead on sufferance till the final bend, Sunstone was content to stay in second place till that point in time. The chestnut colt responded to the stick and forged ahead in the final furlong. PS Chouhan and Gazaki moved menacingly from the back and joined the issue. With both jockeys in full motion, the fancied pair raced alongside for quite a while. Sunstone emerged stronger from this duel and skipped clear to register a smart victory. Deep Blue Sky came from way behind to end third ahead of Sweet Surrender and an exhausted Camorra.

Suraj had an easier time astride Sirajuddin's Secret Punch (Royal Gladiator-Temple Bay). This well-built colt had impressed while winning his maiden race last month. The manner in which he had quickened in the straight on that day had shown that he is a top-class horse. He was supported with confidence to get the measure of Shivalik Prince and Stringsofmyheart. The latter was, however, withdrawn at the starting gates. Secret Punch took a good jump and tracked Crown Rule for most of the way. Suraj put him on an even keel and asked him to quicken. He devoured ground to go ahead for a bloodless victory. Shivalik Prince struggled at the back to finish a tame third ahead of Chul Bul Pandy and the others. Secret Punch is a fine sprinter and it will pay to support him again in his future starts.

Neil Darashah kept his board ticking by saddling Top Secret (Fantabulous King-Secrettame) to an easy victory in the upper division of The DN Hosali Memorial Cup. Running for the first time in open company, Top Secret had little problem in dismissing his opponents. Jockey Ladjadj Stephane was a picture of confidence astride this winner. Top Secret followed Windsor Knight into the straight and was on a tight leash at that stage. Stephane looked back repeatedly to check for possible threats at the bend. Thereafter, he nudged his mount, overtook Windsor Knight and won as he liked. Delta Delight came with a long stretch run to beat Windsor Knight into third place. Top Secret is capable of winning again on promotion.

Another thrilling finish was witnessed in the lower division of the above race. Amit Caddy's Hackett and Dominic-trained The Last Fling fought every inch of ground down the length of the straight before we had a winner. The two runners were backed to the exclusion of their rivals. While Hackett (Diffident-Affirmedfriendship) took a good jump from the extreme draw, The Last Fling suffered an interference at about the same juncture. PS Chouhan had to push The Last Fling before the filly regained her momentum and came into contention. Hackett on the rails and The Last Fling on his outside were seen tearing away from the others as the field entered the straight. Under some relentless pressure from Vivek, Hackett managed to keep his neck in front of the filly. Sweet Angel arrived late from the rear to finish a poor third.