Immense, the property of Mr. Shiven Surendranath, representing Diamond Band Racing Pvt. Ltd, Dr. & Mrs. Syed Ainuddin Arif and Mr. Neil R Shah, trained by Arjun Mangalorkar, lifted the Kempegowda Cup run over a metric mile. Immense, who had won the 2000 guineas at Hyderabad and Mysore, completed a hat-trick when he lifted the feature of the day, named after the founder of Bangalore City. After a good jump from gate No.1, Immense (Gaswar – Alto Miss) ran in front for the first furlong after which Spearhead took charge. Passing the 800 metres, Immense was cramped for room and brushed along the false rails thereby falling back by a length. Recovering quickly, Jockey S. John brought the public fancy alongside Spearhead as the field started to straighten up and surged ahead.

Criminal Lawyer improved from a fifth position in the last furlong to finish second ahead of Blink and Spearhead. Speaking to Indiarace after the race, trainer Arjun said, ”Immense ran well in mock race last week and his win today was impressive. He will be heading to Mumbai for the 2000 Guineas.” Unleashed was backed to the exclusion of the other runners, in the Madras Race Club Trophy after Sky Train was withdrawn on veterinary grounds before the start of the day.

The Darius Byramji-trainee failed to live up to the expectation of his supporters and finished a tame third. Friendly Bond (Ontario – Anacita), who had won two races out of three starts and had finished third to Eloise after missing the kick in the other, was neglected in the betting although his resume projected his potentials. Passing the 600 metres, the six runners were covered within four lengths with Smart Ways leading the way and Unleashed bringing up the rear. Coming inside the final 300 metres, Y.S. Srinath drove Friendly Bond to take charge and win from Duchess of York in chase.

Unleashed finished a tame third. Jockey Chris Hayes, who has been engaged by Dr. Vijay Mallya to sport his silks this winter, started his campaign in style, winning three races. Cavalry Charge, who was running after a gap of nearly three and a half months, set out in front from the word ‘go’ and stretched out well in the straight to register a clear win, in the lower division of The V. Gopal Memorial Plate. All Rise and Mystic Dawn fought out for the minor placing and finished in that order behind the winner.

Another son of Burden Of Proof, Clear Mandate, who is a highly rated horse in the stable, ran away with the higher division. Hayes adopted the start-to finish-tactics on Jaggy Dhariwal-trained Clear Mandate, in the seven-furlong race and the three-year-old gelding literarily toyed with the opposition. Elite Land chased Clear Mandate all through the race to finish second. Riding with supreme confidence, Hayes drove Corleone (Acclamation – Ciel) to victory in the B.P. Shivan memorial Plate. Corleone, who had the habit of shortening his stride towards the closing stages of the race, during the early part of his career, has shown tremendous improvement and trainer Suleiman Attaollahi should be complemented on this count for bringing about a drastic change after he moved into his stable.

This win of Corleone gave the trainer a well-earned double. Brunetta and Supreme Arch fought for the runner-up berth and the latter managed to surge ahead to get the nod. The day started with the piping hot favourite Segomo flopping miserably on debut in the lower division of the Master Key Plate. Satish Narredu’s Seaside Star (Hurricane State – Coming Home) won the race from Another Voice, Princess Coup and Your Destiny. The Higher division was won by S. Padmanabhan-trained Kirtling, giving indentured rider B. Parveez Pasha his first win. Showing plenty of speed, Kirtling (Arakan – Krajina) travelled from the outermost draw to hug the rails quickly and made every post a winning one.

Jockey Suraj Narredu made a valiant bid on the favourite Matias but failed to get past the runner-up berth. Sabari finished on in the final stages to take the third spot. The top-weighted Sweet Timer (Eljohar – Daddy’s Girl) from B. Puttanna’s yard received thumping support in the betting, opening at 14 to 10 and winding up at half the price. Jockey Y.S. Srinath settled Sweet Timer in box seat, approaching the home turn and sped past entering the straight.

Man Down Under came up menacingly towards Sweet Timer in the last 100 metres but the strong handling of Srinath saw the favourite home, by three parts of a length. Allegro warmed up late to finish a close third. Walter was withdrawn on veterinary grounds before the start of the day. Suraj Narredu’s strong handling enabled Sunspirit (Diffident – Mary Bankes) to land the spoils in the Pratap Stud Plate, the concluding race of the day.

Ordained One and Camelot were in hot pursuit in the final furlong but failed to get past and finished in that order behind Sunspirit. Trainer S.S. Attaollahi and Jockey Y.S. Srinath had a double each while C.D. Hayes won three races.