Almost a year after she had last won a race, Dhariwal's Oban re-discovered some good form to floor her opponents in a mile event at Bangalore on Saturday. The small made filly cantered away with The Garden City Trophy, the feature in a long card of nine events framed for the day's racing at this centre. Even though the number of runners in this race was only eight, most of them had impressive credentials. Sun Absolute, Six Gun Smith, Deep Blue Sky, Crown Empress and Rezoom were carrying penalties after winning their previous starts. Most of them were known to be comfortable over a mile, and the morning track reports indicated their readiness to strike. But the one that really looked outstanding in this group was Midtown Magic. The three year old colt, who was incidentally a stablemate of the eventual winner, had the best form. He had raced thrice in the recently concluded Mysore Season. After trouncing class II opponents, his third in the Mysore 2000 Guineas was followed by a brilliant performance in The Poonawalla Mysore Derby. Running prominently throughout that mile and a quarter, he had ended a close third behind Field Marshal and Southern Bay. If one was to consider the broken course record in that race, it was difficult to oppose him in the day's feature. The chunks of weight that he was recieving from most of the others was another reason why he was installed as a piping hot favourite on Saturday. He recieved further support as the runners lined up at the starting gates.

Deep Blue Sky, Rezoom and Gazaki set the early pace and led from Crown Empress, Midtown Magic and Sun Absolute. After taking a level jump, Ladjadj Stephane and Oban travelled comfortably behind the leading group ,as the runners made their journey towards the straight. The field bunched up at this stage. Under some relentless pressure from Samuel Fargeat, Midtown Magic made his move on the wide outside. A mere look at his action was enough to confirm that he was a bit uncomfortable. The known acceleration was missing today. After leading momentarily, he shortened his strides towards the inner rails and faded from the scene. At almost the same juncture, Oban began to gain ground on the wide outside. Her lengthening strides enabled her to skip clear of the pack. In a scramble for the minor placings, Gazaki took the second spot ahead of Sun Absolute and Midtown Magic. For those who were trying to comprehend a reason for Midtown Magic's failure, there was an answer. A public announcement confirmed that Midtown Magic had suffered from a sprained fetlock during the running of this race.

The other talking point at the course was the re-appearance of Speed Six today. This talented three year old colt had run only thrice in his career. After a couple of smashing victories, he had been "nosed out" in The Colts Championship by Pronto Pronto. A physical condition had forced trainer Padmanabhan to give him a longish rest of five months. Speed Six was targeted at a sprint for horses in Class II. He was opposed by Irfan Ghatala's Hill Dioro. The latter had posted a couple of wins in summer to reach this category. A question mark over Speed Six's complete recovery enthused bookmakers to offer close to even-money on him today. He played up in the parade ring and was led riderless to the starting gates. However he was comfortable thereafter. He walked in quietly and took off like a seasoned campaigner. In the hands of Martin Dwyer, he led within fifty metres of the start and was never headed. Suraj Narredu and Hill Dioro were under pressure to match strides with him. Speed Six can only be expected to improve after this exercise. Padmanabhan has a wealth of talent in his yard this year. Speed Six and Mysore Derby winner Field Marshal will lead the stable's charge in the Winter Classics accross the country.

Trainer Arjun Mangalorkar took off to a good start for the season by winning a couple of races with Gunpowder and Ridgeway. He was ably assisted by Mark Gallagher in the saddle. After having to use all his energies while coaxing Gunpowder to a narrow victory, Mark had an easier time astride Ridgeway. Gunpowder was gelded after an ordinary summer campaign. He was given some rest and a lot of work in the last three months. He was being asked to carry the top weight in a lower class today. Gunpowder took a level start and raced comfortably for the first half of their journey. No-hoper Trillion Win had taken a long lead in the back-stretch and most racegoers expected her to stop in the straight. However that did not happen. Gallagher on Gunpwder and Ryan Marshall on Windsor park were caught off-guard. They pulled out their sticks and goaded their mounts to move towards the leader. Gunpowder responded well to beat Trillion Win by the smallest of margins. Windsor Park ended a close third.

Ridgeway had shown his prowess by winning a seven furlong maidens event in his first ever start during summer. Racing as a rank outsider , he had beaten the highly regarded Hill Dioro in that race. The smart timing clocked by him that day was quite significant. By bursting a blood vessel in his next start, Ridgeway had forced his trainer to give him a break. He was taking on a fairly representative field of eleven opponents in a Class III handicap over a suitable seven furlongs. Tracking Ultimate Fantasy and Lad King till the three furlong marker, Gallagher had a mild problem. Ridgeway was forcing the rider to take him to the front. Not wanting to fight him any further, Gallagher did well to ease his grip. Ridgeway got into his rhythm and pulverised the opposition. He strode away from Sudden Magic and a late finishing Top Secret. Even though there was nothing of significance that ran behind him today, his timing was impressive. Ridgway clocked a time which was more than a second faster than Speed Six over an identical distance.

Another pair of professionals to score a double during the afternoon was Irfan Ghatala and Suraj Narredu. Both Hillstone and Show Time scored runaway victories in their respective events. Recently gelded Hillstone was lucky to find himself pitted against a very modest set of runners. Allowing Saphira to lead on sufferance, Hillstone came with a smooth run in the straight to go past the leader. First-timer Samovar improved steadily from the rear to finish a good third. The nice looking filly was given a good educational run today. Samovar will be too good to miss in her next start.

The richly endowed Madras Race Club Trophy happened to be a terms race for horses foaled in 2008. Being a winner of two races, Show Time was asked to concede weight to her four rivals. On the basis of her past performances, she was a firm favourite in this race. There was stray support for Colour Of Money, Capote and Free Law . Suraj took Show Time to the front and she proved to be much too speedy for the rest of them. She grew stronger in the straight to win by a widening margin of over seven lengths at the wire. By this performance, Show Time has shown that she is a top class sprinter. Capote, Free Law and Colour Of Money finished in a heap while taking the minor placings. Colour Of Money looked "light" in the paddock and the talented horse needs to furnish a bit before he picks up another race. Free Law is ready to win a handicap event at his present mark.

Heavily backed Marie Curie caught a tartar in On A Roll in the upper division of a sprint for horses rated 40-65. The winner had good recent form as he had won a race at Mysore. Christopher succeeded in taking Sharat Kumar's On A Roll on a start-to-finish mission. He applied further pressure in the straight to take a useful lead into the final furlong. On the other hand, Suraj Narredu's bid astride the favourite was impeded by her extreme draw. The pair had to travel wide for most of their journey. Marie Curie rallied bravely on the wide outside , but was a "neck" shy at the finish. Nectar Crown came late on the scene to take the third spot.

The day's proceedings came to an end with an extremely close finish between Sugriv, Seven Heaven and Scarlet Knight. The last named was the medium of a big gamble, as he had been backed down from 4/1 to 2/1 at race time. Sreekanth managed to push Scarlet Knight into a two length lead into the final furlong, but that was all that he could do.In the hands of brothers Vaibhav and Vaideeshwaran, Seven Heaven and Sugriv were quick to join him thereafter. The better moving Sugriv got stronger on the wide outside and beat Seven Heaven near the winning post.