A sparkling turn-of-foot in the straight enabled Ganapathy's Southern Bay to waltz away with The Bangalore 1000 Guineas (Grade II) on Saturday. The free striding filly put it across her five rivals with absolute ease, and confirmed that she is one of the best horses in training at this centre. The first classic of the season saw one of the smallest fields in recent years. With Celebrity coming in as a final entrant, there were only six of them that faced the starter. The presence of Southern Bay and Lovely Kiss was enough to generate a lot of excitement. While Lovely Kiss had won The Fillies Championship in June, and subsequently ended fourth in The Kingfisher Derby, Southern Bay had good Monsoon form. She had won a Million at Mysore before beating In The Spotlight in The Mysore 1000 Guineas. Her close second to Field Marshal in The Poonawalla Mysore Derby had been a valiant effort. Even though she had beaten Lovely Kiss by over five lengths in her Guineas victory at Mysore, there were many who felt that the beaten filly could reverse the verdict today. This optimism was generated from the fact that Lovely Kiss had suffered a setback after the Bangalore Derby and been off the track for a fairly longish period of time. A smashing win over a sprint a couple of weeks ago confirmed that Lovely Kiss was back in form. The same sentiment was expressed on the betting boards. Southern Bay and Lovely Kiss were backed to the exclusion of their rivals. However, the final result confirmed that Southern Bay had improved beyond recognition. Without making much of a fuss, she tripled the margin between herself and Lovely Kiss from five lengths to fifteen lengths.

Dancerella, Nearness Of You and Show Time set the early pace ahead of Lovely Kiss, Southern Bay and Celebrity. The order remained more or less the same as they tackled the first half of their journey. B Sreekanth was able to settle Southern Bay at the back and she was travelling nicely for him. With the front runners running out of gas, we had a new leader at the bend. Show Time overtook them and led briefly at that stage. Chouhan asked Lovely Kiss for an effort but she had no answers. She was definitely under pressure to stay in place. It was left to Southern Bay to go in chase. A mere tap of the whalebone from Sreekanth was all that was required. She responded brillianatly, lengthened her strides and trounced her opponents. Celebrity made up much ground from the back to take the second spot ahead of a tired Show Time. Lovely Kiss finished a poor fourth. For youngster B Sreekanth, this was a glorious moment as he had scored his first classic victory. Since he has been riding successfully for the Ganapathy stable, the much-improved rider is sure to come across many such opportunities in the future. As regards Southern Bay, it will be fair to assume that she will sweep the Winter Classics at Bangalore.

The Ashoka Chakra Cup, a nine furlong handicap for horses in Class I, was the added attraction in the day's card. A small group of six runners faced the starter. Since most of them had been running regularly against each other, they were equally matched. On the basis of their form during the summer months, Attaollahi's Crown Empress was well handicapped. With Frenchman Anthony Crastus in the saddle, the filly started as a marginal favourite ahead of Far From Over, Sun Absolute and Rezoom. Allowing stablemate Six Gun Smith to lead from Rezoom, Anthony was content to stay at the back. The horses raced in single file before they turned for home. PS Chouhan tried to steal a march into the straight. He nudged Rezoom into a nice looking lead and pulled out his stick. Crown Empress in the centre and Sun Absolute on the wide outside were the two that made their way from the back. The three runners were almost abreast near the distance post. A strong finishing effort from Anthony Crastus enabled Crown Empress to land the first prize. Rezoom ended a gallant second, while Sun Absolute got tired under a heavy impost and finished a close third.

Neil Darashah and PS Chouhan enjoyed a profitable outing on Saturday. They combined effectively to score a fine treble with Lad Star, Lad King and Nadia. The first two had obviously benefited from their earlier outings this season. They stripped much fitter in their races today. Nadia had emerged from maiden ranks by winning a mile race at Mysore. Despite being saddled with a sizable penalty, the filly looked much better than her opposition. All three winners started as public choices and managed to post runaway victories. Lad Star started the day's proceedings. Since she was carrying the top weight, she was restrained from going into an unnecessary lead. Chouhan allowed Hackett to join him in the backstretch and the two were alongside till they entered the straight. It was at this stage that Lad Star asserted her superiority. Responding to Chouhan's urgings, she sped away to register a facile victory. There was smart money on Dhariwal's Samovar, but that was obviously misplaced. The filly ran pathetically to finish off the frame.

Lad King led from the beginning and strode away for a bloodless victory over Chantilly, Kripa and Hillstone. He justified his short price with an emphatic performance. This well-bred horse is maturing into a fine specimen, and has the potential to become a top class miler. Nadia's victory looked like a foregone conclusion. The field looked so weak that it was difficult to locate a worthy opponent. Chouhan wasn't unduly perturbed by the long lead established by Grand Success in the early stages of this race.  He brought Nadia steadily into second place and essayed his challenge in the straight. Not wanting to take any chances with such a short-priced horse, he gave her a crack. Nadia leapt forward and charged away from Grand Success. Bernicia ended a poor third.

Samuel Fargeat's superb handling of Adonis produced the desired result for the Dhariwal stable. The expanding odds against this runner restrained many punters from backing him. A steady flow of money in the direction of Satish Narredu's Simply Phenomenal saw this five year old starting as a first choice of the public. Harish employed start-to-finish tactics and tried his best to make both ends meet. However, he had no answers when Adonis came at him. Fargeat had been biding his time till then. Adonis wore down Simply Phenomenal and strode towards the winning post. The widening margin indicated his superiority over his nine opponents. Scarlet Knight made a valiant bid to wrest the third place from Shuddering. The last named, who had scored a fine hat-trick in summer, seems to be getting back into form and can be expected to score in the near future.

A couple of inexperienced apprentices managed to score with rank outsiders during the afternoon. The first one to do so was Anjar Alam. Riding Irfan Ghatala's Sunset Grill, he was content to grace the wrong end of the field till the eleven runners entered the straight. Early leaders Star Of Desire and Moves Goodenough had been passed by the favourite Jaldi. With Samuel Fargeat goading her relentlessly, Jaldi had a sizable advantage in the final furlong. Sunset Grill was shown daylight at that juncture. With the boy riding hands and heels, the filly gained ground on the leader. In a matter of a few seconds, she sailed past Jaldi to score an unexpected victory. Star Of Desire maintained his narrow advantage over Moves Goodenough to end third.

The very next race witnessed another shocker. Darius Byramji's Starscream received one-sided support to start as an even money favourite in this race. The well-bred filly had taken an erratic jump in her only career start, and finished down the field. She was re-appearing after a mock race and some steady preparation. Ryan Marshal managed to take a level start with this filly and was well positioned at the bend. She overtook second favourite Royal Music near the two furlong marker and asserted control over the proceedings. The scene changed alarmingly thereafter. In the hands of Prabhakaran, Pillay trained Cool Whistle began her charge from the rear. Known to be a sprinting type, she surprised everyone by tackling this seven furlong trip successfully. She came with a flourish and sailed past a tired Starscream. The winner paid in excess of 35/1 at the totalizators. A tired Royal Music hung on to her third spot.

Samar Singh's Black Beauty had served notice of an early success by running a good third on the opening day of the season. She had led into the final furlong before feeling the pressure. Participating in a similar event on Saturday, she was partnered once again by Harish. The jockey chose to ride her differently this time. He waited behind The First Bullet, Sachimore and Windsor Park till well into the straight. She gained ground on the wide outside and nailed Sachimore near the winning post. For the third successive time, Windsor Park flopped as a favourite. The four year old filly seems to have a problem, as she comes with a run but shortens he strides at the business end of a race.