Trainer Ganapathy, who is targeting Amber Regent for the Bangalore Derby to be held later this month, is sharpening his ward by racing him frequently. As such, Amber Regent who had run over a mile and a quarter race along with Sky Raider a fortnight ago had another outing over a similar trip in Friday’s feature event, the Stayers Trial Stakes, where he had to tackle just two opponents, which he did with relative ease to record a hat trick of wins. By the manner in which the son of Razeen has taken a liking to the Bangalore track as against his poor show when he ran at Hyderabad, Amber Regent will be a force to reckon with in the Derby.

Amber Regent had beaten Alameda on far worse terms last time out and this time, everything favoured him. Alameda led the field into the straight and gave way to Amber Regent who took over the running in a trice to go away for a decisive win. Firecrest chased the eventual winner without hope. Alameda who has lost his old sparkle, plodded on to be a poor third. The erstwhile Stayers Cup winner, Alameda is definitely on the decline though he has always earned enough to maintain his upkeep by earning place money consistently.

The day saw veteran jockey M Shafiq face the wrath of the Stewards for his handling of Katina in the Agumbe Cup (Div II). With the price on Katina drifting out alarmingly in the betting ring, Shafiq was bound to be under close scrutiny. There was inspired support for True To Reason and the son of Reasonable made a successful start to finish dash, with Katina warming up late to be a suggestive second. Close home, Katina drifted in sharply towards the rails and Shafiq checked the horse abruptly, and many felt that he was preventing the horse from running to its potential. The fault that could be laid on Shafiq was that in the early part of the race, he did not make sufficient efforts to improve his position because in the run in for home, he was not exactly found wanting. Katina reportedly is a difficult horse to handle. The Stewards who ordered an enquiry into the running of the race after a hue and cry was raised by some members of the club and others, decided to hand down a suspension of 12 race days for the veteran which in effect means that Shafiq will be out of action for a month. The Stipes and Stewards in the past have ignored far more glaring acts of omissions.

The upper division of the race saw Jagged Edge who was knocking on the doors of success; win at the expense of favourite Star Diamond, despite drifting out to the outer grass in the final furlong. Star Diamond came in for spirited betting but jockey Prithviraj failed to get an advantageous position early on and by the time he could make up the leeway, Star Diamond was a spent force. Baira finished on strongly from the rear to take the third spot.

Michael Eshwer trained Star Wind made an impressive debut in the Novice Plate (Div I), accounting for the opposition quite easily. The daughter of Placerville, Star Wind got down to business straightaway and went on increasing the lead. Samyktaa held on take the second spot ahead of Avignon. The lower division of the race too went the way of favourite Talented Lady from trainer Ganapathy’s yard. Talented Lady did not have initial speed, trailed the field in the early part and when thing looked difficult, came up with a rattle on the wide outside to win impressively. Exalted who was in a forward position, ran on to take the second spot ahead of Arthi who was a noteworthy third.

The superior riding skills of Appu tilted the race in favour of Superiority over Silver Cat. Superiority led from the word `go’ and just about held on to win from the strongly supported Silver Cat.

Dare You Say had gone down close home last time out, floored by the finishing burst of La Bella Vita, when a win looked imminent for the son of Forest Fair. Now taking on a more friendly opposition, Dare You Say led from the start and was comfortably ahead of a late-finishing Dizzy Lizzy. All For You has improved and should strike soon. Cold Fire, running in the lower division, had no worthy opponent and was a long way ahead of Almonar, assuming command from the time the runners broke off from the gates. The racing overall was lackluster.