If any horse in the fray for the Madras Race Club deserved success for sheer consistency, it was Puttanna’s ward Augill Castle. Augill Castle had not missed the board in any of his four runs during the recently concluded Mysore season and hence his win in the 1800 metres race on Saturday in the day’s feature event, was not entirely unexpected. Jockey Appu rode a fine race on the son of Twist And Turn and managed to thwart the challenge of Golden Fortune quite capably. Appu is at his best when riding upfront and Augill Castle suited his riding style as the jockey dictated the pace cleverly and quickened decisively when the others were swooping on him at the final bend.

Golden Fortune had run a close second behind Adolfito at Mysore and as such, enjoyed favouritism. He was blazing the track and was expected to improve on his Mysore performance. Appu took Augill Castle on a start to finish mission, with Royal Force in close attendance, with the favourite in a striking third position. Royal Force joined issue with Augill Castle at the turn but faded out quickly even as Golden Fortune came up with a noteworthy run. But the front-runner was not in a mood to concede defeat as he stretched away to win by a shade more than a length at the finish.

Jockey David Badel had a rewarding day, booting home three runners but was founding wanting on It’s A Steal in the concluding race of the day. Badel had an armchair ride to victory on favourite Sure Future in the Taj Stud Plate (Div I). The daughter of Placerville proved too good for the opposition, bursting clear on turning for home. Zidane came late to be second ahead of Crow Wood. In the lower division of the race, the market trend favoured Slovania; It’s A Steal and Ampersand. It’s A Steal was slightly tardy at the start and Badel preferred to keep the second favourite in the rear of the field and then did not go out in search of ground but stayed rooted to the rails so much so that he was but a mere passenger on It’s A Steal at a crucial stage of the race. He was cramped for space and It’s A Steal could only finish a tame fourth. Ampersand who was racing alongside It’s A Steal till turning for home, was cleverly handled by Appu to get favourable galloping ground and the son of Rebounding Thrill won well, with a flourishing run in the final furlong. Slovania too did not have a smooth run. Trillennium was a surprise second. Badel was fined Rs 1,000 by the Stipes for not being alert at the gates and his riding was less than enterprising.

Master Craft had no worthwhile opposition to take on and his win in the N Wood Memorial Plate (Div I) was achieved with a great deal of comfort. There was a mishap in the race, with three jockeys coming a cropper. Jockey Md Shafiq, trying to work his way to the front on Grey Ridge, had his mount clipping the front-running Snow Deer and he was dislodged as a result. Bansuri who was racing immediately behind ran into the fallen horse and crashed on to the false rails, throwing apprentice Chandrashekar hard on the ground. God’s Gift too was in the way and jockey Vivek had a toss. While Bansuri suffered a bad cut in the shoulder due to the rough iron edge, which connects the false rails, Chandrashekar suffered a bad shake up and was rushed to the hospital for check up. The other two jockeys were lucky to escape with only a scare. The false rails broke into several pieces and one of them hit jockey Shoban Babu’s head causing Spark of Fire to lose whatever hopes he had of finding a place on the board. The lower division of the race went the way of Dominic trained The Music Lover who won, as he liked, from The Big Fight. Fancied Love Me Do and Arthi put up dismal show.

There was a big touch on Puttanna’s Simply Amazing who came n for spirited betting in the Sirsi Cup so much so that on money favourite Acquisitive ended up at a nourishing price in the ring. In the event, Acquisitive who led the field from the start, held on despite running green in the final furlong. Krishnan on Simply Amazing was nicely placed approaching the final bend but was squeezed out and in panic, the jockey came very wide into the straight. Simply Amazing threatened to overhaul the front-runner briefly but ran out of reserves in the closing stages of the races and was beaten comprehensively.

First season stallion Burden of Proof, who is standing at the Kunigal Stud Farm, had a winner from his very first juvenile, which was pitched into the fray. Satish Narredu trained Lindsay won quite competently from a late-finishing Vishnupriya. Favourite Maestoso had all the chances but was found wanting. Trainer Darashah, who was finding hard to get success in the season, finally ended his frustrating wait when Brave Persian narrowly held on to win from a late-finishing Star Diamond. Hello Hero was a close third while the well-supported Springtide put in a dismal performance.