Trainer Padmanabhan had a good reason to smile this afternoon, as his runners picked up the two trophies that were on offer during Saturday's racing at Bangalore. He had pitched Retribution in the day’s feature,The Chief Minister's Trophy to be run over a mile and a quarter. His other runner was a very impressive looking youngster named Pallazio's Sun. These horses are the property of sporting owner Capt. Jamshed Appoo, who was unable to make the trip from Mumbai to lead them in. He had sent Daniel Grant to guide the fortunes of both of them. The feature event attracted only five runners, who were 4 years old and over.In terms of sheer rating, there was a great disparity between all of them with Talk Of The Devil standing tall at 113, while Southern Chieftain at the bottom with a rating of 61. The terms of the race allocated them weights within 4 kilos of each other. The bookmakers had no problems in making Retribution an odds-on favourite to win this race, considering his gallant run in the Mysore Derby over the same trip. He was looking well in the paddock and ran accordingly. Hayes took Stafire to the front with Retribution in close second, while Fairytaleending, Talk Of The Devil and Southern Chieftain followed in close order. The order remained the same as they straightened for home, except that Daniel Grant was noticed moving up on the outside, and storming into the lead. Retribution kicked away from the rest, while Appu was seen coaxing Talk Of The Devil to get closer. The margin of victory was reduced, but the result was never in doubt. With this victory in a top class event, Retribution is now headed for Hyderabad, where he is going to be campaigned in the Derby in late January. Pallazio's Sun is a son of champion filly Pallazio, who till recently had held many sprinting records in Western India. He is a top class colt and has a bright future ahead of him. He was entered in the top division of the AP Kothavala Cup. His supporters could easily back him at 6/4, as there was a lot of support for Mystic Dancer, a full sister to Mystical. She too was looking fit in the parade ring, but was found wanting, when Prakash asked her to keep pace with Pallazio's Sun. Different Opinion did the early running with Pallazio’s Sun in close attendance, while Mystic Dancer was seen being urged to stay in contention. The favourite thereafter quickened smoothly and went many lengths clear of a late finishing Cassandra, while Rimpuche plodded on to be third. Mystic Dancer was a poor fourth and her progress should be watched carefully. Cassandra should be in the winner’s enclosure before long, while the winner shall be campaigned in the big events during the coming months. It has to be mentioned that he clocked a class I timing in his first career start. The lower division of this cup event saw a very erratic finish with the first four finishers being spread right across the track. Last Samurai was racing ahead of the favourite Lucky Mascot and Cart Wheel, while Mind Me was seen being whipped before the bend. Last Samurai started veering out and took the Prakash ridden favourite along with him. Chris Hayes saw the events in front of him and immediately ducked towards the rails. In doing so, Cart Wheel was able to take a firm hold on this race, when all of a sudden Mind Me decided to raise a fluent gallop. Although Mind Me finished on the edge of the outer sand track, his finishing effort was a shade better than the rest and he got the nod from the judge. Lucky Mascot and Last Samurai filled the frame, finishing close behind the first two. For reasons not known to many, Spirit Of China came in for very spirited betting in a sprint race for horses in class IV. This gelding is known for his aversion to morning track work, is sometimes slow out of the gates and occasionally stops to gallop midway through a race. However, he was at his best behaviour today and did everything right, except galloping fluently when it mattered. He was found flat footed whilst Appu took Silken Clare on a start to finish mission and galloped away from Antivirus and Gara Fluid. The favourite finished second last. Spirit Of China has taken down a lot of punter's money and should be ignored from a betting point of view. Irfan Ghatala's Bee For You attracted much money, but was not upto the challenge when Serious Warrior and Jedi Knight skipped away from him. Bee For You was able to save place money by finishing third. Irfan's Bastian Bay, an impressive winner in his previous start was well fancied in the last race of the day. Mangalya Prarambh was the public choice in this event and was engaged in a duel with the front running Ocean Crest, when Irfan's other runner Astounding Blue was seen arriving on the scene. Mangalya Prarambh found the top weight a stopper and faded into third, while Astounding Blue got the better of Ocean Crest near the winning post. Bastian Bay was not sighted. The moral of the story is that you should be extremely careful while backing horses coming from the yard of Irfan Ghatala, since they follow a very mysterious pattern of performance. A Run To Remember and Allegro were easy winners of the other two races in the day's card.