The first “graded” race for three year olds was held at the Bangalore Turf Club on Sunday. The Nanoli Stud Juvenile Million (Grade II), a terms event to be run over seven furlongs, featured a long card of nine events. Well performed youngsters Murioi, Mariinsky and Albertino were amongst the eight acceptors in this race. The three of them had clashed in The Poonawalla Mutimillion a few months ago, and were now re-appearing after some well earned rest and preparation. Racing at level terms, Murioi had won that race and beaten the other two quite comfortably. The fact that he was a winner of only one race saw him being placed favourably at the scales today. He was receiving a bit of weight from the pair of them. As regards the others, the grey Kallu Mama had some sort of form to finish alongside the top three contenders. The bookmakers were seen offering 90/100 on Murioi. Considering their relative merits, these odds were quite generous. However, a bookmaker remarked that three year old Classic hopefuls are never 100% fit in their first start. They were therefore looking forward to an upset in the day’s feature.

Murioi’s stablemate Light Of Success did the pace-setting by taking an early hold of the proceedings. She led at a brisk pace from Mariinsky, Albertino and Kallu Mama. Those who had backed Murioi were pensive, as they watched Sreekanth holding the favourite towards the rear of the pack. Even though he was traveling well within himself, there was a fairly large gap between him and the leaders. The jockey’s got busier at the top of the straight. Mariinsky responded to Christopher Alford’s stick and charged ahead of the rest. The one’s closest to him had already surrendered without a fight. His only “threat” began to loom on the wide outside. Murioi had been put in top gear by Sreekanth and the blinkered colt was responding bravely. Murioi began to devour ground and it was only a matter of time before he appeared by the side of Mariinsky. Sreekanth enjoyed the luxury of putting him down a few strides before the winning post, and winning easily. Murioi confirmed that his victory at Mumbai was no flash in the pan, and also, that he will be the one to beat in The Colts Championship next month. The horse has maintained his brilliant form and is sure to improve after today’s exercise. Albertino and Kallu Mama fought an intense battle for the third place.

Horses bred at the Kunigal Stud Farm have been performing brilliantly this season, and the first two weeks of summer have seen a number of them dominating the local track. The progeny of Burden Of Proof have repeatedly proved that they are formidable opponents. Another three of them made a fine impression on Sunday. In the capable hands of retained rider Trevor Patel, Chiffon, Agostini and Alcazaba carried the famous white and black silks of Dr Vijay Mallya to comfortable victories. It all began with the opening race of the afternoon. Ganapathy’s Flashing Colours and the Attaollahi trained Chiffon were joint favourites in this race. The pair was backed to the exclusion of their rivals. Both of them seemed fully tuned for this event and it was difficult to separate them on paddock looks. With Chiffon taking off quickly and leading from Flashing Colours, it was evident that we had a match race on our hands. With both Trevor and Sreekanth riding at their best, the two fillies pulled away from the others. Chiffon continued her good work in front and went onto win easily.

The Sir Charles Todhunter Memorial Cup, a class III handicap over seven furlongs, had the makings of a real thriller. A number of stables were using this race as a lead-up and pointer to the ensuing Classic’s in summer. Shyam S Habbu’s Gerome, Bipin Salvi’s Ace Bucephalus, Dhariwal’s Agostini and the Deshmukh trained Fastest Finger were fancied by their respective camps. The four of them figured on the result boards, but not necessarily in the order that they were expected to. In the end, it was Agostini who proved to be much too strong for the rest of them. Despite a slightly sluggish start, Agostini wove his way through a packed field and found himself well placed at the bend. Just as Ace Bucephalus and Fastest Finger were trying their best to match strides with each other on the wide outside, Agostini moved menacingly towards the inner rails. Being guided confidently by Trevor, Agostini showed a strong turn-of-foot to stride clear of Fastest Finger and Ace Bucephalus. Favourite Gerome was unable to make a mark against these much superior horses. The gelding plodded along to finish a tame fourth.

A brilliant effort from Alcazaba ended another wonderful afternoon of racing for Dr Mallya’s fans. Running over a sprint in the last and final race of the day, the chestnut filly justified the confidence of her numerous supporters. The manner and style of her winning was indicative of a bright future. A mere comparison with something that had happened earlier in the day was enough to realize that Alcazaba is destined for the highest class. Will Star had won a class II sprint barely an hour before it was Alcazaba’s turn to jump out of the starting gates. Carrying much more weight than Will Star, Alcazaba had clocked almost a second faster than him.  Trevor rode her with supreme confidence. Allowing Triumphant, Point Taken and Star of Desire  to make the early pace, he was content to bide his time. Weaving her way towards the inner rails, Alcazaba was soon alongside. A mere push was enough to settle the issue. Lengthening her strides like a seasoned campaigner, she powered away for a very easy victory. Considering the fact that this was only her second career start, Alcazaba must be backed till beaten. Trainer Suleiman Attaollahi has done really well with her.

Trevor failed in his mission to add another point to their tally, when Sandstorm buckled under pressure and lost in a close finish to Neil Darashah’s Spaniard. The betting boards had indicated that it was going to be a match race between the two of them, and that is exactly what it turned out to be. While Sandstorm tracked the leader Cool Approach till the bend, Srinath and Spaniard were right behind them. Nobody really moved till they turned for home. Sandstorm’s progress was hampered marginally by an incident at the bend. He slipped sideways and lost his momentum.  By the time he regained his rhythm, Spaniard had assumed command of the situation. Trevor tried his best to bridge the gap, but it was apparent that he was fighting a lost cause. His efforts to have the placings altered in the Stewards Room failed to elicit the desired result. His objection against Srinath was over-ruled in quick time by the authorities. For the records, an exhausted Cool Approach managed to hold onto his third spot till the wire.

A sprint for horses in class II witnessed a three year old clashing with older and more experienced horses. L D’Silva’s filly Palm Springs had come into her own in recent months and reeled-off three straight victories at Malakpet. Since she had worked exceptionally on the training track at Bangalore, Palm Springs was installed as the first choice of the punters. The youngster was receiving weight from her nine rivals, and the timings that she had clocked at her home centre showed that she was comfortable over the present trip. Even though she had been allotted the widest draw, it was felt that she possessed the speed to get into a striking position very early in the race. With Volcano and Will Star getting straight down to business, Palm Springs had no option but to travel wide throughout this race. By the time Imran Chisty got her to gallop on the right foot, Will Star had moved ahead of the others. With Ashok Kumar making full use of his whip, Will Star continued his good work in front and romped home to a narrow victory over Palm Springs and a tired Volcano. The last named had apparently burst a blood vessel while doing the front-running in this race.

Padmanabhan trained Isn’t She Special had made a belated start to her career in the middle of March, and finished a close second to Royal Salute over 1400 metres. She elected to run in The Ministerial Trophy on Sunday. Even though the trip was marginally shorter than what she would have liked, the quality of her opposition was fairly ordinary. Some of them were making a debut, while the others had run poorly thus far in their careers. Accordingly, Isn’t She Special started as a money-back favourite in this race. Moving comfortably behind early leader Kentucky Rose till the bend, the favourite was urged at the bend. Responding to Imran Chisty’s call, she went ahead of the others and won by a huge margin from a late finishing Force Ensign. Kentucky Rose, Conrod and Adriphos were almost side-by-side in a three way fight for the minor placings. Adriphos made a good move from the last position, and the colt looks capable of improving on this performance. The winner is sure to win her share of races in the coming months.

Irfan Ghatala’s Ice Storm finally came into his own and won an age group race for horses in the lowest category. Bred as a half-brother to Sun Kingdom, he had taken down a lot of money in his previous start. The jockey had reported that his mount had run “green” throughout that race. Irfan gave him a lot more work and targeted him at today’s event. Ashhad Asbar allowed him to move alongside La Isla Bonita in the back-stretch, and urged him in the straight. Those who expected the half-money favourite to romp home in style were in for a minor surprise. He just about managed to keep a hard ridden Smokehead at bay. Ice Storm will have to show a fair amount of improvement to win another race this season. On the other hand, Smokehead can win in a similar set of runners. The others in this race were there for an “outing”.