It is always good to see the new trainers entering the winners’ circle. And it was Imtiaz Khan’s turn to make his presence felt at this centre dominated by the many big boys and veterans. Imtiaz in fact got his licence thanks to the Karnataka Racehorse Owners’ Association (KROA), who insisted that the boy had done enough to get his ticket and Imtiaz justified the confidence of his supporters recording a popular double on Thursday.

The public choice Shoot Out who had failed to produce his best in his last essay, Prince Academy from Arvind Ganapathy’s yard proving too good, made amends romping home in the lower division of the Gadag Plate run over a sprint and later Bella Pinky from his yard edged out Better Than Ever close home in the upper division of the event.

In line for a hat-trick and on the strength of his two impressive victories Scarlet Emperor from trainer Padmanabhan’s yard garnered the maximum support in the Stewards Trophy but the public choice was never in serious contention and at the end it was revealed that the favourite had broken a blood vessel. The six to one shot  Nesto to the delight of the Rai brothers, Muthappa Rai and Chandrashekar Rai won the event holding off the belated effort of the ten to one shot Shrewd Master who despite encountering rough passage and losing ground produced an astounding gallop  losing out by a `neck’ to the winner.  Advantageously placed in at the scales, Hendrix continued to disappoint retiring from the fray even before the race took a serious turn.  All credit to Imran Khan who despite being drawn badly in the event  boldly used the initial speed of Nesto to gain a favourable position early on before timing his final challenge to a nicety on the Manjri bred  winner.  

“Well we had big hopes on this horse but a series of small injuries put him back and now that he is fit and fine, he should progress higher,” said a delighted Chandrashekar Rai.

The lower division of the Belur Plate for juveniles saw the strongly fancied Amit Caddy ward Heisenberg cruise home to the delight of the punters. Exemplar who started the favourite before shifting out to fours, money pouring in on Heisenberg, was never in the hunt and eventually finished in the ruck.  

Peter Caddy, father of Amit Caddy immensely pleased with the success of Heisenberg questioned how his horse was not quoted in the odds at night pointing out that he was the overwhelming favourite at end. But then that is how the odds and fortunes fluctuate in this sport.

The upper division of the event saw the ten to one shot Goldberg from Neil Darashah’s yard bolt in the hands of Arshad Alam. The winner appears a good speedy type and more will be heard of him in summer. Able Friend backed to the exclusion of his 10 rivals again found one better and it could prove third time lucky for this Satish Narredu ward when next saddled.

Narayan Gowda continues to pull out rabbits from the bag and he did it again with Amanda. The facile last start winner easily defied the winning penalty cruising home in the Devarayanadurga Plate. The two joint favourites Our Little Dragon and Mystical Shadow flopped badly resulting in the friendless Zeeshan gaining the runner-up spot ahead of White Snowdrops piloted by Raja Rao.

In the concluding event, the top weighted Carbonado was strongly fancied by the Prasanna camp but B Harish astride the favourite lost a race which he should have won,  needlessly choosing to shift out before packing a punch and that cost him dear, Oriental Belle hitting the post first.

Earlier, the public rage Anarosa provided the Scottish pro David Allan an arm-chair ride to success in the Bhagamandala Plate runs over the distance of 2000 metres. The bred in the purple filly is in great heart and it will pay to follow her again next time out.