The  fact that a number of  high profile horses have lost out  including a few classic hopefuls  and that a couple of leading trainers  appear to have gone off the boil, the summer season at the start has not provided the lyrical ring, rather it is the ominous tone one gets to hear after most top favourites continue to bite the dust.

Well it is clear that a number of quality performers from other centres down here for summer  are taking time to adapt  and as a result have failed to display their true potential when fancied most.  And add to it a couple of local heroes have also let down their supporters making it difficult for the followers of form.  Madame Sultana convincingly beating Marine One, the highest rated filly Eternal Flame finishing a poor fourth in the Karnataka Juvenile Million and Myrtlewood another classic hopeful who performed below par to name a few have hit the punters hard and it’s time the trainers take stock of the conditions  and come up with fast and furious result yielding solutions to stay in contention and make an impact this summer.

Like Appy’s Pride who shocked the followers of form in the opening event on Saturday, Danube dropped a bombshell in the first race on Sunday, the Pradeep Annaiah ward edging out the favourite Quarter Cask in the Bourbon King Plate run over a sprint. Quarter Cask who had finished second behind Shining Bay  in his first start this season looked a winner at the distance post before Ajeet got busy on Danube and the winner gamely responding to his master’s call sped through to upset the applecart of the top fancy.

In the Moonlight Romance Trophy, Dazzling Bay from trainer S Ganapathy’s yard and Iceglow from the stables of S Padmanabhan garnered the maximum support. Both the stables fancied their youngsters strongly. While Dazzling Bay won the event comfortably, Iceglow melted at the top of the straight much to the disappointment of her supporters. Only Princess from Dominic’s yard did well to gain the runner-up spot ahead of Stormont who needed this run under his belt and will be a different proposition next time out. The same cannot be said in the case of Iceglow who appeared fit but yet lacked the gas to make an impression.

On the strength of his gutsy victory in his last start, the Amit Caddy schooled As Good as it Gets was rightly installed the favourite in the Baraloy Plate run over a distance of seven furlongs and the in-form Amit ward readily provided an encore, Yash Narredu producing a copybook effort on the winner. Hidden Hero impressed most while finishing a good second and is one for the notebook while it will not be long before All Proof gives definite proof of his potential.

Your Royal Majesty who had lost out to Royal Salute in his last essay was the public rage in the Chief Minister’s Cup run over a sprint despite the fact that many knowledgeable were of the view that the Shroff ward is best over a seven furlongs trip and the sprint is a little sharp for Your Royal Majesty.

But that did not stop the big bettors from going bang-bang on the Shroff ward who again finished second,  the six to one shot Smile Stone from Sharath Kumar’s yard taking the CM’s Cup home. Your Royal Majesty in fact was lucky to hold onto the second spot following a valid objection by T S Jodha against Ashish astride Your Royal Majesty for coming on and interfering with his progress on the rails.  Smile Stone piloted by Suraj was a deserving winner and this Sharath ward is set to add another to his list of wins this season.

Second behind  the in-form Vivid Impression in his last essay, Shrewd Master was fancied most in the V Venugopal Naidu Memorial Cup run over a sprint but the Arvind Ganapathy ward despite Sandesh producing his best had to rest content with the runner-up berth, the eight to one shot Castle Stuart gaining the day in the hands of a determined Neeraj Rawal. Amazing Redd finished a satisfactory third while Valerian and Scarlet Emperor were testing the conditions and their fitness levels in this event.

A thundershower before the start of the Usha Stud Plate run over a mile resulted in confusion, the punters confused to go with the favourite and the best performed youngster in the race, Phoenix Tiger or the promising Valiant Spirit who had made a smashing debut in winter. This resulted in the price doubling on the favourite Phoenix Tiger. But at the end, it was another `Jodi’ which went out of the window, Ostwind quietly fancied by the insiders and the right connections gaining the day in the hands of Yash.

Steyn who was guiding the fortunes of Phoenix Tiger after losing out lodged a protest against Yash for bumping and coming on to him sharply at the top of the straight.  The protest had no merit and taking into account that Ostwind was travelling better while Steyn was struggling to gain control should have been thrown out in quick time instead the chief stipendary  steward needlessly took a long long time to come to a conclusion  before the stewards agreed to rightly overrule the protest. The needless delay in what was a straight forward overrule decision resulted in the conditions getting worse and the Stewards decided to cancel the last race due to poor visibility.