It  always pays to go with someone who has seen it, done it and is consistently doing it on the big stage in a classic test. And the connections of Phoenix Tiger just did that, flying down Irish ace Colm O’Donoghue  to partner Phoenix Tiger, the bred in purple colt from the Manjri Stud Farm and Donoghue produced an exemplary effort which was an object lesson to the young hopefuls donning silks in this game.

After it was learnt that Authoritarian from Satish Narredu’s yard  was still under the cloud  and the moment the think-tank of Phoenix Tiger announced that Donoghue will partner Phoenix Tiger in the Colts Championship Stakes, the second classic of the summer season, the bookmakers smartly opened the Dallas Todywalla ward favourite despite the fact that he was beaten by Ostwind in his earlier start.

The seasoned bookies did one simple calculation before they arrived at the favourite decision. No Admirality and with Authoritarian not right, the bookies now knew that Multitude, Auriga and Phoenix Tiger going by the form book held the edge among the 14 in the fray.  They first struck out Multitude on the ground that Yash Narredu lacked the experience in the big event, Kavraj went out of the window simply because he was seen as someone who lacked the talent and temperament to excel on classic stage. So it was Phoenix Tiger and Colm O’Donoghue for the bookies.

Many knowledgeable too agreed on this simply because they were of the view that  jockey Steyn who had partnered the colt in his last effort failed to provide the required saddle assistance to the Mumbai mainhope and that run of the `Tiger’ needed to be ignored. They  reckoned that Donoghue to Steyn is like separating the men from the boys. Donoghue proved them all right, he produced a near-perfect effort to the delight of the railbirds who provided him standing ovation immensely pleased with the saddle artistry of the leading international.

Not taking any chances and quickly reacting to the crowding in to gain favourable position at the start, Donoghue slipped Phoenix Tiger ahead and then set the pace which suited his mount most. Auriga followed the leader with Multitude and Desert God in close attendance. The fact that none in the classic contest chose to go ahead and step up the pace made the job of Donoghue easy. He sat up there nice and easy knowing that all at his back were playing into his hands and the moment he negotiated the final curve he let the `Tiger’ under his leash go and the star performer from Manjri galloped to fame. Auriga worked hard to gain the runner-up berth while Good Prospect from Prithviraj’s yard  did well to finish third ahead of Multitude. The 1:38.22 seconds winning effort was faster than the time clocked by the champion filly Eternal Flame in the first classic.

On a classic day, it was again good to see another small trainer putting his hand up and make it count. On Saturday it was Nithyanand and on Sunday it was trainer Faraz Arshad who combined successfully with Imran to record a double through the two public choices, Power And Strength and Fresh Star. The former won the opening event in emphatic fashion while Fresh Start fresh from his victory earlier in the season had to be driven hard to score from the friendless Sands Of Time  in the Richelieu Plate run over a distance of seven furlongs.

In this event, Precious Glitter from Puttanna’s yard came into betting at the start before the right and wise connections hammered Fresh Start at end and the race started with two joint favourites. The one who got the equation right at end emerged the winner while the rest went for a big ride with a hole in the pocket.

After the strongly supported Manta Ray  from trainer Warren Singh’s yard flopped badly in the upper division of the Bergamo Plate, the ten to one shot Placervilles Glory making every post a winning one in the hands of Prasad, the four to one second choice, Speed Hawk brought the smile back on the face of the trainer Warren who looked dapper sporting a designer hat in the paddock. Speed Hawk won the D M Shivaswmay Memorial Cup in the hands of Yash Narredu  who again produced a copybook effort. The favourite Del Santo missed the bus due to the rough passage early in the race and he will recover the losses when saddled next.

The upper division of the Fantabulous King Plate was claimed by the second choice Alexandrite piloted by a determined Trevor Patel.  Bhawani Singh astride the favourite Mister Majestic  in this race, it was clear was on a suicide mission, running like a scalded cat before retiring in the final furlong. Trevor did well to pack punch in the end to gain the verdict while Imran guiding the fortunes of One Big Gang after tracking the runaway leader Mister Majestic for most part of the sprint trip lacked the enterprise to score and this made the task of Trevor simple at end.

The lower division of the event was claimed by the favourite Jigsaw from Mallesh Narredu’s yard who provided Yash an arm-chair ride to success. Zubaida satisfied most while finishing a game second and it will not be long before this grey from Irfan’s yard sheds her maiden status.

The final event, the lower division of the Bergamo Plate saw Suraj Narredu to the delight of followers of form boot home the topweighted top fancy Hackett who proved too good for his nine mediocre rivals. Quarter Cask again finished second and it could well prove to be fourth time lucky for the Neil Darashah ward when he races next.