More than 45 days before the start of the Bangalore summer season, trainer Suleiman Attaollahi is smiling while designing the best plans for the big summer ahead. Suleiman is happy that the two best youngsters, the talented filly Devoted Eyes from the stables of Cooji Katrak and the winner of the Poonawalla Multi-Million, Accolade from champion trainer Pesi Shroff’s yard have chosen to skip the summer season. The talented young gun who has made the big league fears no competition  and time and again has successfully strutted his stuff  on the big stage. He in his yard has Serjeant At Arms, the best juvenile at the Bangalore campus and knowing that the other two classic hopefuls Devoted Eyes and Accolade will not parade their skills this summer, Suleiman, it is needless to mention will be delighted with the prospect of dominating the season with his 'Serjeant’.

It is learnt that the owners of Devoted Eyes left it to Cooji to take a call on Devoted Eyes and the leading Mumbai trainer chose to skip Bangalore while the champion trainer Pesi Shroff who struck a bad patch last summer, most of his wards including Myrtlewood who is the best filly on the circuit, failing to make an impression before she hit the high road back at her parent-centre.  

Admirality, the top colt who was ranked high and looked in good nick before the classics suffered a major tendon injury and that hit Pesi hard. The champion who under his care has some of the best youngsters including Accolade and a few got-abroad juveniles who are yet to make a debut has decided to take a well-earned break after enjoying a good run in Pune and Mumbai and during the Indian Turf Invitation Cup week in Chennai early this month where in he emerged the most successful trainer.

The news that the top two will not be in action here will be a big disappointment for the railbirds at this centre taking into account that many debates were on in the many snack bars and coffee joints as to who among the top three held the edge at this stage. According to most old hats in the game it is the filly who is rated ahead of the two colts, Accolade and Serjeant At Arms while the pedigree pundits are of the view that Serjeant has the best credentials upto a mile.

In any case now that Accolade and Devoted Eyes will not be here the Serjeant who has remained unbeaten from his two starts, beating the best without unduly extending himself in his second start, stands tall and Suleiman holds a whiphand in the summer classics.

Suleiman apart, a couple of other local trainers including Dominic who under his care has a good talented filly Justice Angel will now fancy their chances in the Fillies Championship Stakes. Dominic who recorded his first maiden success here on Starlet before losing out, the filly testing positive for a banned drug now understands that in the absence of Devoted Eyes he has another big chance to register his maiden classic victory and Dominic will be working overtime to get the filly in top shape for summer.

Padmanabhan, who hogged the headlines with Desert God who entered the Hall Of Fame and joined the list of all-time greats after his victory in the Indian Turf Invitation Cup following his win in the Indian Derby, S Ganapathy, Neil Darashah, Irfan Ghatala and  Arjun Manglorkar too have a couple of decent youngsters in their ranks and they are now getting their daggers out for the `Serjeant’.