The historic city of Palaces came alive with the fresh season starting off on an exciting note. The 20-day season kicked off on Thursday, with followers of form reaping rewards from the first race itself. The rich season boasts of total stakes of Rs 8.37 crores on offer, and  with a healthy 15% hike over the last year’s stakes. 

Among the other new facilities, a new Equine swimming pool, magnanimously sponsored by the Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry family, was recently commissioned taking the picturesque racecourse abreast with the top racecourses in the country. 

New safety railings confirming to International standards have also been installed. The flexible inner railing cushions the horses when brushed against and is in keeping with the safety standards observed across the globe.

 The season took off on an auspicious note with the public rage Brown Beauty (Oath-Royal Gesture / Pratap Stud) trained by G.Srinivas Babu scoring an effortless win in the Lavasa Plate, a sprint event for maiden 3 years old horses. Brown Beauty settled nicely in third while One Step Ahead rushed into the lead, followed by Eye Of The Needle. 

Rounding the final bend jockey P.Trevor brought Brown Beauty from the outside and the filly responded readily to take charge as they straightened up. Brown Beauty stretched out easily to win by a good margin of over four lengths. One Step Ahead stayed on in second. Silver Wood and Waterfall finished third and fourth respectively. 

Trevor recorded the first ‘double’ of the season when he guided favourite Sans Peur (Admiralofhtefleet – Sans Pareil/ Kunigal Stud) to a narrow win over Sir Majestic. Sans Peur settled down nicely with his main rival Sir Majestic racing alongside in the mid-pack. The early leaders faded away once Sir Majestic made a forward surge from the outside. Trevor found himself behind a wall of tiring horses, but he deftly poked through between horses to get a clear run. He was forceful once he took the gap and then began the battle with Sir Majestic. Sans Peur finished on fastest and pulled away from Sir Majestic in the last few strides and score his first win at Mysore on his first attempt here. Sir Majestic was a gallant second. The one to improve positions was Secret Touch who ran a good race to figure in the money. 

The seven year old Wind Wonder (Noverre-Scarborough / Sohna Stud) whose last win was on this track almost two years ago, returned to that winning form in the division I of the B. K. Krishnadevaraj Urs Memorial Trophy. Wind Wonder darted to the front as the gates opened to lead the field. Veni Vidi Vici was quick to race second with the top weighted Dark William holding the fence in third. Sun Glow, Protector Of Paris and Cool Baby raced close behind followed by the rest. Inside the last 400 meters, Wind Wonder kept racing well in the lead even as Veni Vidi Vici tried hard to bridge the gap and wrapped it up by a length. Cool Baby raced on in third ahead of Dark William. 

The lower division of the race saw a keener finish with Little Man (Oath – Temple Bay/ Pratap Stud) warding off a late but stiff challenge posed by Akha Teej. Apprentice jockey Dhebe, who is gaining in confidence and skill got Little Man going right from the start and led them into the straight. Little Man put in a steady gallop once into the straight and looked well in charge coming into the final furlong. Jockey PS Chouhan was egging on Akha Teej well before the bend and the filly warmed up a shade too late. However, she made a forceful forward charge and covered a couple of lengths in the last 100 but just couldn’t get Little Man, the winning post coming to the rescue of the winner. Red Red Rose too finished on well to take the third spot. 

Recently crowned Champion jockey S.John rode a confident race to guide home Sharat Kumar trained Perfect King (Express Wish-Shrone / Punjab Stud) in the lower division of the Pune Plate. Perfect King showed plenty of early speed to hit the front. The favourite Masada tracked the leader early on but not being able to keep pace fell back to the fifth position. Perfect King continued to hold on to the lead and had stolen a march by the time they got on to the straight. With no threat in sight Perfect King easily romped home to score an emphatic Victory. Masada rallied on to be the runner-up. Hackett and Cannes were third and fourth respectively.

B.Prithviraj trained First Step (Ivory Touch-Cimarron / Mare Haven Stud) proved to be a good miler while winning the Somanathpur Plate. First Step set out on a start to finish mission over the 1600 meters trip. The favourite Czar Rule raced in second and Attractive Bay in third followed by the rest. On the final stretch First Step continued to stay in charge and kicked away gamely to post a decisive victory. Czar Rule after rallying in second all the way, lost out to Attractive Bay in the final few strides. Repsol took the fourth spot, without making much of an impact.

In a stunning upset G.T.Surender trained Saratoga Spring (China Visit-Al Dente / Usha Stud) attempted a start to finish bid in the Virija Plate and pulled it off successfully as well. Saratoga Spring took a good jump from an inward draw and shot to the lead. Aretes settled in second followed by Heidrun, Everlasting Memory and the rest. Saratoga Spring built up on the lead and was almost four lengths ahead as they turned for home. In the straight Saratoga Spring carrying the bottom weight continued to kick on even as Aretes began to bridge the gap and held on gamely by a length and a half. Everlasting Memory was third and Stride To Success fourth.

Followers of favourites were in for more returns as prime fancy Fabulous Touch (Arazan – Yomalo/ Villoo’s Greenfield) who was heavily backed at race time. The S Ganapathy ward set about in chase of the early leader and came in with a powerful gallop soon on entering the straight. She showed smooth acceleration with a furlong and half to go to draw away from her rivals, galloping away majestically towards the winning post. She won easing up sparing well over four lengths to Super Strong. Artorius ended a faraway third.