Smile Stone has always provided trainer Sharath Kumar a reason to smile. The game galloper again did it on Saturday shouldering a backbreaking weight of 60.5 kilos and with apprentice jockey M Naveen to guide his fortunes over a seven furlongs trip. The fact that the nohoper Dubai One set a scorching pace suited Smile Stone and in the final furlong the Sharath ward produced his best to win the Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Memorial Trophy in emphatic fashion. The Ganapathy-trained Dazzling Bay finished a game second ahead of the favourite Cold Stream piloted by leading pro who drew a blank much to the chagrin of his supporters.

On the strength of his second behind High Profile on the second day of the season, Atlantic City garnered the maximum support in the Gulbarga Plate and the Amit Caddy ward in the hands of a confident Ramu justified the confidence of his supporters comfortably snuffing out the challenge of Island Pearl to win the Gulbarga Plate. Thejaguar finished a tame third ahead of Claire.

In the second event, the Irfan Ghatala schooled Brunesco was surprisingly the top favourite despite the fact that Anjar Alam was set to partner the public choice. The favourite failed to make the frame and the Dominic-trained Tamara, it was who romped home in the lower division of the Amathos Plate  run over a sprint. Tamara who had failed to display her true potential after she dragged Deepak Patel to a third spot in her first attempt this season looked a picture in the paddock and Imran Khan didn’t really need to exert himself to help Tamara enter the winners’ circle. Roaring Thunder surprised a few gaining the runner-up spot ahead of Queenofgoodtimes who will be a different proposition next time out.

The upper division of the event saw the friendless Areca Cruise drop the biggest bombshell edging out the second in demand at the betting ring Day Flower at the shadow of the winning post.  The public rage Six Degrees, John astride after streaking ahead at the distance post failed to match strides with the first two and again proved to be a costly failure. The winner Areca Cruise paid a rich dividend of Rs 547 on a tenner at the tote window.

Arshad Alam who piloted the Prasanna Kumar-trained Areca Cruise earlier guided home another winner from the same stable, Side Winder who made every post a winning one without extending himself in the upper division of the Ruia Stud Plate run over a sprint . Virat finished second but the one who caught the eye in this event was Rich Revival who despite the apprentice Ryan Ahmed making no serious effort finished full of running to take the fourth spot.

The lower division of the event saw another on-money favourite Lord Darlington from S Padmanabhan’s yard show a clean pair of heels to his nine rivals. The winner is on top of his game and is set to provide an encore.

After finishing second behind Watchmyscript who finished second in the 1000 Guineas, Towering Heights from trainer Arjun Manglorkar was rightly tipped to win the Chickmagalur Nirvanappa Shetty Nanjamma TMP Cup but the top fancy after raising hopes in the final furlong flopped. The ten to one shot Legacy Dream from Mahesh’s yard won the event edging out Admiral One. Into The Spotlight continued with his below par efforts and this one from Padmabhan’s yard is best left ignored.

After a long time it was good to see trainer Manohar leading in a winner. The veteran was all smiles after Masters Glory from his yard won the Royal Russian Plate run over a mile. Manohar’s camp fancied the five-year-old gelding to pull it off after his eye catching effort in his last essay and Mastrers Glory responding gamely to his masters call just did that  to the delight of his connections. Ocean Park finished second ahead of One To Note who will earn his cornbill if his trainer choses to exploit him over a seven furlongs trip.