Irfan Miya  never  thought  Tororosso would do a Pyare Miya In the B N Gudiyappa Derby on Republic Day. The champion from the Hazara stud did it to become only the second horse in the century old Indian racing, to win a Derby as a maiden.  Owner Vikram Singh was delighted and Irfan was ecstatic. It was the same horse which kicked Irfan on his head in summer and in winter Tororosso put him in the Hall Of Fame.  The transformation from a high-kicking and highly strung juvenile to a calm and composed performer took a while but it was well worth the wait and all credit to Irfan and Silva Storai who excelled playing the role of a ring master taming a wild beast.

It was a superb effort from the winner who really donkey-licked  all his nine  to wear the Derby sash. Most  old hats in the game delighted with the champion who emerged the top gun in only his fourth start.

A delighted Irfan Ghatala disclosed that after his impressive effort in the 2000 Guineas he was confident that his colt will go close in the mega event. "I knew he had the talent and ability  but the way he outclassed the field came as a pleasant surprise," said Irfan while lauding the effort of Mumbai-based pro Neeraj rawal who produced an exemplary effort on the champion. 

"He was travelling nice and easy all through the back-stretch and the moment the race came on a boil, he produced an astounding gallop to put the issue beyond doubt," said Neeraj immensely pleased with the effort of Tororosso. 

Captain Morgan and the triple classic winner Battalion garnered the maximum support in the mega event but the two top fancies after raising hopes at the top of the straight failed to match strides with the top gun from the Hazara Stud Farm. 

Proud owner Vikram Singh revealed that the Tororosso think-tank always believed that the champion had the talent and ability but much to their disappointment he never could keep focus. "After he showed the spark confirming that he had shed his juvenile habits and was willing to put his mind in the race we knew we were in with a good cgance and he proved us all right," said Vikram Singh. 

The Vijay Mallya camp a trifle disappointed with the performance of Captain Morgan admitted that the winner was too good on the day. "He left them for dead approaching the distance post and that's a quality performance," said Zeyn Mirza.           

Irfan when asked if he will take Tororosso to Mumbai for the Indian Derby confirmed that his top ward will remain here and compete in the Invitation Cup on March. "The next target is the Invitation Cup and hopefully Salaazaar will do the job at Mumbai," signed off Irfan.    

In the other major event, the Bangalore Race Course  Commemoration Trophy run over a mile, the Narayan Gowda schooled Mickey Mouse made every post a winning one in the hands of Arshad Alam. The Ganapathy-trained Bold Command was the prime favourite in this event  but  despite leading pro Srinath doing his best the public choice was seen hanging badly at a crucial stage and eventually finished a tame third behind Auriga.

The fact that Bold Command had in his earlier effort beaten Mickey Mouse over a seven furlongs at the same handicap and that the Ganapathy ward in rousing form was in line for a hat-trick  saw most big bettors plum for the Ganapathy ward  but it was lesser fancied Mickey Mouse who appeared to have improved most from his last run while Bold Command it  is clear despite hanging lacked the spark to match strides with Mickey Mouse.     

The youngsters event, the Mysore Race Club Trophy  saw the Neil Darashah schooled promising colt Apache Prince record his second straight success in resplendent style.  The winner owned by B S Manjunath who sponsored the winter Derby was withdrawn at the starting gates last time out and Neil did well to enter this promising youngster on D-day and Apache Prince in the hands of Suraj Narredu made Manjunath proud. The Padmanabhan schooled Lawrence Of Arabia took the runner-up spot ahead of Kambaku who in his pillar to post effort failed to quicken at the all-important end.