The Deccan Queen Lady In Lace produced another smashing performance, winning the Krishnaraja Wadiyar Cup run over a mile in effortless style. The intermittent rain nor the soft underfoot posed any problem to the champion filly. She travelled nice and easy all through the backstretch and the moment Suraj Narredu reminded her of the task ahead, she stormed through to score while sending out a strong message that she is the best at this campus this summer. Watchmyscript from trainer Irfan Ghatala finished a creditable second ahead of Shaman while Supreme General took the fourth spot. Lady In Lace next is likely to compete in the Maharaja’s Cup and on the strength of this performance, the Prasad Raju ward is tipped to score despite the fact that the `Lady’ needs to travel another 600 metres.

Padmanabhan-trained Romantic Star was strongly fancied by the stable connections in  Speaker`s Cup and the bred in the blue contestant justified the confidence of her supporters in the hands of leading pro Trevor Patel. The fact that the public choice who appeared a trifle rusty at the start produced a winning gallop in the straight quickly to overhaul Ultimate Warrior indicated that the strongly built filly is back at her best and will pick a couple of races in the months ahead.

The five to one shot Annalease proved too good in the upper division of the June Plate. After tracking the Dominic-trained Smile of Courage for most part of the trip, Annalease shot ahead in the final furlong while providing Yash Narredu an arm-chair ride to success, Favourite Arya Stark raced in patches and only managed to finish third behind Smile Of Courage.

Gregory Sandhu-trained Helenka was touted as a `moral certainty’ by most track reporters who were wondering what Helenka was doing in the lowest class when she consistently was beating higher ranked stablemates in the morning trials. They were all proved right the moment the progeny of Excellent Art donkey-licked the opposition in the hands of Shivakumar. New Era came home second, 11 lengths behind the winner while Aqua Blessing managed to save place money. It is needless to mention that Helenka will be heavily penalised but she is on top of her game and is set to provide an encore.

The Sulaiman Attaollahi schooled Cerise Noire made a smashing debut in the Everynsky Trophy. The winner looked a picture of fitness at the parade ring before making a statement that she has both the substance and style to graduate to the big league. Velocidad from trainer Pradeep Annaiah’s yard again failed to shed his maiden status.  King of the Wind did well to finish third ahead of Kanashni who looked a trifle gross at the paddock.

Irfan Ghatala- trained Iris edged out Bora Bora in a thriller in the M N Prakash Memorial Trophy run over a sprint. The speedy Bora Bora led from the start and soon kicked clear at the top of the straight. Anjar Alam astride Iris the top fancy was in a spot of trouble approaching the distance post but Anjar quickly shifted in and made his final run on the rails to gain the nod by the shortest of margins. Panama too finished wide on the track while finishing ahead of Optimistic Approach who produced a below par effort.  

The eight to one shot Lycurgus from the stables of Prithviraj recorded a facile victory in the upper division of the Flirting Vision Plate. After another lesser fancied contestant Habanero shot his bolt past the distance post Lycurgus stormed ahead and put the issue beyond doubt in the final furlong. Raw Gold gained the runner-up berth ahead of After Hours while the public choice Lawrence of Arabia came home fourth.

Darius Byramji-trained Set To Win who was running after a long lay-off  was widely expected to win the lower division of the Flirting Vision Plate but Barog it was who came up trumps in the hands of Ryan Marshall. Zala Princess showed some spark before she packed up, providing way for Bazinga to race home third.  

The S Ganapathy- trained Silver Dew who had the best credentials to score in the Fire Haven Plate duly obliged, the grey making every post a winning one in the hands of Imran Khan. The winner appears in good nick and it will pay to again follow the grey when next saddled.