Well after a long and frustrating wait, horses were back in action at this premier centre and the railbirds loved it. The fact that most fancied runners galloped to fame provided the silver lining and most punters particularly the favourite lovers returned home with many pink bags full. Six top fancies including four on-money winners on the first day provided the big bettors a reason to smile despite the fact that the big guns had chosen to adopt a cautious approach taking into account that the horses were out strutting their stuff after a long holiday.

Miserly quoted at the betting ring, Cosmic Ray (60/100) proved too good, winning the opening plum, the Rajyotsava Trophy in emphatic fashion. Leading saddle artiste Sandesh astride the Suleiman Attaollahi ward didn’t really need to work up sweat in the seven furlongs event, effortlessly assuming command at the distance post and putting the race to bed in the final furlong. Shesmyscript from Irfan Ghatala’s yard did well to gain the runner-up berth from Northern Alliance while Golden Oaks from Padmanabhan’s yard after racing to the front and setting a lively pace understandably failed to maintain the tempo and retired even before the race came on a boil. Suleiman next led in the ten to one shot Schafenberg in the upper division of the Jog Falls Plate run over a sprint to share the professional honours on the opening day with Irfan Ghatala and Rajesh Narredu, the three trainers leading in two winners apiece.

The young apprentice Shreyas confidently made every post a winning one on Schafenberg. The winner appears to be in the best of health and is set to provide an encore if her connections chose to quickly provide her the opportunity to strike it rich again. Perfect Rendition from Prasanna Kumar’s yard finished second ahead of the well backed Stone House, while another strongly fancied runner Drusilla from Neil Darashah’s yard blew all her chances in the first couple of furlongs violently running out and losing focus before finishing a tame fourth, much to the chagrin of her supporters.

Irfan Ghatala struck through the well fancied Garamond and the public rage Kensington Court in the concluding event, the upper division of the Ganga Plate run over a mile. Competing in the third division of the Jog Falls Plate run over a sprint Garamond looked the best in the paddock parade and it came as no surprise when the punters doubled their investments on the smart looker piloted by Pradeep Chouhan, who is maintaining his winning streak, consistently booting home winners at all the premier racing centres. Garamond didn’t really extend himself to beat Arlette while Ocean Dunes continued to pick up valuable stake money, finishing third. The Arjun Manglorkar ward has twice finished second and twice third from his last four starts and that really helps to settle the mounting corn bills during the pandemic.

Arjun too opened his account with the confidently supported Baltimore, who in the hands of Antony Raj showed a clean pair of heels to her 11 rivals in the second division of the Jog Falls Plate. After the morning favourite Jokshan from trainer Sriram Komadur’s yard opted out, Baltimore garnered the maximum support and readily justified the confidence of her supporters romping home in style. Bold Move gained the runner-up berth ahead of Reczai, while Dynamical from Arvind Ganapathy’s yard, it appeared needs a couple of cracks and is not likely to produce his best in whipless events.

Most followers of form including many track reporters were of the view that it will pay to start the season on the Rajesh Narredu-trained Amalfi Sunrise in the first event of the season, the second division of the Ganga Plate run over a mile. The bookmakers listed the Rajesh Narredu ward first favourite before big money came pouring in on the Narayan Gowda schooled Handsome Rocky. But Handsome Rocky found Amalfi Sunrise a tough nut to crack and had to rest content with the second spot. Capital Gains finished third while the other fancied runner Sizzler failed to make the frame.

Rajesh next led in Star Is Born a runaway winner of the principal added attraction, the Vidhana Soudha Trophy run over a distance of seven furlongs. Yash produced a cool and calculated effort on the short-priced winner who proved too good while sending out a strong message that he will back again on the winning podium when saddled next. Douglas from Padmanabhan’s yard surprised most while producing an eye-catching effort in the hands of Vinod Shinde to follow Star Is Born home.

Etosha from Neil Darashah’s yard was the other on-money favourite who nailed bold colours to the mast in the Tetrarch Plate run over a sprint. The winner provided Arshad Alam an arm-chair ride to success and on the strength of this performance will be hard to down when he gets into the starting gates in the weeks ahead. Divine Blessings finished second a good eight lengths behind the winner and that effectively makes it clear that the horses behind Etosha will take a while before they get to make a mark in the season.