On the strength of her second behind Victoria Punch in the 1000 Guineas, Polished Girl from trainer Rajesh Narredu's yard certainly should have been the top choice in the F K Irani Memorial Million, the plum event run over a distance of seven furlongs on Thursday. But that was not the case. Instead it was Trevalius from James McKeown's yard, who on the strength of his facile victory in his last essay at this centre garnered maximum support and closed an overwhelming even-money favourite, while Polished Girl was freely available at (5/2). 

It was surprising that most knowledgeable and many grey haired gurus of the sport too made no secret of their opinion that Trevalius is in the classic mould and that he would pass his first big test with flying colours. The fact that he beat a mediocre set in his last essay over a mile and that he was up against a runner-up in the first classic and a couple of seasoned performers  failed to make an impression on the pundits, who touted Trevalius as a good bet. The top fancy in what proved to be a different ball game flopped and flopped so badly that the self proclaimed pundits were looking for a place to hide. Trevalius tracked Polished Girl till the five runners negotiated the final curve and the moment the race came on a boil, it was O Hansini from Rakesh's yard piloted by leading pro Akshay Kumar who was seen crossing swords with Polished Girl, while the heavily backed favourite was struggling to keep pace. Suraj astride the winner packed punch and drove home Polished Girl, who kicked clear in the final furlong to put the issue beyond doubt.O Hansini finished second ahead of Forseti, while Trevalius only beat one home and that was the nohoper Braxton. 

The Ranganathittu Plate split into two divisions saw two second favourites come good in the two races. The speedy Country's Flash from Feroz Khan's yard piloted by Rozario proved too good in the upper division, while Facets Of Life partnered by apprentice jockey Darshan Antony earned his cornbill in the lower division. In the top division, Vijaya Falcon on the strength of his facile victory in his last start was fancied most, but the public choice failed to match strides with the first two, Country's Flash and Ineffable and had to rest content with the third spot. 

Quando Quando from Michael Eshwer's yard was backed to the exclusion of her 13 rivals in the lower division despite the fact that she was drawn badly (14) in a sprint event. The favourite did produce her best but that was just not good enough to stop Facets Of Life entering the winners' circle. D Fighter finished third ahead of Ewandor, who will prove a different proposition, the day his connections choose to let him go and prove his mettle. 

Lucky Chance from Dominic's yard and Unyielding from the stables of Darius Byramji enjoyed top billing in the K Thammanna Gowda Memorial Trophy run over a sprint. Unyielding in the hands of  Arul produced a winning gallop in the final furlong to stand tall at the podium, while Lucky Chance partnered by the most sought after apprentice Saqlain finished a close fourth, nosed out by Eddie The Eagle. The runner-up Wild Spell is in good nick and it will not be long before she earns her winning bracket. 

The number of times Douglas has lost when he is fancied to score and yet again punters readily back him the next time he is saddled is not funny at all. This time again he was well beaten and finished a tame third. It was the same result in his last exercise in the Bengaluru summer season. Extraordinary from the stables of Sharath Kumar produced a good turn of foot to snuff out the challenge of Mystic Eye who looked set to score the moment he got the better of Douglas. Mystic Eye is certain to go one better when saddled next and as far as Douglas is concerned he deserves one last chance this season. 

Sharath Kumar earlier happily led in the favourite Smile Around, the winner of the Kurukshethra Plate. The winner on the strength of his last victory was expected to provide an encore and in the hands of Saqlain, the Sharath ward just did that to the delight of his large supporters. My One And Only finished second ahead of War Eagle, while Fassbinder was never in the hunt. 

In the opening event, the Valaroso Plate run over a distance of seven furlongs, trainer Girinath pulled off a good gamble on Herodotus, who was backed down to (5/1) from (10/1). Kiran Rai guiding the fortunes of the Girinath ward produced a copybook effort to snuff out the challenge of another lesser fancied contestant Sekhmet, while the favourite Elite Agent failed to save even money in place.