It proved to be Chairman's day at the Nilgiris on Saturday. Three horses of the chief of the Madras Race Club (MRC), MAMR Muthiah cornered glory to the delight of his trainer Ramanathan and his trusted `Knight' Amit, who displayed good poise and fine temperament, while parading his skills on the tricky track at Udhagamandalam. Ramanathan and Amit combined to open their account on the lesser fancied Fabulous Show in the upper division of the Singara Handicap run over a sprint. The eight to one shot produced a winning gallop at the top of the straight to romp home a convincing winner, snuffing out the challenge of the second in demand at the betting ring Danny's Girl, while the public choice Kings Show from Mandanna's yard raced in patches and eventually finished last in the eight-horse field. Spurred by the success, the winning combo struck again in the lower division of the event, the well supported Big Treasure providing Amit an arm-chair ride to success. The winner on the strength of this outstanding effort is set to provide an encore. Cloud Jumper finished second ahead of Sea Script while Regal Kid who was placed fourth gained the third place after his rider Koshi Kumar successfully lodged an objection against Khet Singh guiding the fortunes of the topweighted Sea Script. The stewards rightly upheld the valid protest, Koshi Kumar contesting that Khet Singh had pushed him out at a crucial juncture.

In line for a treble astride Senora Bianca, none gave Amit and Ramanathan a chance, all the big players in the game including most pros contending that Slainte from James McKeown's yard was a cinch in the lower division of the Nilgiris Police Trophy after her impressive effort in her last essay during the Invitation Cup week-end at Bangalore last month. The public rage partnered by Umesh, who is considered a master of this track, hit the front at the top of the straight and looked set to power home before the long shot Senora Bianca produced a sparkling gallop in the final furlong to upset the apple cart of the on-money favourite, much to the disappointment of the railbirds, who had punted big, while advocating that the James ward is a `moral certainty'.

Earlier the upper division of the event was claimed by the favourite Romualdo piloted by Umesh.  The winner did well to dig deep into his reserves and produce the extra effort required to peg back Augusta from B Suresh's yard. The runner-up in fact was sweetly fancied by her connections, backed down from (6/1) to (7/2). But the gamble failed to come good, Romualdo to the relief of the big bettors lasting out to score in a close finish. The topweighted Proud from Anil Kumar's yard caught the eye while finishing third and is one for the notebook.

A picture of fitness at the parade ring, Supreme Grandeur from Robert Foley's yard garnered the maximum support in the Baaeed Plate run over a distance of 1300 metres. The strongly fancied public choice, who took a while to warm up, produced an astounding gallop in the `run in' home to quickly put the race to bed in the final furlong. Supreme Grandeur is in fine nick and it will pay to follow this talented filly from Robert's stable again next time out. Multiwave who found Supreme Grandeur too hot to handle is certain to enter the winners' circle in the weeks ahead.

Royal Baron dropped the biggest bombshell coming up trumps in the Emerald Valley Handicap. The 30 to one rankoutsider from Suresh's yard piloted by Manikandan floored his nine rivals sprinting home nice and easy to the delight of a few fluke-seekers while the favourite backers were totally dejected with the performance of the consistent Nightjar who failed to even save money in place. The topweighted Sinatra gained the runner-up berth ahead of Paris O'Connor who was heavily supported in place and Saikumar made sure that the Sebastian trainee finished in the money, edging out Anatolia in a close finish for the all-important third spot.

The eight to one shot Haran from G S Parmar's yard proved too good in the opening event, showing a clean pair of heels to his nine rivals in the Avalanche Handicap run over a sprint. The winner piloted by five-kilo claimer Gagandeep called the shots all through the six furlongs to register an impressive win. Daiyamondo expectedly gained the runner-up berth ahead of Tifosi, while the favourite Bella Amor was never in the hunt.