Top trainer Prasanna Kumar started the summer season with a bang. A treble on the opening day including the two popular winners, Siege Courageous and Vivaldo after the 20 to one long shot Mighty Zo shocked the followers of form, provided Prasanna a big reason to smile. Siege Courageous on the strength of his smashing victory in his last start in winter, had the best credentials and looked outstanding taking into account that the Prasanna ward had clocked a very smart time of 1:5.65 seconds without extending himself over a distance of 1100 metres. But the Mumbai brigade strongly fancied Fighton. The M K Jadhav camp was very bullish on the youngster who had recorded a good time while shedding his maiden status in his second start and more importantly was in receipt of 10.5 kilos from Seige Courageous.  The handicap advantage nor the fact that Fighton was blazing the morning trial track made any impression on the Prasanna ward and Seige Courageous cantered home despite the fact that he jumped out slowly and graced the wrong end of the field for most part of the sprint trip. Fighton, who found the winner too hot to handle finished second ahead of Cash Out, while the topweighted Michigan Melody completed the frame. Seige Courageous, it is needless to mention is in prime form and is set to register a hat-trick, when saddled next. 

Making his maiden appearance, Vivaldo was backed to the exclusion of his seven rivals in the lower division of the Welcome Trophy, the principal added attraction run over a six furlongs trip. A cloud burst just before the start nor the fact that he was making his debut in pouring rain made any impression on the goodtype of youngster. The on-money favourite  produced a sparkling gallop in the final furlong to zoom past Clifford, who in his attempt to make every post a winning one ran out of gas in the final 100 metres and only managed to finish third behind the runner-up Good Tip who could go one better in her next essay. 

The upper division of the event saw the Hyderabad challenger Verocchio from trainer Laxman Singh's yard prove too good for his eight rivals making every post a winning one in the hands of top gun Trevor Patel. Second in demand at the betting ring, Tehani from Sulaiman's yard made a favourable impression in her debut finishing on purposefully at end and on the strength of this effort is tipped to get in to the winners' circle when saddled next. 

The Quasar Plate run over a distance of seven furlongs was a very open affair, Southern Force from Faraz Arshad's yard, Aherne from the stables of Imtiaz Khan, the Warren Singh-trained Sea Blush and Antilope under the care of M R Singh in with a chance to come good. But it was Mighty Zo who dropped a bombshell, producing an astounding gallop in the final furlong to snuff out the challenge of Aherne. Antilope finished a fair third, while Southern Force was never in the hunt. Now that Mighty Zo has earned a winning bracket in style, it will pay to support this Prasanna ward again next time out. 

The lesser fancied Fast Rain brought the smile back on the face of Jadhav, coming up trumps in the opening plum, the Racing Patrons Trophy run over a sprint. Moon's Blessing from Sulaiman Attaollahi's yard was fancied most, but the public choice raced in patches and only managed to save money in place. Star Glory from Satish Narredu's yard called the shots for most part of the trip before Promise Kept and Fast Rain stormed up to dispute the issue and in the final furlong it was clear that the Mumbai challenger would stand tall at the victory podium. And the Jadhav ward in the hands of N S Parmar did just that to the delight of the Mumbai camp. 

Trainer Neil Darashah and Imran Khan started the season on a winning note, True Faith making a fine impression while pegging back the strongly fancied August in the opening event, the May Day Plate run over a distance of seven furlongs. The moment Imran pushed True Faith ahead at the top of the straight it was all over bar the shouting, the winner quickly gaining command and putting the race to bed in the final furlong. August followed the winner home, while Roman Spirit caught the eye finishing third ahead of another fancied contestant Cat Whiskers who performed below par.   

Following the thunder shower after the penultimate event, the stewards rightly decided to cancel the last event, the Kunigal Stud Plate and that helped most punters return home even-stevens on the first day.