Two talented horses In Thy Light and Elpenor, winner of the Poonawalla Multi-Million made an appearance after a long lay-off and both were strongly fancied to make a winning comeback considering the fact that both had beaten horses which are now in the classic league. Both looked good in the paddock, indicating that all is well and soon they will be back standing tall at the winning podium. But that was not to be. To the disappointment of a majority of the railbirds, the Prasanna-trained In Thy Light stumbled and dislodged the in-form saddle artiste G Vivek and came back lame, while Elpenor from the stables of Sulaiman Attaollahi, it was clear was very rusty and lacked the desired fitness to make a mark on a comeback trial. The two big shocks cost the punters dear. And the followers of form returned home with a big hole in the pocket. 

After he beat Meropi in the winter season following his maiden success, beating the double Derby winner Touch Of Grey in his debut, In Thy Light suffered a setback in training and was making a comeback after nine long months. The fact that he had impressed most in his final two preparatory gallops after a satisfactory mock race provided the required confidence the punters need to make big investments and In Thy Light despite the big break was a overwhelming on-money favourite, many considering him a `moral certainty' taking into account that he was pitted against moderate rivals after his success against classic winner. The public choice immediately after the jump out for the seven furlongs K N Chennabasappa Memorial Trophy, was tightened by Ricardo and in the next furlong, Antony Raj astride Ricardo again moved in sharply resulting in the fall of the public choice. The stipes and stewards did well to conduct an enquiry and after questioning Antony, rightly decided to disqualify Ricardo,who had placed third. It was a clear case of Dangerous riding and Antony may now end up cooling his heels for six to eight weeks. The topweighted Stellantis, second in demand at the betting ring, emerged the winner, pegging back Mazal Tov piloted by Srinath, while Serai was pushed up to the third slot after Ricardo's disqualification. 

In The Narasimharaja Cup, nohoper Pink Jasmine played the role of a pacemaker to his much fancied stablemate Elpenor in the mile long trip.setting up a scorching pace. But Elpenor half-way home, it was clear was struggling to keep pace and in fact looked in distress before negotiating the final curve. The strongly supported public choice piloted by Fanny Norton failed to improve and to the surprise of most knowledgeable, it looked like Pink Jasmine may end up winning before Saqlain astride Shabelle, another contestant from Sulaiman's yard stormed up to snuff out the start to finish mission of Pink Jasmine close home. Peyo finished third ahead of Auspicious Queen, while all that Elpenor did was take a lot of good money down the drain. Minutes later the rider of Auspicious Queen, Angad lodged an objection against Saqlain for squeezing him out at the all-important end, which the stipes and stewards upheld, which helped the supporters of Auspicious Queen gain money in place, while the few fluke seekers who had placed small bets on Shabelle lost out, the original winner, relegated to the fourth spot. What surprised most in this debatable decision of the stipes and stewards was the ruling that Saqlain had stopped Angad and closed out the opening, Angad was seeking to join the issue and make the final dash. Saqlain and Shabelle were ahead and Saqlain will stop anyone seeking an entry from the back door. This is a given strategy and this is how you play. The man in front will not stop or move out and allow the man from behind to join in. It is like, sir you are stuck, don 't worry I will move out and provide you the desired room. No jockey will do this and it is just not done. A jockey caught in a traffic problem thanks to his injudicious approach will have to pay the penalty. Many day in and day out miss the bus. But Angad thanks to the stipes and stewards managed to topple the winner after he finished a poor fourth thanks to his injudicious and inept effort astride the Narayan Gowda ward. Finally the second placed Pink Jasmine was declared winner, while Peyo was moved up and gained the runner-up berth. 

It was good to see Dominic record a double through the well-backed Thewhisperquietly and the five to one shot Jersey King in the Ted Fordyce Plate for juveniles. Jersey King emerged the second juvenile from Dominic's yard to enter the winners' circle from the five youngsters, who have embarked on their careers this summer. La McQueen from Arjun Manglorkar's yard was fancied most but he found Jersey King too hot to handle on this day. 

Thewhisperquietly competing in the lower division of the Arkavati Plate was a medium of a solid gamble. The winner who looked a picture of fitness at the parade ring was hammered down to (80/100) from (2/1) despite the fact that Surya was listed to guide the fortunes of the Dominic ward. But as ;luck would have it fortune favoured the brave and the Dominic trainee to the delight of his large following `nosed' out Singhsaab from Azhar Ali's yard in a humdinger. 

The  upper division of the event was claimed by another favourite Ardakan from Darius Byramji's yard piloted by leading pro Srinath, who had earlier booted home Jersey King. A facile last start winner, Ardakan was rightly fancied most and he readily provided an encore. Sekhmet did well to gain the runner-up berth ahead of Castaneda. 

The Neil Devaney schooled Augusto dropped a bombshell coming up tops in the Dancing Fountain Stakes run over a sprint. The 20 to one rankoutsider edged out the favourite Tripitaka in a cluster finish much to the chagrin of the followers of form. 

In the concluding event, the Chunchanakatte Falls Plate run over a sprint, Bold Act from Satish Narredu edged out last start winner Crosswater and Chililady in a thrilling finish. But what surprised most was Bold Act in his last essay failed to justify favouritism in the hands of leading pro Suraj Narredu and in fact performed like a dud finishing more than five lengths behind the winner Crosswater. And this time around, backed down from (9/2) to (2/1) sprouted wings and beat Crosswater in the hands of an apprentice who is not a few steps, but many ladders beneath the saddle artistry of Suraj.