Flashing Star’s reputation as the best three-year old in the country suffered a severe setback as the son of Razeen faltered badly in the Gr.2 Karnataka Juvenile Million. The Hyderabad challenger Yes Es Yes Ses justified the high expectations of his trainer Vittal Deshmukh by winning the feature event quite capably from Flashing Star and Aleksei in soft underfoot conditions following heavy rains. Yes Es Yes Ses who had two wins to his credit at his home centre was rated at 35, a ranking given only to a handful of local horses including Holding Court, winner of the Nanoli Juvenile Million. While Flashing Star was clearly beaten, Democraticus beat himself as he was practically out of the race from the word `go’, getting off to a tardy start and not finding foot. Caprese who was a close fourth should come on a lot after this run and should be a frontline contender for the Fillies Trial Stakes. Flashing Star was the overwhelming favourite to win on the basis of his two smashing wins at Mumbai. Flashing Star is a horse who takes time to get into his momentum. When he won the Breeders Produce Stakes, he was in the 10th position till the final two furlong but he picked up speed in a trice when he was pulled on the wide outside. In the mile long Shapoorji Pallonji Juvenile Colts Championship, he got going only inside the final 100 metres. As such, the short Bangalore straight was expected to go against him but race-goers harbored no such doubts as they made him an on-money favourite. In the event, he was gaining momentum well after the race was in the safe keeping of Yes Es Yess Ses who quickened nicely in the final furlong. May be he will be seen in different light over the mile long Colts Trial Stakes but at the moment, Holding Court definitely enjoys the edge. It poured before the start of the 'Million' and the underfoot conditions changed dramatically and timings in the rest of the races were slower by nearly five seconds. Admiral’s Force hit the front followed by Caprese, Yes Es Yes Ses, Aleski, Flashing Star and the rest, with Democraticus completely out of the race following a dismal start from the gates. Admiral’s Force came into the straight a few lengths ahead of the field with Caprese in hot pursuit but it was evident that an upset was on cards when Yes Es Yes Ses moved up with a flourish and took charge inside the distance post with Flashing Star making a belated effort which was good enough to edge out Aleksi and Caprese from the runner-up spot. For the second week running, a Hyderabad based horse has won the Graded race in Bangalore. Last week Coral Gables placed himself as the highest rated horse in the country by winning the Gr.3 Jayamacharaja Wadiyar Cup. There was a concerted effort to restrict the number of horses from Hyderabad participating in the Bangalore Summer Season on the ground that they were coming here for summering and were not contributing to racing forgetting that horses from the other neighboring centre were worse off in comparison. Most of Hyderabad horses make an honest attempt though they are often beaten by better set of horses. But in the last one year, horses from Hyderabad have made significant strides and it is a pity that some officials and the powers that be could have pursued their intention to prevent more horses from this centre taking part in the summer racing. Interestingly, about 30 horses from the other neighboring centre were seen in action in the last two weeks and ran detached from the field. So much for their contribution to racing in Bangalore and the mindset of the officialdom! Be that as it may, jockey Appu was in the limelight booting home four winners to start off the season on a bright note. Barring the Juvenile Million, seven of the eight races went the way of favourites. Appu’s winners came through Big B who held on to win from a late-finishing Perfect Mover, Rafaga, Indian Shining and Estrella who all had an easy passage to victory. India Shining staved off the challenge of front-running Witch Doctor quite capably. Confluence, half-sister to the well performed Holding Court, ran on well to finish third in this educative run and should be hard to down next time out. Darius Byramji continues to enjoy a good run, with a brace of winners through Arturo and Estrella. Darius thus had the distinction of saddling five on-money favourites to victory in two days. Arturo who had let down twice at Mumbai, turned out to be a different proposition after being gelded. Arturo hit the front from the start and held on comfortably to win from an inexperienced Risada who took time to get into her momentum. Arturo clocked a smart time of one minute 25.7 seconds but one cannot get too excited about the timing and rank him straightaway as classic material. Risada’s coat was dry but there is tremendous scope for this well bred filly to turn out into a top class contender. In the day’s other action, Cascabel had it easy against heavily supported Princess Emily who was left stranded while Penny Tweedy held on to win from a late-finishing Diamond Tops.