You couldn't have asked for any better on Derby eve. Four firm favourites and three well supported second choices justified their rating, ranking and top billing to the delight of the followers of form and it is needless to mention that most railbirds returned home with a spring in their step having enjoyed the better of exchanges in the bookmakers ring on Thursday.

The in-form Shamrock from Satish Narredu's yard chalked out his fifth straight win, cantering home nice and easy in the Commemoration Trophy run over a mile, while the second in demand at the betting ring Moon's Blessing provided English pro Francis Norton an arm-chair ride to success in the Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Memorial Trophy.

A confident Suraj Narredu took the on-money favourite Shamrock to the front soon after the small field of four runners came under the starter's flag and never let the initiative slip powering home without unduly extending the high-five winner. Santorino from Irfan Ghatala's yard expectedly followed the winner home ahead of De Villiers. Shamrock, it must be mentioned is in irresistable form and is likely to extend his winning streak.

The Arjun Manglorkar schooled Salento surprisingly garnered the maximum support in the Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Memorial Trophy despite his dismal effort at Chennai. It was clear from that exercise at Guindy that Salento had gone off the boil, but his connections chose to provide him with another chance hoping that he would come good at his parent-centre and that his last effort was one bad day at the office. Salento again performed below par and that made the task of Moon Blessing easy, the mare powering home in emphatic fashion to the delight of Sulaiman camp. Peyo did well to gain the runner-up berth ahead of Last Wish, while Salento failed to even save money in place.

Knotty Legend without doubt is the best youngster so far on parade at this campus. The talented Prasanna Kumar youngster, who made a smashing debut, recorded his second straight success winning the G Nithyanand Memorial Winter Million in resplendent style, clocking a smart time of 1:11.75 for the six furlongs trip.  Leading pro Trevor Patel, who partnered Knotty Legend in both his wins disclosed that all that the top juvenile needed to do was to reproduce his debut effort to come up on top in this field and `Knotty' in fact bettered his maiden effort to the delight of his eight owners. Will Knotty Legend emulate Knotty Charmer in the years ahead? Well I will stick my neck out and say that the `Legend' has the ability not only to emulate, but go one better than what `Charmer' has so far done in his distinguished career. Stablemate Reiko, another debut winner finished second edging out Magnetic from Parvati's yard who appears good to enter the winners' circle, when saddled next.

The well supported Maple Leaf from Dominic's yard made every post a winning one in the Stewards Gold Cup. The Rajesh Narredu-trained Excellent Ray was strongly fancied to win, but the overwhelming favourite piloted by Suraj Narredu clipped the heels of Maple Leaf and stumbled badly and Suraj in fact did well to hang on and escape injury. Excellent Ray to the disappointment of his connections came back lame. Air Display gained the runner-up berth ahead of the advantageously placed in at the scales Jokshan, while Southern Force completed the frame.

The connections of Kallu Sakkare pulled off another good win, the vastly improved Warren Singh ward coming good again in the Winfair247 Sports Gaming Plate run over a sprint. AR Pradeep who lost out on two well fancied contestants at Mysore on Wednesday produced a copybook effort on the smart winner who is set to record a hat-trick of wins, when saddled next. The lesser fancied Chisox from Pradeep Annaiah's yard in his attempt to make every post a winning one found the Warren trainee too hot to handle and had to rest content with the second spot. The Prasanna Kumar-trained Maroon finished third ahead of his fancied stablemate Indian Blues and is one for the notebook. All credit to Mahesh Gowda who behind the scenes is playing a stellar role in the success story of the Warren Singh stable.

 After the success of Moon's Blessing, Sulaiman struck it rich on Wonder Woman in the concluding event, the upper division of the Gateway Of India Plate run over a distance of seven furlongs. The winner smartly piloted by RN Darshan was `sweetly' fancied by the insiders and right connections and Wonder Woman readily justified the confidence of her supporters making every post a winning one. Regal Aristocracy from Imtiaz Khan's yard was heavily backed closing (9/10) after the bookmakers opened the grey at (16/10), but the public choice simply lacked the talent and the willingness to score, finishing a poor fourth much to the chagrin of his large following who strongly fancied him to score in this moderate set. Lesser fancied Rainbow Dreamer from Prasanna's yard who was well supported in place did well to the joy of his supporters gaining the runner-up berth ahead of stablemate Nevada Gold.

The lower division of the event was claimed by another top fancy Blue God, who proved too good for his eight rivals and on the strength of this performance is set to provide an encore. Treasure Chest from Dominic's yard followed the winner ahead of the top weighted Breeze Bluster, while Sunlit Path without really exerting himself finished in the frame, suggesting that he is in line to earn his cornbill in the weeks ahead.