Holding Court is on course for a classic success as he won his lead up race to the Colts Trial Stakes in tremendous fashion on Saturday. The son of Royal Kingdom who thus recorded three wins on the trot, beat the challenge of highly rated Galloping Bay pointless in the Speaker’s Cup, run over seven furlongs and should be the favourite for the first classic of the season especially after the failure of Flashing Star in the Juvenile Million. Holding Court showed out in good condition and won readily in 1 minute 25.8 seconds. Galloping Bay was unable to pace with Holding Court who quickened brilliantly on turning for home and won by a widening margin of over four lengths. Galloping Bay just about managed to neck out Imperialism to wrest the runner up berth. Solar Rocket set a fast pace with Appu on Holding Court struggling hard to settle the second favourite who was keen to sweep the others off their feet. Prakash on Galloping Bay moved swiftly from the outside draw to be well in touch with the leaders though he was not gaining ground significantly. Holding Court bolted to the front on turning for home and stretched away from the opposition even as Galloping Bay was under tremendous pressure to catch up with Imperialism who put up a dogged fight. There are many who feel that Holding Court will not be as effective over the mile long trip but there is no doubt that there is enough stamina influence in his breeding for him to last out not only the mile but a little longer as well. Imperialism should strike before long. Diomedes put in his claim as a sprinter of great potential when he won the Divine Light Plate (Div I) in a fine time of 1 minute 13.1 seconds. By Royal Kingdom out of Sprinters Cup winner Indiscretion, Diomedes has a bright future ahead of him. Tina’s Triumph was a long way second ahead of Liberal Dancer who should make her mark when asked to tackle a longer trip. Powerthrust won the lower division in great style, beating his nearest challenger Matter of Opinion by a fair margin. The well bred daughter of Placerville should mature into a top class performer over extended trips. Appu, who won the Jockeys’ Championships in winter, had a rewarding day, with a treble. Apart from Holding Court, his other winners included Crown Royal and Hesperus. Crown Royal who took charge of the proceedings in the final furlong of the Dharmaprakasha L S Venkaji Rao Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 40 and above, held on to win from Mystic Heights who finished with a flourish. Randsberg, who has moved up into this class by consistently finishing on board in all his outings, lacks that extra gear which could make a difference to victory and defeat. He is hopelessly one paced though he was not far from the winner. Saratoga Sizzle who was running for the first time over a mile after more than 20 runs over shorter trips, found the mile too long for comfort. Red Orchid, who came in for good support, is not the same horse which won a bagful of races early on in his career and he hasn’t won a race for more than 16 months. Hesperus surely is a notable sprinter though he is capable of getting longer trips equally effectively as suggested by his fluent win in the N S Bharath Memorial Plate (Div I). Hesperus moved strongly on the wide outside to win from a late finishing Royal Assault and Opera Queen. Iberian who won the lower division of the race is another sprinter who should move up rapidly on the handicap scale. The three-year old filly proved too speedy for the opposition, having the race sewn up long way from home. Glorious Spirit found foot late to finish second. The filly can handle longer trips more effectively. Silva Storai on Tintorino looked a winner all the way but when Mahek came up with a challenge in the final furlong, the jockey was not found to be vigorous enough. Suraj Narredu who made free use of the whip on Mahek, managed to record his first win after a bad fall had kept him out of action for more than three months. Suraj ended the day with a double through a bloodless win on Iberian. Both these wins should help the jockey to get back to his wonted rhythm.