Horseracing for the monsoon season commenced here on Sunday and the outcome of the inaugural day's programme, more or less, was in favour of the punters. The day's feature event, the Winfair247 Gaming Trophy was claimed by the bay rig Royal Mysore. Though facing a tough set of opponents, the Prasanna Kumar saddled raider from Bangalore brooked no opposition from the local challengers as he raised a fluent gallop enroute his fifth straight career victory, his third away from home. 
 
Bottom-weighted Irish Gold set the early pace over the seven-furlong journey with Son Of A Gun initially disputing the lead whilst Jendayi raced in close attendance of this duo. Jockey G. Vivek hustled Jendayi into the lead as soon as the heads turned for home but favourite Royal Mysore (Gusto – Daffodils) ranged alongside after moving up steadily to be in a striking position. Jendayi offered resistance briefly but failed to repel Royal Mysore's onslaught as Trevor Patel guided the latter strongly towards the finishing line. Stamping his superiority over the Class I field, Royal Mysore had the race under his control much before the winning post arrived and won sparing over two lengths to Jendayi, who held on grimly to the second place from late finishing Baby Bazooka and Snowfall. Royal Mysore is owned by Messrs Niraj Tyagi and Vikas Sachdeva representing Blazing Saddles (PF) and was Bishan Stud Farm.
 
Trainers Dallas Todywalla and Adhirajsingh Jodha had a flying start to their current campaign as they succeeded in leading in three winners each. Todywalla sent out Spanish Eyes, who obliged her followers with a comfortable win over a six furlong sprint. She was kept a handy third as second favourite Running Star was quickly off the blocks and embarked on a start to finish mission which was cut short at the final turn by the winner. A. Sandesh brought Spanish Eyes (Excellent Art – Irish Bailey) into contention as the field headed by Running Star was turning for home and sailed away for a convincing win swiftly after overwhelming her adversary. With Running Star gradually fading away, last-outing winner Treat improved to finish a good second ahead of Madras Cheque and Kimiko.
 
The other two winners Champagne Smile and Portofino Bay from Todywalla's yard were less fancied but certainly did not win out of turn. The five-year old mare Champagne Smile, who had 16 outings yet languished in the maiden ranks, got on lucky on this occasion and found her way to the winner's enclosure with the assistance in the saddle by apprentice Navnath Bhosale. Aman Hussain schooled filly Khaleesi, also a maiden and a demotee to the lowest class, was backed to the exclusion of her rivals and Sandesh went straight down to business astride the favourite. Champagne Smile soon joined her and raced abreast till they were into the last lap of the sprint. A couple of back-handers from Bhosale and Champagne Smile, though shifting in under pressure, wore down Khaleesi to taste her first career success. Precioso appeared late on the scene to end runner up ahead of Showman and Khaleesi, who ended fourth after being inconvenienced by the winner while overtaking her.
 
Portofino Bay was hard-ridden by Akshay Kumar and was lucky to find the winning post coming to his rescue as he warded off the threat posed by Fighton in the closing stages of the six-furlong journey. Divine Thoughts and Maysara made the initial running and were closely followed by Portofino Bay second favourite Fighton. Portofino Bay grabbed the lead at the top of the home stretch but was ridden flat out as NS Parmar ridden Fighton inched closer. Following a pitched battle, Portofino Bay lasted out to win by a neck from Fighton. Yash Narredu partnered Dash was entrusted with the public's purse which he failed to carry after losing his chances at the gates itself. Dash was lethargic at the start and ended a tame third despite recovering lost ground later. Phenom finished fourth.
 
Adhirajsingh’s first winner of the day came through Malet Spring, who scored a narrow upset win over rank outsider Flashing Famous. The speedy youngster Fast Approach, whose odds saw a surprising drift in the betting ring, shot into the lead as the gates flew open but his legs couldn't carry him to the winning post following which he succumbed meekly to Shrikant Kamble piloted Malet Spring, who was in hot pursuit of the leader from the start. Malet Spring (Sedgefield – Saporelli), however, survived a scare from rank outsider Flashing Famous whose gallant attempt under PS Kaviraj, who lost his whip in the straight, failed to dislodge the winner. A neck separated the first two horses at the wire while Fast Approach ended in the money ahead of Serrano. The last named had his own set of supporters but NS Parmar piloted Serrano failed to quicken as he hung out when asked for an effort and could only finish fourth.
 
Serrano’s stable-mate Turn And Burn however successfully carried the top-weight and carved out a narrow win over House Of Lords. Turn And Burn (Western Aristocrat – Celestrella) lost some ground at the start as he veered out from the widest draw but made rapid progress to be in touch with front-runners who were headed by House Of Lords, Pure For Sure and Raise The Stakes. House Of Lords shook off both his rivals and surged into the lead in the straight even as Turn And Burn was warming up to his task. Parmar’s powerful drive enabled Mansingh Jadhav trained Turn And Burn to snatch the verdict virtually in his last stride. Hilma Klint finished third ahead of Luminosity. Favourite Raise The Stakes may have needed this run as she fell back after being prominent till the last furlong or so.
 
Adhirajsingh had three contenders in the upper division of the DK Ashish Trophy, an event for maiden juveniles out of which Aperol received better support. Aperol (Fiero – Memory) allowed Trillionaire to show the way to the field till the final bend approached and then cruised ahead. CS Jodha-steered Aperol established a good lead in the home stretch which proved to be a cushion when Sandesh-partnered Fable gathered momentum in the straight and turned the heat on her barn-mate. Aperol ended just under two lengths ahead of Fable, who had Trigger and Key Largo following her home. Both Trigger and Key Largo have had a lung-opener and are expected to improve hereafter.
 
Mother’s Grace also graduated from the maiden ranks to lift the second division of the DK Ashish Trophy and complete Adhirajsingh’s treble for the day. Second in demand only to Divine Hope, the three-year old bay filly by Gusto out of Carolina Moon went sailing into the lead when the starter’s flag came down and made every post of the six furlong trip a winning one. Once into the final stretch, Sandesh steered Mother’s Grace plain hands and heels for an easy win over Wild Child and hard-ridden Malengo, who came with a sustained run to peg back both Sands Of Dubai and Divine Hope.
 
Narendra Lagad, whose handicapping “skills” make him and his trainees a force to reckon with during the Pune season, started his latest campaign on a winning note with Zip Along (Strong Suit – Zipping), who had won exactly a year ago. Mustakim Alam kept the 2 to 1 favourite a handy third behind stable-mate Lightning Blaze and Reciprocity till the field crossed the two-furlong post and then strongly urged his mount to get going. The bay gelding lengthened his strides to surge past his rivals in the last half furlong and was home and dry, winning comfortably from Moment Of Madness, late-finishing Sorrento Secret and Lightning Blaze, who finished in a huddle behind the winner.