The punters enjoyed a good run on the second day of the season, three well executed gambles, Mystical Merlin backed down from (4/1) to (90/100), Hidden Pleasure thumped  from (7/2) to (80/100) and  Flying Falcon hammered to (50/100) from (5/2) after Square Cut, who opened favourite was withdrawn at the gates, powered home to the delight of their supporters and the two strongly tipped contestants Golden Peaks and Isnt She Beautiful provided the icing on the cake, the big bettors returning home with a spring in their stride, while the bookmakers back after a five-month break on Thursday, lost out big on Friday.

The in-form filly Isnt She Beautiful maintained her winning streak, while recording a hat-trick, edging out the 10 to one shot Iron Clad in a thriller in the HH Sri Krishnaraja Wadiyar Memorial Trophy run over a distance of seven furlongs. The top fancy piloted by the talented Saqlain was blocked of a clear run 300 metres from home and at this juncture it looked like all is lost for the connections of Isnt She Beautiful before Saqlain found a way and pushed her out before riding like one possessed to `nose’ out Iron Clad in a humdinger. The Prasanna schooled Knotty Charmer despite his lacklustre effort in his last essay at Pune was strongly supported and in fact closed the prime favourite, but it was the same story, hitting the front and leading till heads turned for home and then quickly dropping out to finish down the field. It is clear that something is bothering Knotty Charmer and all is not well with the game sprinter. The star performer from Mysore, Iron Clad produced another scintillating effort and was unlucky to go down in the final stride. Nevertheless it will pay to follow this Santosh Rao ward when next saddled.

The on-money favourite Golden Peaks fresh from his victory in his last start in the Bangalore summer season produced another stellar effort in the hands of leading pro Akshay Kumar to canter home in the Udhagamandalam Cup, the principal added attraction run over a distance of seven furlongs. Second in demand at the betting ring, Prime Abbess expectedly gained the runner-up berth ahead of Fondness Of You, while Peyo completed the frame.

Mystical Merlin from Surender’s yard brought off a successful coup in the opening event, the lower division of the Virija Plate, powering home nice and easy to the delight of her large following.  The winner piloted by Abishek Matre, who goofed up on Drisana in the concluding event on the opening day, made every post a winning one, Abishek making no mistake this time out, much to the relief of the followers of the strongly backed favourite. Felicita followed the winner all through the 1100M dash, while D United from Girnath’s yard saved money in place.

In the upper division another big gamble came through, Flying Falcon from Bipin Salvi’s yard providing Abhishek Matre an arm-chair ride to success, winning by more than a dozen lengths from Golden Bird. Square Cut from Santosh Rao’s yard opened the favourite before the big supporters of Flying Falcon went bang-bang in the betting ring and following the withdrawal of Square Cut, Flying Falcon closed half-money favourite and cruised home without raising a sweat. The winner is on top of his game and is set to provide an encore.

The Ramesh schooled Hidden Pleasure was a medium of a good gamble in the lower division of the Somanathpur Plate. The winner confidently piloted by Angad  snuffed out the challenge of the second in demand at the betting ring Sea Of Adventure and Coyote Girl who caught the eye while finishing an unextended third ahead of Bundelkhand Queen.

The upper division of the event was claimed by the seven to one shot D Roman Reigns from Monnappa’s yard. Asagiri from Rajesh Narredu’s yard was fancied most in this event, but the overwhelming favourite, who was touted as a `moral certainty’ by most pundits failed to raise a winning gallop at the all-important end and finished a tame third behind the runner-up, Joon, who met a tartar in D Roman Reigns.

The Bobby-trained Athulya is in good form and consistently producing game performances. The topweigted contestant piloted by apprentice Koshi Kumar produced another fine effort to earn her cornbill, coming up tops in the JH Foley Memorial Trophy run over a mile. Lesser fancied Natural Speed finished on purposefully to take the second spot ahead of the public choice Dabeet.