A majority of punters made money on the eve of the Derby-day despite the fact that two well-backed on-money favourites, Defence Counsel from Dominic's yard and Exceed from the stables of leading trainer Sulaiman Attaollahi bit the dust. The former, a smart last start winner, on form looked unbeatable in the lower division of the J Tyrrell Memorial Trophy run over a distance of seven furlongs. But to the surprise of most old hats in the game, the Dominic ward performed much below par, finishing a poor third in the hands of leading jockey Suraj Narredu, who had partnered Defence Counsel to a facile win in his last essay. The one interesting fact in this race was that a horse who had performed brilliantly in his last start failed to repeat that effort and Corinthian, who had finished down the field in his last start cantered home without unduly being extended. The big change in form simply stunned the punters. The result: the lesser fancied performer, who performed like a dud in his last start, winning stylishly, while the smart winner flopped badly calls for an explanation and it's time the stewards and stipes at this centre wake up and crack the whip on the offenders who time and again hoodwink the mandarins of the club.

Exceed, who failed to make a winning comeback in his last essay was rightly fancied most in the upper division of the event on the count that the Sulaiman ward would have benefited most  from the run under his belt after a long-layoff. But Exceed continued to disappoint failing to even make the frame in the hands of leading pro Trevor Patel.  The top weighted Bestidentification from Warren Singh's yard in the hands of Ashhad Asbar produced a sparkling gallop in the final furlong to romp home a deserving winner. Rankoutsider Lords Grace followed the winner home, while another long shot Krystallos from the stables of Sulaiman finished a creditable third ahead of the second in demand at the betting ring Michiko who had his share of followers on the strength of his impressive effort in his last essay, losing by the shortest of margins to Desert Kingdom over a mile. 

The Prasanna schooled Prana and Shamrock from the stables of Satish Narredu again garnered the maximum support after their last head-to-head clash at Guindy on Pongal Day. Shamrock piloted by Suraj Narredu came up tops in Chennai and  on the strength of that effort the game galloper was fancied to again beat Prana by the Satish Narredu camp. But the Prasanna trainee smarting in defeat settled the score, producing a winning gallop in the hands of Akshay Kumar to romp home a deserving winner of the Coromandel Gromor Commemoration Trophy run over a mile. The consistent Mysore hopeful Iron Clad from trainer Santosh's yard again produced a gutsy effort to gain the runner-up spot ahead of De Villiers, while Shamrock shockingly finished last. 

Young trainer Aravind Ganapathy proudly led in Magnetar, winner of the Foster's Winter Million for juveniles run over a sprint. A impressive last start winner, Magnetar was fancied most to record his second straight success and the talented colt well prepared by his master did just that, outclassing his six rivals despite giving 5.5 kilos weight to the three fillies and four kilos to the three colts in the fray. Leading pro Sandesh back at this centre after booting home four in Mumbai produced his best on the winner, assuming command at the distance post and packing punch in the final furlong to peg back the belated effort of the runner-up Ravishing Beauty from Prasanna Kumar's yard. The stablemate of Ravishing Beauty, Eagle Eye opened the favourite in this event before the confident Aravind camp went bang-bang in the packed bookmakers ring and Magnetar closed firm favourite at end. While Magnetar justified favouritism, Eagle Eye, a late entry into the contest found the going tough and finished down the field much to the disappointment of the Prasanna camp who fancied the youngster to come good in the `Million'. 

In a three-cornered contest, the Arjun Manglorkar-trained Ricardo, a last start winner, Dominic schooled Jersey King and Masato from the stables of Prasanna Kumar, back after a five-month long lay-off were fancied to lock horns in what on cards promised to be an intense struggle for supremacy in the Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Memorial Trophy run over a sprint.  But Masato partnered by Akshay Kumar simply proved too good, outclassing his two arch rivals without even raising a sweat. Backed down from (5/2) to (16/10) the favourite effortlessly made every post a winning one and on the strength of this performance is certain to provide an encore, Ricardo followed the winner home ahead of Jersey King who edged out the Padmanabhan schooled Prime Abbess by the shortest of margins to save money in place.

In the opening event, the second division of the Luni Plate run over a distance of six furlongs, the strongly supported Invincible from Narayan Gowda's yard bolted in nice and easy to the delight of the followers of form. The second in demand at the betting ring Anchorage from the stables of Imtiaz Khan followed the winner home ahead of Super Kind from trainer Pradeep's yard  who has improved and it will not be long before he earns his winning bracket. The winner is in fine form and it will pay to again support him when saddled next. The upper division of the event was claimed by Super Marvella, who edged out the two other top contenders Own Legacy and Smile Of Beauty. 

Like Masato, Zuri from Sulaiman's yard back after a lay-off made a winning comeback in the Icebreaker Plate run over a distance of seven furlongs. The winner looked a picture of fitness at the parade ring and most railbirds satisfied with her look in the paddock readily placed big bets on the mare to come good despite her five-month break from the action. Well Zuri justified the confidence of her supporters snuffing out the challenge of the lesser fancied Crosswater and Dynamic Force in convincing fashion and is set to again stand tall at the podium, when saddled next.