Young Neelesh Rawal-schooled filly Gachchhatu kept her unbeaten record intact as she trounced her opponents in the Coromandel Gromor Deccan Fillies Championship Stakes (Gr.3), the first classic of the monsoon season conducted here on Sunday. The bay daughter of Sanus Per Aquam out of Senora Bella had three wins over a sprint under her belt and was traversing the mile distance for the first time yet she was the prime market fancy in the eight-horse field in the fray. Northern Waves, making her first appearance this season, slipped into the lead as the starter’s flag came down for the mile endeavour with Kiss of Grey and Moon Star in hot pursuit whilst Gachchhatu raced comfortably in the confident hands of Neeraj Rawal. K. Mukesh Kumar aboard Northern Waves increased the tempo as the field approached the final turn and had a handy lead over Moon Star as they eight horses were homeward bound with Gachchhatu overtaking Kiss of Grey, who was falling back. Northern Waves failed to keep a straight course when Mukesh applied pressure and though she held the advantage till the last furlong, she surrendered when Gachchhatu produced a sparkling run to go breezing past for an authoritative victory. Northern Waves continued her erratic run but managed to take the second spot, a nose ahead of Mountain Jewel, who recovered remarkably to finish a nose behind. Moon Star retired to end fourth. Gachchhatu, who is co-owned by Messrs Vara Prasad Reddy, N. Shyam Sunder & DN Kempe Gowda, was bred by the United Racing & Bloodstock Breeders Limited (URBBL).

Although a majority of favourites obliged in their respective events, three highly fancied runners – Divine Faith, Stars Envied and Pleasant Star failed to live up to the expectation of the punters. Although none of the ten contestants in the day's opening event had any credible form, Hilton Sequeira-trained Divine Faith became the favourite on sufferance. However, the bay filly didn’t possess the speed required to match strides with the victor, Quick Bay Fox. Srinivas Reddy-saddled Quick Bay Fox, who was running with aid of blinkers on this occasion, took a smart jump from the innermost draw to seize control of the running whilst favourite Divine Faith came swiftly from the wide draw to race on the former’s haunches. However, Akshay Kumar-powered Quick Bay Fox (Well Done Fox – Cordoba) kicked on gamely in the straight to thwart the BR Kumar-ridden favourite’s bid to topple him and eventually won sparing a length and half. Faizah ran in third place throughout and finished so ahead of Golden Bourbon.

Later in the day, the trainer-jockey combination of Reddy and Akshay were expected to be associated with the success of Pleasant Star, the firm favourite to claim in the Hidden Bloom Plate. However, Pleasant Star played truant and swerved to his left after jumping out from the gates and dislodged Akshay before stopping on the outer track. Guess what, the race was won by the Sequeira-saddled 12 to 1 longshot Sugar! Brooklyn Beauty headed the field of eleven with Baisa and Pontefract in close attendance whilst second favourite Decoy raced in a striking position ahead of Sugar, who was scrubbed early to stay well up with the front bunch. With a furlong and half left for the destination to arrive, Brooklyn Beauty ran out of fuel and it was Mukesh-piloted Decoy, who surged ahead. Meanwhile, Sugar, who had finished 15 lengths behind winner Freedom Touch two weeks ago, started devouring ground with each stride to close in on Decoy. Jockey Afroz Khan then packed enough punch in finishing effort atop Sugar (Dreamfield - Conceptual), who responded gallantly to stun hard-ridden Decoy in the last couple of strides. Encore warmed up late to finish third, well ahead of Maverick.

Earlier, in the lower division of the Pakhal Lake Plate, Robin Reddy-groomed Stars Envied faltered against her main adversary Calabasas. It was rank outsider Shoolin, who showed plenty of early speed to take the pole position with Mexican Wave and Stars Envied in pursuit while Calabasas ran a few lengths away. G. Naresh-partnered Stars Envied tried to come the shortest way home but was cramped for room and lost her footing when Shoolin shifted in with just about a furlong left for home. In the melee that ensued, Mexican Wave gained a slender lead over Shoolin which was short-lived as Akshay triggered a powerful response from Calabasas. Once Leo D’Silva-saddled Calabasas (Leitir Mor – Isabella) gained momentum, she was beyond the reach of her rivals. Mexican Wave ended second with Stars Envied finishing third ahead of Shoolin.

Three-year old Misty Night was pitted against an older set of rivals in the Nearco Plate, a Class III event run over seven furlongs. Quoted at 10 to 6 on in the betting, K. Satheesh-schooled Misty Night was up in the front when the gates flew open and made every post a winning one in the hands of RS Jodha. Misty Night (French Navy – Grey Mist) lengthened her strides in the final furlong to achieve an encore with a convincing victory over Federer, who gathered steam only towards the end of the race and relegated Normui to the third spot. Slow-starter Tiger Ruby improved gradually to finish fourth.

The first division of the Pakhal Lake Cup turned out to be of academic interest only as Star of Opera, a winner on debut in her last outing, was taking on an absolutely mediocre field. The money-back favourite Star of Opera (Gusto – Philharmonic) hit the front soon after the start and the Donald Netto-trained filly gave Mukesh Kumar an armchair ride as she swamped her rivals and was eased up a long way from home. American Flame, Top In Class and Lady Jane were spread out as they followed the winner home. Shadow of Light was left standing in the gates once again.

MF Ali Khan-nurtured Shubrak proved that his success last week was not a “flash in the pan” kind in the mile long Belager Plate. He raced well up behind Amboseli, who decided to call the early shots over the mile trip but surrendered her lead soon after bringing the field into the straight. Deepak Singh alighted Shubrak (Top Class – Scuderia) to his task at the top of the home stretch following which the six-year old gelding stretched out well to tackle Amboseli in the last furlong and half and was home and dry before late-finishing Politics could play spoilsport. Amboseli ended a distant third with Deccan Ranger over a length behind. City Cruise, who was running on demotion, was another contestant that ran as a favourite on sufferance during the day. Satheesh’s ward was seen running hopelessly throughout.