It was a mixed bag on Saturday. Three long shots and an equal number of well fancied winners. And the end result was that the railbirds returned home evens-stevens, red hot favourite Final Call mercifully scraping home in the concluding event, the Azhar Plate. 

The Irfan Ghatala schooled Rodney surprisingly quoted at (8/1) despite the fact that he had impressed most in a mock race on April 18, was the first long shot to stun the punters, making every post a winning one in the hands of the promising apprentice Pavan in the Rabindranath Tagore Jayanti Plate run over a distance of 1300 metres. Most punters ignored him on the sole count that the Irfan ward was making an appearance after a long 14-month lay-off and the fact that he was pitted against Circle Of Dreams, who was consistently blazing the track. 

Akshay Kumar astride the Sulaiman schooled Circle Of Dreams did produce his best, but that was just not good enough to stop Rodney and Pavan from sprinting home in emphatic fashion. Advantageously placed in at the scales, Waitara from James McKeown's yard finished a creditable third ahead of Thessalian and it is needless to mention that this McKeown trainee will prove to be a different proposition next time out. 

After Rodney shocked the followers of form in the second event, the (20/1) rank outsider Jalwa from the stables of Azhar Ali stunned the followers of form powering past the strongly fancied Annabelle in the Dupont Plate run over a sprint. The winner piloted by five-kilo claimer Asirvatham unleashed a good turn foot in the final furlong to edge out the Arjun Manglorkar schooled Annabelle, who was touted as a good bet, backed down from (18/10) to even-money. The four to one shot Razzmatazz finished on purposefully at end in the hands of another apprentice jockey Sachin to save money in place and on the strength of this performance is certain to earn her winning bracket, next time out over an extended trip. 

Next, the Sulaiman-trained Kalamitsi surprised most, coming up trumps in the Kunigal Stud Trophy, the plum event run over a distance of six furlongs. The Rajesh Narredu-trained Excellent Lass garnered the maximum support in the event, but the piping hot favourite piloted by Yash Narredu, it was clear was not at her best, struggling to keep pace with the front runners all through the sprint trip and eventually finishing a tame third much to the disappointment of her supporters, who fancied her to start her summer campaign on a winning note. Ricardo finished second behind Kalamitsi, while his more fancied stablemate Never Give In, gave up easily and only managed to finish a poor fourth. 

The Sulaiman-trained The Archer and Siege Storm from the stables of Prasanna Kumar topped the betting board in the principal added attraction, the Dean Stephens Memorial Trophy run over a distance of seven furlongs. The latter confidently piloted by Akshay Kumar made a smashing debut, donkey-licking his seven rivals including arch rival, The Archer, who only managed to finish third more than five lengths behind the winner Siege Storm, who appears to be in the classic mould. The runner-up Ashwa New York made a favourable impression and it will not be long before this Rajesh Narredu trainee sheds her maiden status. 

On the strength of her impressive showing in the morning trials and the fact that she had run a couple of higher rated rivals close in her earlier starts saw the bookmakers taking no chance in the final event,  Final Call quoted at a miserly (40/100). The public rage strongly piloted by leading pro Trevor Patel fought a ding-dong battle with the Aravind Ganapathy schooled Flash in the `run in' home before edging out the flasy runner-up by the shortest of margins much to the relief of all the big bettors, who love to punt big on short-priced favourites. 

Earlier, the well-backed second favourite Pledge from the stables of Darius Byramji proved too good for her seven rivals, cantering home in the opener, the Chantille Plate run over a distance of 1500 metres. The winner, who won her last start in Mysuru is in good nick and it will again pay to support her next time out. Lesser fancied Assurances followed the winner home ahead of the favourite Alamgir who performed a trifle below par.