The winner of the Poonawalla Multi-Million, Margaretta from the stables of champion trainer Pesi Shroff outclassed her seven rivals including the strongly fancied Prokofiev, while sending out a strong message that she is a frontliner for the Fillies Championship Stakes. The resplendent effort from the classy filly in her maiden effort on the Bangalore Turf Club (BTC)  track was stunning to say the least and Margaretta will certainly start the favourite for the first classic of the season early next month.

To the credit of G Vivek, it must be mentioned that the youngster now in the big league produced a copybook effort on the winner, who looked good in the parade ring and readily justified the confidence of her master and her big list of supporters in emphatic fashion. 

Last start winner Prokofiev from leading trainer Prasanna Kumar's yard garnered the maximum support in the Col Desraj Urs Trophy run over a mile on the sole count that the local contestant had a benefit of a winning run and the Mumbai filly was making her maiden appearance on a testing track. The track posed no threat and the opposition held no fear to this talented filly in the classic mould and she really without extending herself put the race to bed a furlong from home. Lesser fancied Ice Of Fire finished second behind the winner, while Prokofiev only managed to finish a tame third.

Alfonsine was another smart winner, coming up tops in the KN Guruswamy Memorial Trophy run over a distance of seven furlongs. The winner from trainer Pradeep Annaiah's yard was backed down from (12/10) to (7/10) in the betting ring and the top choice justified the big support, bolting in to win by a five-length margin. Sassy Sarah surprised most while gaining the runner-up berth ahead of Moon Star, who was strongly fancied in place. Alfonsine is in good nick and it will pay to follow this Pradeep ward again next time out. 

Spurred by the run-away success of Alfonsine, Pradeep pulled off a good gamble through Mister Brown in the concluding event, the upper division of the Supervite Plate run over a distance of 1400 metres. Mister Brown partnered by Arvind Kumar opened at (9/2) in the betting ring before the Pradeep camp slammed it down to (7/4), supporters of Mister Brown boldly declaring him a cinch despite the fact that he was pitted against the speedy Flight Of Fancy and last start winner Supreme Success. Arvind astride the Pradeep ward lost a length or two at the jump, but he quickly covered ground and was in the front pack chasing the leader Flight Of Fancy piloted by the Mumbaai-based apprentice Aditya Waydande. The Darius Byramji trainee, it appeared was enjoying her front-running exercise and the filly soon established a three-length advantage approaching the distance post. Arvind in a never-say-die effort drove Mister Brown hard and the public choice slowly yet surely started to bridge the gap before delivering the knock-out blow on the final stride. Supreme Success followed the top two, while Sapporo was not in the hunt. 

The lower division of the event saw the second in demand at the betting ring, Queendom from trainer Sulaiman Attaollahi's yard edge out the well-fancied Lena close home to the delight of her followers. Leading pro Akshay Kumar produced a exemplary performance on the winner, who at one stage looked beaten before Akshay riding like one possessed got her going and snatched the verdict on the post. The lack of a run under her belt made the difference to Lena, who it must be mentioned will earn her cornbill next time out. The Irfan Ghatala camp fancied Blue Storm strongly in place and the facile last start winner to the delight of his large following did well to finish third. 

A big gamble on CR Seven flopped badly in the upper division of the Moonlight Romance Plate. The Narayan Gowda ward piloted by Rajesh Kumar was hammered down from (7/2) to (11/10) before the field of nine runners came under the starter's flag for the seven furlongs event. Long shot Versace from MR Singh's yard hit the front and set a fast pace. Rajesh Kumar taking no chances closely tracked the leader, while the two other fancied runners, Mandate and Razzmatazz chose to follow the leading pack all through the 1400M journey. Rajesh Kumar to the joy of the punters sent C R Seven to the front soon after the field negotiated the final curve and soon the strongly fancied public choice kicked clear before Razzmatzz in the hands of the apprentice Aditya Waydande stormed into contention in the final furlong and sealed the deal close home. Named after the legendary soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, it looked like CR Seven failed to convert a penalty and the punters were most disappointed simply because they simply trusted and believed that the big name would bring money and fame. That sadly didn't happen and that's the difference between horse racing and soccer. 

No hoper Femme Fatale, who in her last five starts including twice this season had finished down the field showed stunning improvement winning the lower division of the event by a facile margin of five lengths. The shock winner paid a rich dividend of Rs 658 on a tenner at the tote window. 

The MR Singh trainee in her last effort had finished more than 20 lengths behind the winner Jalwa and in her earlier essay also finished down the field, more than 20 lengths behind the winner Frederika on the opening day in the higher category. How can a horse make such a big improvement in two weeks. Well if MR Singh claims it can be done then he is a magician and he can put the top Indian magician PC Sorcar to shame, Abracadabra.

Six to one shot, Bright Thunder from Darius Byramji's yard made a winning debut snuffing out the challenge of the on-money favourite Osaka in the opening event, the Royal Tern Plate run over a sprint. The on-money favourite from James McKeown's yard, who had impressed most while finishing second behind the talented and speedy Bulletproof in his maiden start showed no signs of improvement and much to the chagrin of the followers of form again found one better.