In any sport field, it is important to peak at the right time. The vastly improved Royal Legacy from trainer James McKeown's yard was at her peak on the day of the first classic of the Mysore season and that proved decisive. After winning her two earlier starts including her sublime effort at this track two weeks ago, Royal Legacy was raring to go in her maiden classic test. Leading pro Akshay Kumar, who had partnered the talented filly in her last winning attempt was again engaged to guide the fortunes of the five to one shot, while the half-money favourite Starzella from champion trainer Prasanna's yard  partnered by top `Knight' Trevor Patel was considered a cinch in the classic run over a mile. 

A confident Akshay chose to track the front runner, Shutterfly, piloted by Sandesh for most part of the classic journey before he streaked ahead at the top of the straight and then gallantly pegged back the challenge of the public choice Starzella, who found the winner a tough nut to crack on this day. The Arjun Manglorkar schooled Yarra Yarra, who finished only two lengths behind the winner in the third place impressed most and she is certain to make her presence felt in handicap events in the weeks ahead.

James and Akshay apart, trainer Neil Devaney and the Srivastava brothers, Prakash and Deepak stole the limelight on the classic day. Neil recorded a popular double through the strongly fancied Desert Shield and the second in demand at the betting ring, Brave Heart, while the Srivastava brothers struck it rich through  r Major Saab and Brave Heart, who  made every post a winning one in the Eclipse Plate run over a distance of seven furlongs. This was Brave Heart's second straight success after she won a 1100M dash two weeks ago. 

The Gregory Sandhu schooled Gifted Falcon was fancied most in the event. The strongly supported favourite partnered by Sai Kiran produced her best, but that was just not good enough to stop the Brave Heart from recording her second successive win. "We were confident and fancied the filly to upset the applecart of the public choice and she did her job in style," said Prakash pointing out that Major Saab on the strength of his brilliant preparatory gallop looked outstanding in the opening event for horses in the lowest class. The `Major' donkey-licked his 11 rivals in the lower division of the Sidapur Plate and on the strength of this performance is certain to record an encore. 

The upper division of the event was claimed by another strongly fancied and heavily backed favourite Desert Shield making his belated debut. This popular winner  from Neil Devaney's yard tracked the leader Indra Sena for most part of the seven furlongs trip before assuming command approaching the distance post and putting the race to bed in the final 100 metres. Side Please finished on purposefully at end to grab the runner-up berth from Carter and on the strength of this eye-catching effort will be hard to down when next saddled.

After most punters started on a winning note, Major Saab cruising home without a sweat in the opening event, rank outsider Golden Bird floored the followers of form in the second event, the lower division of the Panchgani Plate run over a sprint. The six-year-old mare from the stables of Hellal Moses edged out the hotly fancied public choice Jasmine from Yogesh's yard and the lesser fancied Secret Shadow from the stables of Mansoor Khan in a pulse-pounding finish, a `head' and a `shorthead' separating the three at the wire. The winner, Golden Bird piloted by Imran paid a rich and handsome dividend of Rs 670 on a tenner at the tote window in Bengaluru.  

The upper division of the event was claimed by the four to one shot The Grey Geranium from Somashekar's yard. The winner in fact opened joint favourite with the Zulquarnain schooled Habibti before the price on the grey kept going up and up and soon a majority of the supporters of the grey, smelling a rat chose to desert the ship and got into the boat of the favourite while some pinned their hopes on the speedy Mr Karnataka. The Ruban ward was withdrawn at the gates and just when the supporters of Habibti started to think that all was clear, it was The Grey Geranium, who hit the front in the hands of Rafique and stayed right there till the very end. Habibti, who followed the leader all through the sprint trip found the Somashekar ward too hot to handle and eventually finished a tame third behind the runner-up Gold Fame, who covered acres of ground in the final furlong to make a favourable impression. 

The six to one shot Pilot Officer was one another smart winner in the seven-event card, edging out the overwhelming favourite Night Raider from trainer B Suresh's yard and the five to one shot Selma from the stables of Ranjeet in a cluster finish in the RM Puttanna Memorial Cup run over a sprint. Young Saqlain back into the winners' circle after a long time produced a heartwarming effort on the Saddam Iqbal ward, who to his credit has posted three wins from his five starts at this centre. Selma piloted by Sai Kiran finished a game second ahead of Night Raider, who could have won had his rider been more alert to the task on hand at the top of the straight.