On the eve of the second classic of the season, the 2000 Guineas, Sassy Sarah brought the smile back on the face of champion trainer Prasanna Kumar coming up trumps in the MW Chinnappa Memorial Trophy, the plum event run over a distance of seven furlongs after the strongly fancied Act Of Kindness from this powerful stable had let down large following failing to even save money in place in the Meerut Plate. 

The Pradeep Annaiah-trained Irish Coffee garnered maximum support in the feature event. The favourite, who had finished a game third in his last start behind the winner Valiant Stream and the runner-up Never Give In over a sprint, on paper looked good, but against a vastly improved Sassy Sarah, fresh after her successful maiden start this season, Irish Coffee found the going tough and despite leading pro Antony Raj producing his best, the public choice finished a tame third behind the runner-up Aquastic, while the second in demand at the betting ring, Sassy Sarah put into top gear by top gun Trevor Patel in the final furlong powered home to the delight of the Prasanna camp.

Unperturbed by the loss, the Pradeep group, bullish of the chances of Mister Brown in the next event, went bang-bang in the betting ring and soon the Pradeep trainee, who opened at (5/4) was smashed down to (60/100). The on-money favourite partnered by Antony Raj never put a foot wrong all through the mile long trip, Antony content to bide his time before timing his final assault to a nicety in the straight. Final Call from James McKeown's yard piloted by Akshay Kumar  in his bid to make every post a winning one found Mister Brown too hot to handle in the final furlong and had to rest content with the runner-up berth. The Leader finished third ahead of Magnus.

Pradeep earlier struck through the speedy Vibrant Queen in the Civil Services Trophy run over a sprint. After the Gregory schooled Splendid Dream opted out, Waitara from Arjun Manglorkar's yard topped the betting board, but the favourite, who won his last start in the Bangalore Summer season in convincing fashion raced in patches and eventually finished down the field. Vibrant Queen in the hands of five-kilo claimer Anish Anamo showed a clean pair of heels to her 10 rivals confirming that the `Queen' retains form and fitness and this proved decisive at the end. Gloriousness finished a game second and is one for the notebook.

A facile last start winner, The Grey Geranium from the stables of Somashekar was fancied most to provide an encore in the concluding event, the Penambur Plate run over a distance of 1100M, but the favourite ineptly piloted by Saikumar, who needlessly dashed towards the rail and encountered traffic problems which cost him dear. The ten to one shot Admiral Shaw from an inside draw made his final run on the outside and romped home a smart winner edging out Excellent Warrior close home. SaiKumar and The Grey Geranium failed to even save money in place and this drop in performance compared to his winning effort a fortnight ago is too bad to be true.

Trainer Ganesh sent out Ocean Of Grace fighting fit in the upper division of the Srirangapattana Plate and he was duly rewarded, the four-year-old gelding shedding his maiden status in his tenth career start. The winner is in good nick and is certain to make his presence felt against higher rated rivals in his next effort.  Golden Stride, a medium of a big gamble, backed down from (5/2) to (12/10)  found the good looking winner too hot to handle.

The lower division of the event was claimed by the eight to one shot Davids Delight from the stables of Hellal Moses piloted by the promising apprentice Sachin. The Rakesh-trained Seductive and Samarth from Gnanashekar's yard topped the betting board, while Seductive finished third, Samarth failed to jump level from the gates for more reasons than one and it was clear that the followers of form, who had pinned their hopes on the fancied contestant on the strength of his impressive second behind Secret Shadow in summer, had burnt a hole in the pocket even before the 11-horse field settled down after the start.