The Heeroji Lad Bangalore Juvenile Million (Grade III), a well-endowed event for first season youngsters, featured a long card of ten races framed for the concluding day of the Bangalore Winter Season 2010-2011. Being a terms event in which winners and maidens compete at level weights, it attracted only six runners. The presence of the unbeaten Tiberius (Rebuttal-Queen Consort) was partially responsible for such a scenario. This Irfan Ghatala trainee had won twice over seven furlongs, and while doing so, had shown that he was exceptionally talented. His trainer had skipped a few "big" races of the season, and waited for an opportunity to pitch Tiberius in an event where he would evade the normal penalties. Dhariwal's Casanova and Padmanabhan's Preordained shaped as his main opposition. The former had posted a stylish victory on debut and was immediately transported to Mumbai. Dhariwal's plans for this nice-looking colt had to be changed as he suffered a setback in training. After doing some brilliant trackwork in the company of Picasso at Mahalakshmi, he was shipped back to Bangalore and targeted at Saturday's feature. After winning her maiden race, Preordained had run a fine second to Class Apart. She was being asked to tackle the extra furlong, and her trainer was quite optimistic about her ability to do so. Satish Narredu's Saratoga Spring was the only non-winner in this set. Bred as a full brother to Attila, this horse had shown promise while finishing third on debut. The bookmakers had little hesitation in installing Tiberius at the top of the betting charts. The 90/100 favourite was closely followed by Casanova, who was available at 9/4. You could literally write your own cards on the other four.

The free-striding Preordained set a good pace ahead of Casanova, Saratoga Spring and Ability as the runners tackled the first half of this trip and made their way towards the rising ground. Tiberius was being held back in fifth while Current Ray was content to trail the pack. The group began bunching up near the bend. The first runner to call it a day was Casanova. Despite Mark Gallagher's best efforts, he faltered under pressure and dropped through the field. Valdir Desouza brought Tiberius on the wide outside, and the favourite moved menacingly towards the leader. After a brief duel, he managed to overpower Preordained and made his charge towards the winning post. With a minimal use of the whip, the Brazilian jockey managed to push him successfully across the wire. Preordained lasted out to retain her second spot ahead of a late-rushing Saratoga Spring. The last-named put up a pleasing display and was the fastest finishing horse in this race. He is strongly built and has a lot of scope for improvement.

This Winter Season was dominated by horses bred at The Kunigal Stud Farm. Even though this breeding establishment has been walking away with the "Leading Stud Trophy" for a number of years, these winter months were truly special. By winning 48 races this season, a new benchmark was established. In real terms, this translates into winning almost every fifth race run on the local track. With the procurement of some extremely well-bred international broodmares, the success of Burden Of Proof as an exceptional sire and the arrival of Admiralofthefleet amongst their ranks, the farm looks headed for bigger laurels. Local owners have begun patronizing this farm in a big way, and it may not be long before this newly installed record gets bettered.

Jaggi Dhariwal and Suraj Narredu set a strong pace from the beginning of the season and cantered away with the professional honours. Dhariwal's horses looked wonderful in the paddock and performed on expected lines. There were many amongst them who scored more than once and kept on improving with the passage of time. He has a powerful string under his charge, and it will be surprising if he isn't able to retain his grip on this coveted crown. Suraj stands tall amongst his colleagues at this centre. The sought-after jockey has been freelancing for a long time, and has recently completed riding the fastest "1000 Winners" in the history of Indian Racing. The young man is blessed with a lot of talent, and he too looks set to play a long innings in his career.

Dhariwal's Aristos (Okawango–Leros) was the other star on Saturday. Running in a mile handicap for horses in the highest class, Aristos was assigned the top weight of 65 kilos. The trainer reduced his burden by utilizing the services of apprentice Vaibhav. It was one of the most "open" races this season, and the same was reflected on the betting boards. The entire field was backable at 6/1 and over. Aristos had little trouble in going to the front and setting his own pace in this race. He led from Mighty Heart and Lowndes Square. The order remained the same for most of the way. The three leaders quickened nicely in the straight and spurted away from the rest. Aristos refused to slow down and managed to carry the welter-weight to victory. Mighty Heart got up on the last stride to displace Lowndes Square from the second spot. A heavily whipped Oban plodded along to fill the last spot on the result boards. Dhariwal had earlier scored a point with Alpha Baby (Pennine Ridge-Wolf River). In the hands of apprentice Rajesh, the five-year-old had overtaken Another Destiny in the last furlong, and managed to thwart a late challenge from Star Presence and Marie Curie. The small-made mare won after a fairly long time.

With a huge number of acceptors, the maiden's event on Saturday was split into three divisions. Coincidentally, all three races were won in identical fashion. It all began with Dominic's Ultimate Fantasy (Hurricane State-Alflora). After three earlier unplaced starts, the colt found himself in the lowest division. He was second favourite behind Whisper In Town. There was very little to separate these runners as none of them had ever touched the board. With the even-money favourite Whisper In Town losing a lot of ground at the gates, Ultimate Fantasy had it easy. PS Chouhan took him to the front and never looked back. He increased his lead in the straight and won by a widening margin from Indian. The favourite made up acres of ground in the straight to finish an impressive third. Whisper In Town shall be a different proposition in summer.

The most impressive winner of the afternoon was Padmanabhan's Speed Six (Burden Of Proof-Six Speed). This fashionably bred colt was the shortest priced runner of the day, and the style in which he won this race, confirmed the opinion of the bookmakers. Neeraj Rawal was a mere passenger astride this winner. Despite being held on a tight leash for most of the way, Speed Six clocked one of the fastest timings this season. His breeding suggests that he will be brilliant up to a mile, and it shall be interesting to see how Padmanabhan plans his future campaign. For the records, Aparanta and Sun Rich took the minor placings in this race.

The top division saw the eclipse of Padmanabhan's Shivalik Prince. He had been blazing the track and was touted as a "good thing" in the day's card. The colt played up in the paddock and continued to do so till he entered the starting gates. After a comfortable jump, Shivalik Prince settled close behind Affirmative (Greensmith-Oh So Quick) and Hockenheim. The three of them pulled away from the rest and raced in close order till well into the straight. Gallagher pulled out his stick and asked Affirmative to quicken. The response was immediate and brilliant. Affirmative kicked away in the final stages, and despite Neeraj Rawal's best efforts astride Shivalik Prince, the result was a foregone conclusion. Hockenheim stopped in her tracks and was distinctly lucky to retain her third spot ahead of Right On Time.

A number of A-licenced trainers were unsuccessful in saddling a winner this season. A couple of them emerged from this list by scoring a point each on the last day of the season. The first to do so was Tharun Thimmaiah. Five-year-old Drop Of Honey (Brave Act-Chantenay) scored an easy victory in a Class V event this afternoon. Mangalorkar-trained Amber Star was backed to the exclusion of his rivals and started as a 6/4 favourite. Ridden by apprentice Kiran Rai, the favourite tried to run away with this race but his domination came to an end in the straight. PS Chouhan brought Drop Of Honey with a flourish from mid-group, and the two of them sailed away for an effortless victory. Ladzone and Allegro came charging from the rear to save place money for their respective connections. Amber Star was totally exhausted after his earlier efforts, and the horse struggled to finish a poor fourth.

Trainer Inayathulla's Inspirator (Duja-Maxim’s) brought the curtains down for the season. The speedy horse found himself in a tight huddle as Waltz Away, Sky Rider and Black Beauty dominated the early proceedings. Jockey Vivek was caught in no-man's-land as Inspirator was seen struggling on the rails. The entire field shifted marginally towards the centre of the track and this helped his cause. With the use of his whip, Vivek pushed Inspirator through this fortunate gap. The horse was good enough to take it. He got stronger thereafter and went away from Sky Rider and Black Beauty. The well-fancied pair of Akaliki and Waltz Away was seen to be in distress, as it was noticed that their riders had dismounted soon after passing the winning post.