Racing is set to resume on Saturday after an acrimonious week of bitter wrangling which did not do anybody any good. What was bargained out of BTC by way of additional stake money could have been achieved without the loss of first week`s racing which in itself cost the owners` stakes in excess of Rs 70 lakhs. Strikes are passé. Dialogue and negotiation are better ways to achieve any objective. But in these troubled times when reasoning takes a back seat, such turbulence as the one witnessed, has to be endured. But the good news is that racing is going to take centre stage and all the action will be riveted on the summer classics which have a bearing on all India classics.

The summer season is universally perceived as the last racing season at the Bangalore Turf Club premises. The High Court of Karnataka has fixed September 22 as the deadline for the race course to shift and unless the club manages to get either government`s mercy or favorable response to its Special Leave Petition in Supreme Court, racing faces an uncertain future in Bangalore.
The best performed three-year olds from other parts of the country have all come to Bangalore to take part in the plum and the action as such, in the premier events, should be exciting to say the least. The short summer season which packs so much of action, with one graded race highlighting each week`s racing, calls for horses to be spot on if they have to make a mark during the season. Experience tells us that the classics are always won by horses which have shown out in the winter season and rarely horses which make their debut in summer, proved their mettle in the classics, there being odd exceptions like Classical Act who made his debut in the summer season and within two weeks, smashed the opposition in the Derby. But then Classical Act was an exceptional horse and we have to wait and see if there are horses of such caliber among the debutants.

There are some well performed horses in Bangalore like Awarding, Tsavorite, and Sun Kingdom among others. Awarding won the juvenile million getting the better of Tsavorite who ran below par. Tsavorite had beaten Awarding over a sprint while conceding weight but at suitable weights, he was beaten over seven furlongs. Awarding is a good type of horses who is bound to relish longer trips. Awarding is the highest rated horse in Bangalore by virtue of beating Tsavorite who is a winner of three races. Sun Kingdom was a smashing winner of a mile long terms race and the progeny of China Visit has shown out to be a horse of immense potential.

The impressive performance of Foreign Exchange (Alnasr Alwasheek ex Risada (Placerville) in his debut run when he left the field standing in the final furlong, has brought him into classic limelight. Foreign Exchange is well bred and has all the attributes of a champion though his galloping action can be his undoing as he can hurt himself. However, the manner in which he won puts Foreign Exchange in the elite class and his performance in the first million of the season for three-year olds slated for Sunday, will provide a definite answer to his future prospects.

There are several good horses which have come from Mumbai. Pesi Shroff has a few of them. Macchupicchu who won a juvenile million at Mumbai has been hailed as a good prospect by champion trainer Pesi Shroff. The got abroad filly from Hazara Stud Farm, Sunset Boulevard made a smashing debut at Mumbai and the filly has been rated very highly by her trainer. She will be seen in action against a formidable lot of horses on Sunday.

Another Mumbai trainer Cooji Katrak has come to Bangalore after a long time, with a good string of horses. Moon Emperor, Moonlight Romance stand out among the lot. The latter, a daughter of China Visit won a million over a mile at Mumbai in the manner which suggested that she will be hard to toss in the Fillies Trial Stakes. The amazing turn of foot that she showed in her last win was indicative of the fact that she has lot of class.

Apart from Awarding, trainer Ganapathy has several other well bred horses. The full brother to well performed Noble Prince; Ordained One is rated highly and will be running after being gelded. His progress will be of great interest.

Trainer Padmanabhan does not seem to have anything hot among the three year olds. Though his horses may win a handful of races for maiden three year olds, he does not seem to have any classic hope at this stage. However, he holds all the aces in the graded races meant for four-year olds and over as he has a formidable lot in the form of Becket, Change of Luck, Dancing Dynamite, Palazzio`s Sun, and Celestial Way.

The outstation horses, about 62 in number, will be participating in the summer season. There should be no shortfall of quality action during the season.