Suleiman Attaollahi trained Azzurro scraped home by the proverbial whisker against his stablemate Captain Morgan in the 2000 metres Chief Minister`s Trophy, a race for three-year-olds and over, the feature event of Saturday`s Bangalore races. The race which is framed to enable those preparing their horses for the winter Derby as a lead up race saw only hopeful in Captain Morgan in the fray while the other possible contender Watchmyscript elected a mock race over the same distance. Captain Morgan surely earned a place in the Derby line up by this remarkable performance.

Azzurro was an imposing performer all through his career and had matched strides with some of the best horses of his generation and the one following that. As such, Azzurro was not expected to have things difficult as the opposition was modest with only Captain Morgan attempting a quantum jump of taking on a seasoned company in a terms race albeit with the advantage of weights. Azzurro did not have things easy as Captain Morgan who took over the running from Emperador inside the final two furlongs, enjoyed a useful lead all the way in the homestretch. It required an all-out effort on the part of Azzurro to catch up with the favourite in the final stride of the race. Mumbai challenger Chef D`Oeuvre was in third position seven and a half lengths adrift.

With the quality of horses that will line up for the Derby being less than desirable, Captain Morgan gets a good chance to make his presence felt though there could be limitations on stamina if the race is strongly run. The fact that Captain Morgan came close to beating Azzurro itself should be considered as a good progress by the progeny of Admiralofthefleet who is maturing fast into a top-class performer. If one were to see the rating difference between the two, the race should have been a one horse in favour of Azzurro. However, races don`t run exactly run as per rating if there is an improving younger horse in the fray and the closeness of the verdict highlighted this fact.

Trevor who rode Captain Morgan, was at his best on Summer Mill while etching out a thrilling win over Sporting Pleasure in the 1400 metres Narasimharaja Trophy, a race for horses rated 45 to 65. Anantara was the overwhelming favourite but the Sandhu ward was withdrawn at the gates on veterinary grounds. Sporting Pleasure who led from the start, was hard-ridden to maintain his lead and looked capable of doing so. However, Summer Hill who was angled out in the final furlong, managed to cover the leeway swiftly and nailed the front-runner on the post for an exciting win. Alexandrite was a close third.

Prasanna Kumar trained Exemplar appeared to have excellent credentials to win the 1600 metres Madhugiri Plate, a race for horses rated 30 to 50. Exemplar proved that he was too superior to the opposition when he swept the others off their feet with a blistering run in front. Exemplar was so superior to the rest that he checked in more than five lengths clear of the unfancied James Bond to win the race in emphatic fashion. Attractive Bay was another unfancied horse to fill up the frame which resulted in the exacta pool being carried over. One of the fancied runners I`ve Got Clout was a tame fourth.

Neil Darashah trained Mayweather came in for one-sided support in the betting based on the three-year-olds` forward run in his first outing of life. The odds on the progeny of Phoenix Tower was as low as 10 to 6 on by race time. However, Mayweather disappointed, packing up without a trace in the straight after leading the field from the start to eventually finish poorly. Second favourite Lamrei assumed command in the straight to win the as she pleased to provide jockey Srinath with an arm-chair ride. Little Love and Valentine Babe occupied the next slots on the frame, returning good dividends on place investment.

Dominic trained High Admiral was backed spiritedly to win the 1400 metres Ghataprabha Plate, a race for horses in the lowest class. Obviously, the connections felt that the filly belonged to better class for it to have attracted so much of betting without showing out in any of the three runs in the previous season. High Admiral led from the start but had no answer when Only Prince came home with a powerful burst of speed to beat the front-runner easily in the shadow of the post. Poor judgment and the absence of a forward run was the cause of the let-down. Granada was third.

Md Khan trained Turf Star who had the benefit of two runs, won the 1100 metres Glass House Plate, the season`s last race for two-year-olds from the fast finishing Chemical Romance. Desert Falcon led the field from the start with favourite Turf Star in second position ahead of Chemical Romance. Turf Star shook off the front-runner in the final furlong and sped towards the winning post. Chemical Romance closed the gap with a spirited run but was found short in the end. Maybe Forever ran on from behind to take the third place.

Arjun Mangalorkar trained Saga who showed out in the paddock parade, had no problem in beating favourite Red Galileo in the 1200 metres Splendid Role Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 15 to 35. Saga`s powerful effort in the final furlong in the hands of jockey Y S Srinath saw Red Galileo suffer a tame defeat. Ballerophon saved place money. The lower division of the race saw favourite Find in distress soon after the jump out and did not complete the race. Varsha led for a long while in the straight before Girl With Pearl got command with about 100 metres left in the race and easily held off the late rally of Jayadratha.