Irfan Ghatala trained Watchmyscript overwhelmed the opposition with an aggressive front-running mission in the 1400 metres Civil Service Cup, a race for horses rated 60 and above, the feature event of Saturday`s Bangalore races. Watchmyscript who showed out in the paddock parade, lived up to expectations, having the race sewn up a long way from home.

Watchmyscript was an impressive third behind Bold March in her last start in March and though she was coming back in distance, she looked to be readier than the rest. Attorney General who had moved up in class was expected to give a good performance though his ability to tackle tougher company was to be proved. Trevor Patel had no hesitation in taking Watchmyscript to the front from the outside draw and the progeny of Watchmyscript stayed there comfortably to win with a measure of comfort. Let The Lion Roar who had been a fair performer in top company, moved up with raking strides from the penultimate position at the final bend to finish a good second. Attorney General faded out after staying in touch with the front-runner well into the straight to finish fourth behind Rafa.

By virtue of impressive workouts, Satish Narredu trained Australis looked to have the best chance to win the 1200 metres Esquire Trophy (Div I), a race for maiden three-year-olds. However, the deterrent was the wide outside draw that the progeny of Phoenix Tower had. On the tight Bangalore race track, more often than not, the wide draw mars the chances of horses. However, Australis had enough speed from the gates and Suraj could settle the fancied runner behind the pace-setting Marina Del Ray. Inside the final furlong, Australis changed gears to go storming clear to win in impressive fashion. Favourite Athena found foot late but rallied well to take the second position. Her turn should come very soon. The lower division of the race saw favourite Hot N Fire play up at the gates and being pulled out of the fray. The loading took a long while to complete as there were a few restive horses in the fray. Prithviraj trained Brooklyn Supreme who had already come in for big support well before Hot N Fire was withdrawn, came in for further support to become a strong favourite. However, Brooklyn Supreme struggled for speed even as Mint went on a start to finish mission and established a useful lead without having to expend her energy. Mint kicked clear in the straight to win with a great deal of ease despite drifting out of a straight course. Sabrina rallied along the inside to take the second position. St Pauli Girl necked out favourite Brooklyn Supreme to save place money.

M P Mahaesh trained Legacy Dream who had a good lung opener over a shorter trip on the opening day of the season looked fit for the fray apart from the fact that he was also essaying a more comfortable trip of eight furlongs in the 1600 metres Royal Challenge Plate, a race for horses rated 30 to 50. Jockey P S Chouhan had Legacy Dream in a handy third or fourth position even as Lochinvar attempted runaway tactics. Legacy Dream gained ascendancy in the final furlong and had no problem in staving off the challenge of Fresh Start who rallied along the rails. Favourite Carolina who was attempting an encore, found the going tough and was a well beaten third.

Warren Singh trained Good Word came in for strong support in the betting ring despite the four-year-old not showing any worthwhile form in his last start. This became evident soon after the runners took off for the 1200 metres Diablo Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 15 to 35. Good Word was lost in the crowd and was not seen to have any reasonable chance of figuring at the finish well before the race came to the boil. Country`s Bloom led from the start but was overhauled in the final strides of the race by long shot Santorini Secret. Island Pearl ran on well to finish a neck behind the longtime leader Country`s Bloom. Tamara was a cut above the rest in the lower division of the race. Though Tamara took a while to get past Rare And Famous in the straight, once the favourite got into her stride, she bounced clear to win by a big margin. Inter Flora came from a long way back to snatch the runner-up berth from the longtime leader Rare And Famous.

The flood of money that Imtiaz Khan trained Dagobert attracted in the betting ring was a clear indicator of the shape of things to come in the 1400 metres Star Supreme Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35. Jockey Ranjeet had Dagobert take control of the race from the start and though the jockey dropped his whip closer home, Dagobert was running so freely in front that it was not a hindrance for the horse to win by a margin of over fourth lengths. Astrild was second ahead of Cherie Amour. Favourite Air of Distinction wilted under pressure after being prominent till entering the straight.

Neil Darashah trained Midnight Sky had the benefit of a good forward run and it reflected in the ease with which the four-year-old filly won the 1400 metres Ministrella Plate, a race for horses in the lowest category. Midnight Sky burst clear of the pack with 200 metres left in the race and won by a widening margin of four lengths over Mystical Shadow and Granada.