Padmanabhan trained Sir Cecil who is rated as an exceptional horse, lived up to that reputation when decimating the opposition in the Gr 2 Karnataka Juvenile Million, a terms race for three-year-olds, the feature event of Monday`s Bangalore races. Sir Cecil won by a widening margin of 18 lengths from Catalonia who was a graded race winner at Mumbai which itself highlights the exceptional class of Sir Cecil.

Sir Cecil who is a full brother to the Indian Derby winning Hall of Famer went to the post with the bookmakers afraid of giving any odds. Sir Cecil and Catalonia raced abreast of the rest. The latter kept company until turning for home and thereafter the race ceased to be a contest. Jockey Neeraj Rawal was hardly required to exert himself on the favourite as Sir Cecil obliged the command to leave his only worthwhile opponent way behind. Eau Claire came from a long way back to edge out Legend is Back for the third place.

Nityanand trained Dancing Dragon maintained his amazing form when recording a hat-trick of wins in the 1400 metres Dr T Thimmaiah Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 45 to 65. Jockey Zervan had Dancing Dragon in about the fifth or sixth position even as Emidio set a reasonable pace in front. Punjabi Girl was in about the fourth position but the filly who came to Bangalore with a big reputation, was the first horse beat in the run in for home as she slid back to eventually finish very poorly. Dancing Dragon moved with raking strikes to take over the running inside the final 300 metres and stretched away for an emphatic win over Automatic and Great Tribute. Punjabi Girl appeared to have regressed from the form that she had displayed at Hyderabad as she finished more than a distance behind the winner.

New Creation, a debutant from Padmanabhan`s yard, recorded an impressive win in the 1200 metres Esquire Plate, a race for maiden three-year-olds. The progeny of Multidimensional who was making her debut did not show early speed and jockey Sandesh could not manoeuvre a favourable position. New Creation fell back to the last position as there was interference as well from Ido What I Do which forced the filly to travel very wide into the straight. Despite all these hiccups, New Creation showed character when covering ground on the wide outside and in the end was drawing clear of the rest. Castaway was second ahead of late rallying Stunning Grey who saved place money. Radiant Treasure who was expected to be in the thick of the action graced the wrong end of the field and performed poorly despite extensive workouts.

The race for lowest class horses are the nightmares of punting public but the favourite of the officialdom who make it a point to compulsorily have one or two races in this category. The 1200 metres Udhagamandalam Plate, a race for horses rated 0 to 20, looked like a minefield though the bulk of the betting was concentrated on Purity and Limato. The race was won by 80 to 1 shot Final Destiny who shot off from the pack like a scalded cat in the final furlong to sail past the long-time leader Limato to record a big upset win for trainer Manohar who was leading in a winner after his comeback from a long holiday. Purity made a late dash but could only get the second spot ahead of Cashmere. Limato weakened in the final furlong and finished a tame fourth. River Angel who was in chase of Limato till well into the straight, pulled up lame and the jockey had to stop riding in the last 50 metres.

Lesser fancied Midnight Sky from the stables of trainer Nityanand won the 1400 metres Lady Gibraltar Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35. Happy Dancing came in for sustained betting to end up as a firm favourite. Happy Dancing chased Santorini Secret well into the straight before storming clear. However, her hopes were put paid by Midnight Sky who showed up on the wide outside. The progeny of Ace covered the leeway in a trice and then left the favourite standing to win with great comfort. Only Prince showed some spark while finishing third.

Sulaiman Attaollahi trained Athena finally broke the ice when she met success in the Bourbon King Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 30 to 50. Athena had run in a much better company but had always found one better in all her six outings. Now running against a more submissive opposition, Athena overcame a habitual sluggish start and measured the front-running Wind Striker and Princeazeem inside the final furlong and then held off the late flourish of Del Porto and Buscadero despite drifting out under pressure. The run of Buscadero was suggestive of an early success. Sandesh was astride the winner. The lower division of the race was easy picking for Arjun Mangalorkar trained Standout who swamped the opposition in taking style. Golden Success and Birchwood took the next two spots while the well supported As Time Goes By put in a disappointing performance.

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New Creation (A Sandesh up) winner of the Esquire Plate

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Final Destiny (Md Akram up) winner of the Udhagamandalam Plate

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Athena (A Sandesh up) winner of the Bourbon King Plate (Div-I)

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Sir Cecil (Neeraj Rawal up) winner of the Karnataka Juvenile Million (Gr.2)

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Dancing Dragon (S Zervan up) winner of the Dr.T.Thimmaiah Memorial Cup

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Midnight Sky (Arshad Alam up) winner of the Lady Gibraltar Plate

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Standout (S John up) winner of the Bourbon King Plate (Div-II)

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