The Manjri Stud Farm bred Phoenix Tiger steamrolled the opposition en route to a ridiculously easy win in the Gr 1 Colts Championship Stakes, the second classic of the Summer Season on Sunday. The presence of Irish jockey Colm O`Donoghue was inspiring enough for the punters to make the Dallas Todywalla trained challenger from Mumbai as a favourite and the progeny of Phoenix Tower obliged huge expectation with a scintillating performance.

Most of the runners did not have an ideal lead up to this big race and as such, it was difficult to predict which way the race was going to swing. The fact that the connections had summoned Donoghue to ride Phoenix Tiger despite a below par performance itself indicated the confidence of the connections. With the Irish racing season in full swing, for somebody like Donoghue who rides for one of the biggest trainers Aidan O`Brien, it is difficult to make the trip to India. Perhaps his confidence in the ability of Phoenix Tiger could have persuaded the jockey to make the trip to India.

Phoenix Tiger was backed down to favouritism as the local challenger Authoritarian, arguably the best colt at this centre, was racing after a setback which had affected his preparation. Such horses rarely tend to win though it becomes difficult to ignore such horses. The presence of such horses poses a big dilemma to the punters and those who decided to go with him, ended up ruing the decision as the colt suffered hiccups during the race around the 800 metres marker which caused the horse to drop back. Besides that, Authoritarian lacked fitness as he faded out of contention after showing up in the straight to finish poorly.

A big field always poses lot of problems for the jockeys to take ideal positions and this year the problem has been compounded by a poor track despite more than adequate rain. The final bend presents a pitiable sight and one has not seen the track in such poor condition in a long time. Be that as it may, Donoghue took the best way under the circumstances to take the lead even as there was mess behind with the jockeys trying to jockey for positions. Southern Surprise raced second followed by Desert God who had to be used up in the first furlong to take a forward position. Auriga was nicely poised along the rails tracking the favourite while the rest were spaced out behind.

Donoghue pushed Phoenix Tiger to take charge on turning for home and the favourite quickly established a good cushion. Though the horse tended to drift out under the right hand use of the whip, the jockey quickly changed the whip hand which had the most desired effect. Phoenix Tiger established an unassailable lead approaching the final furlong and eventually checked in more than five lengths clear of Auriga. Good Prospect who was at the wrong end of the field at the bend, picked up the tiring horses in front and made a good rally to finish third ahead of Multitude and Desert God. The winner clocked a smart time of one minute 38.22 seconds. The decisive victory of Phoenix Tiger is sure to make him a frontline contender for the Kingfisher Derby along with Eternal Flame. The rest of the horses that will line up for the Derby will have many lengths to catch up to come into contention.

For jockey Sandesh who was astride favourite Del Santo, the innermost draw proved to be a disadvantage in the 1400 metres D M Shivaswamy Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 60 and above. Sandesh got squeezed out within the first furlong and lost a favourable position which proved decisive in the end. Long shot Mickey Mouse led from the start and refused to budge from there till the final moments of the race. Yash Narredu who brought the fancied Speed Hawk through a ground saving effort, was in an ideal position to launch his assault, and drove out the fancied runner to get the better of the front runner in the closing strides of the race with a strong effort. Del Santo, who circled round the field at the final bend, raised hopes for his supporters but fell short narrowly and finished a close third.

Jockey Bhawani Singh rode favourite Mister Majestic to the ground by going at scorching pace in front and was legless in the final furlong of the Fantabulous Plate (Div I), a race for three year old maidens. The energy sapping run in front saw Mister Majestic lead by several lengths deep into the straight but weaken at the busy end. Alexandrite which had lost about 12 kgs in body weight as compared to her last run produced a strong burst of speed and easily collared the long time leader. One Big Bang managed to edge out Mister Majestic from the runner up berth. Malesh Narredu trained Jigsaw profited from the run benefit he had while claiming the lower division of the race quite capably from debutant Zubaida.

Padmanabhan trained Placervilles Glory who was running after a longish break, brought off an upset in the 1200 metres Bergamo Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 45, with a start to finish mission. The race was dominated by unfancied runners as Ace Mesmerize and Blues Legend occupied the next two slots while the fancied duo of Better Than Ever and Manta Ray were not spotted at the busy end. Hackett who had won in the higher category about 604 days ago, found the ideal opposition in the lower division of the race. The seven year old won quite easily from late finishing Quarter Cask and Cherry Hinton.

Faraz Arshad trained Fresh Start who had found his bearings last time out recorded an encore in the 1400 metres Richelieu Plate, a race for horses rated 20 to 45. The drifting odds on favourite Precious Glitter was a clear indication of the shape of things to come as the Puttanna trainee packed up after leading the field into the straight. Sands of Time finished with a strong run to claim the runner up berth.

Faraz had a double for the day as his other ward; Power And Strength claimed the day`s opener, the 1400 metres New Market Plate, a race for horses in the lowest category. Power And Strength swept past the battling duo of Scorching and Celestial Storm in the final furlong to land the spoils with ease.