Robert Foley trained Kingdom Of Heaven justified favouritism by lifting The Royal Calcutta Turf Club Cup, the feature event in an eight event card framed for the opening day of the Mysore Main Season 2008. This seven furlong race for horses in Class I had attracted a moderate field of eight runners. Kingdom Of Heaven was a rousing performer in the last Mysore season, and had been prepared judiciously in Ooty before arriving here. With Prakash being unavailable to ride due to a four day suspension, this runner was entrusted to apprentice Vinod Shinde. Warren Singh's Stone Of Destiny was the other fancied runner in this race. He had been given a few runs in the Summer Season at Bangalore, and had steadily come down in handicap. The presence of apprentice Parveen in the saddle ensured another four kilos off his back, and that gave him a realistic chance of winning this race. The odds against Kingdom Of Heaven expanded to 6/4, since there was strong support for Stone Of Destiny as the horses arrived at the starting gates.

Assaye set a strong pace and led from Kingdom Of Love, Sensitive Prince and Lyra, while Stone Of Destiny lacked early pace and was seen being pushed to stay in touch with the front runners. Vinod Shinde was a picture of supreme confidence as they took the turn and straightened for home. He urged his horse near the distance post and the response was immediate. Kingdom Of Heaven lengthened his strides and won from a late finishing Hidden Pleasures. Early leader Assaye began to tire , but was still good enough to hold on to the third spot ahead of Stone Of Destiny. The latter seems to have lost his zest for racing. Lyra and Sensitive Prince stopped in their tracks and finished in the ruck.

Robert Foley has been the champion trainer at this centre for many years. He commenced the season with a double and began his campaign to retain the grip on this coveted title. His other winner during the afternoon was Mill Fontaine, who produced a little extra at the finish to get the better of Pat On The Back. Rookie P Mani had driven Pat On The Back ahead of Karumba and seemed to be holding on to his lead, before Vinod Shinde brought Mill Fontaine on the wide outside and  won with a measure of comfort. The winner was an odds-on choice for this race. Karumba stayed on to be third, while Deltic Star finished a fair fourth.

Another professional to saddle a brace for the day was trainer M Bobby. Priceless Legacy gave him his first winner when he won the opening event of the day. Favourite Touch Of Paradise was taken on a start-to-finish mission by Chandrsekar, while Priceless Legacy was a handy second for most of the way. Jockey Ramandeep brought Priceless Legacy with a flourish near the distance post, and his mount surged into a winning lead. Tough Love was a tame third. His other winner was Clueless Puzzle, who won The Mysore Jewellery Mart Gold Cup in effortless fashion. Mahendran took this horse to the front and won from end-to-end. His nearest challenger was the three year old Swiss Queen, but she was no match to him. The rest of the runners finished in a heap ,with Belle Chose putting her neck in front to take the third place.

Monappa's Always For You was the medium of a big gamble that was landed by the stable. Quite a few maiden three year olds were entered in a class IV race to be run over 1400 metres. Clouseau and Fly For Sure had run in
Bangalore , while the others were locally based horses. Clouseau opened as the favourite, but a fair bit of support for Always For You, saw the two of them start as joint market leaders. Paint Me Red did the early running ,while Always For You and Clouseau were in close attendance. The order remained the same till about twenty metres from the winning post. At this stage, Gnaneshwar was able to get something extra from the heavily backed Always For you, and to the delight of his numerous supporters, punched him home to win by a "Head" from Paint Me Red. Clouseau was another "neck" away in third.

The last two races saw the eclipse of strong favourites from the Foley stable. Mister Elegant and Vinod Shinde were trying to make it three-in-a-row for the connections, but were denied the honour by Rakesh trained Dare Don. Himanshu was able to keep Dare Don on an even keel, and pushed him strongly to contain the challenge posed by Mister Elegant. There was strong support for Fantabulous Prince, but this five year old was obviously outclassed. He managed to finish a tame third ahead of Thunder On and Zooming.

The final race in the days card provided a shocking result. Perfect Promise was the hottest order of the day. She was considered unbeatable and was sent to the post as a half-money favourite. Vinod Shinde sent her into the early lead , and seemed to be travelling well. Clasic Armour was her nearest challenger and he was unable to make any impression on the leader. The picture changed alarmingly as the runners approached the final 100 metres of the race. 100/1 outsider Cruise Control made a move through the middle , and began to gain ground on Perfect Promise. Cruise Control got up in the last few strides and emerged victorious. Clasic Armour was a close third while Khoka finished a faraway fourth.

The opening day of the season saw a fair number of fancied horses winning their races. The day's professional honours were shared by Robert Foley, M Bobby and Vinod Shinde.