Pesi Shroff trained Set Alight wore the winners sash after she waltzed away with The Fillies Trial Stakes, the first Classic of the Bangalore Summer Season. Sixteen of the best fillies at this centre had accepted to take part in this prestigious race. The unbeaten Set Alight (Razeen-Set Aside) was the raging hot favourite at half-money while you could write your own betting card on most of the others. Ganapathy trained Star Wave was the next in demand at 10/1. Racegoers were reluctant to look beyond Set Alight and were ready to back her at any price. The rare presence of Vijay Mallya at the race course did not help the cause of the bookmakers. Most of the contenders
were looking well as they were sent to the starting gates. A majority of these fillies were tackling the mile trip for the first time in their careers.

Violet Honey and Salsera were taken to the front and vied with each other to set a strong pace in this race. Mallesh Narredu was able to settle Set Alight in third spot while Prakash on Star Wave was struggling to get into a good position from his outside draw. Kiara was always on the heels of Set Alight and seemed to be travelling well.  Violet Honey was challenged and passed by the favourite as the heads turned for home while Kiara was seen looming on the wide outside. At this stage, Mallesh tapped Set Alight and asked her to quicken. The response was almost immediate as she lengthened her strides and strode away from Kiara. She was not touched with the stick thereafter and needed to be ridden hands and heels to pass the winning post in a smart time of 1 minute and 36.6 seconds. Kiara, who finished a fair second, was almost a distance clear of the third placed Violet Honey. Dorabella finished on to be fourth.

The crowds cheered lustily as an elated Vijay Mallya led in the winner. He told indiarace, that “We are delighted to be back on the Classic Scene. I had never seen my filly run before. I had missed her four previous victories. Pesi and Zeyn were very keen that I come today and I am happy to be here. We know that Set Alight is a very good horse and she has made us feel very proud. I look forward to being back on Derby Day."

Her master Pesi Shroff was equally elated. He said "It is a very special day in my life. To saddle the first two in the fillies Classic is a very satisfying experience. Both my horses have run to the best of their abilities and the credit for this must go to my stable staff for extending their best possible support to me. Set Alight is the best horse that I have
trained so far in my career and I can assure her fans that she is very capable of handling the Derby trip."

Mallesh Narredu acknowledged that set Alight is a very special filly. He said that she was the best filly he had ever ridden. Coming from a man who has ridden some of the finest horses in our country, this was a real compliment. Mallesh loved her temperament and said that she settles beautifully. He went on to say, "She has tremendous staying capacity. She keeps getting stronger and stronger as the race progresses. She will have a bold show in the future Classics. I can’t wait to ride her in the Bangalore Derby."  Set Alight was bred at the Usha Stud and her breeder Ms Ameeta Mehra had more than one reason to be happy this afternoon. The stud farm had the distinction of having bred the first three runners past the post in today's Fillies Trial stakes.

Another professional to hog the limelight was jockey Appu. He rode with great aplomb as he punched home a hat-trick in the first three races of the day. Road To Romance, who had never won a race in her career, was expected to do well in a modest set of horses that she was set to face today. She took over the running in the final furlong of the race and kept going to beat Trafalgar Square and Whisper Valley. Dominic trained this winner.

His next winner came astride the Leo D'Silva trained Sparsh. The focus in this race for maiden three year olds, was centered around Kyles Of Bute and Forever Mark. Both of them were caught flatfooted, when Appu took Sparsh into the lead and kept him going to land the spoils. Kyles Of Bute came with a belated challenge but it was not good enough to trouble the winner. Forever Mark finished third ahead of the front running Another Destiny.

Appu's best win came astride the Babu Rao trained Undue. This colt had run only once in his career and had finished a fair second to his stablemate Fleeting Arrow. The fact that Fleeting Arrow had progressed nicely thereafter should have added value to that effort. But that was not to be as punters ignored his chances, while loads of money came pouring onto the Ganapathy trained Celestial Treasure who was backed down to on-money favouritism. Undue was friendless and his odds expanded to 3/1. The race itself was an anti climax. Appu was content to allow Undue to run his own race and was embarrassed when he saw the horse going further and further away from the rest. Copertina occupied the second spot ahead of Fly Free and Ahira. The favourite Celestial Treasure ran off the board.

After the first three wins, Appu was definitely "On A Roll ", but failed to win on a favourite by that name. Appu loves to ride in front and took this speedy horse on a start to finish mission. He managed to shake off his early challengers Panchakshari and Colonel Duff as they entered the final stages of the race. It was Lava who shot through the pack and pipped On A Roll near the winning post. Common Knowledge ran a good third. There was a lot of support for Strong Minded but he seemed to be in no mood to gallop today.

 The day’s proceedings came to a close with an effortless win for the Prakash ridden Ready To Mingle. This Ganapathy ward was too good for the opposition as she showed a clean pair of heels to her rivals and won ahead of Mint and Bullish Luck. The latter veered out at a crucial stage of the race, but for which, she would have finished closer to the winner. Bullish Luck should be supported in her next outing.