Royal Legacy wins Zavaray S. Poonawalla Mysore 1000 Guineas
Royal Legacy, ridden by Akshay Kumar and trained by James Mckeown, won the Zavaray S. Poonawalla Mysore 1000 Guineas at the Mysore Race Club on Friday, September 18, 2026. The James Mckeown-trained filly took the 1,600m classic to open the season’s pattern races at Mysuru.
Royal Legacy is by Leitir Mor out of Balmoral Castle and is owned by Mr. P.J. Vazifdar, Mrs. P.J. Vazifdar, Mr. M. Rishad, Mr. K. Kaliyaperumal, Mr. D.R. Thacker rep. DT Racing & Breeders LLP and Mr. S.R. Sanas. The trophy was presented by K.T. Balakrishna, chairman and senior steward of Mysore Race Club, with trainer James Mckeown and MRC stewards Y.P. Udaya Shankar, B.N. Cariappa, G. Venkatesh and B.U. Chengappa looking on.
Racing third early, Akshay settled Royal Legacy into second until the bend, then manoeuvred wide in the home straight and accelerated; the filly overtook leader Shutterfly in the last 400m and held on to win. The finishing order for the Zavaray S. Poonawalla Mysore 1000 Guineas (1,600m) was: ROYAL LEGACY (Akshay K) 1, STARZELLA (Trevor) 2, YARRA YARRA (Antony) 3 and TYCHE (Srinath) 4, with margins 3/4, 1-1/4 and 6 and a time of 1m, 35.32s; the favourite was Starzella and the reported returns were ₹42 (w), 12 and 11 (p), SHP: 40, THP: 43, FP: 120, Q: 18, Trinella: 447/545, Exacta: 1,569/756.
In the Sidapur Plate (Div. II) over 1,400m, MAJOR SAAB (Aleemuddin) finished first ahead of Double Scotch (Arul) and Gentleman’s Word (Rafique S.K), with Lead Singer (R. Pradeep) fourth; margins were 11, Hd and 3/4 and the time 1m, 25.20s. The race details listed returns ₹15 (w), 11, 12 and 54 (p), SHP: 26, THP: 114, FP: 28, Q: 18, Trinella: 703/426, Exacta: 11,213/4,805; Major Saab was the favourite and is owned by Mr. Deepak K Srivastava & Mr. Prakash K Srivastava with trainer M. Bobby.
The Panchgani Plate (Div. II) (1,200m) was won by GOLDEN BIRD (S. Imran) with Jasmine (Salman Khan) second and Secret Shadow (R. Rakesh) third, in a time of 1m, 12.37s and margins Hd, Shd and 1-1/4; reported returns were ₹527 (w), 80, 10 and 18 (p), SHP: 32, THP: 38, FP: 1,213, Q: 712, Trinella: 4,697/10,065, Exacta: 31,631 (c/o). Golden Bird is owned by Mr. Benhur Bhastekar & Mr. Sunil Santhosh Serrao and trained by R. Helleal Moses. In the Sidapur Plate (Div. I) (1,400m), DESERT SHIELD (S. Sachin) won in 1m, 25.77s from Side Please (Salman Khan) and Carter (Md. Talib); margins 2-1/4, Nk and 2-1/4, returns ₹18 (w), 13, 14 and 12 (p), and the favourite was Desert Shield, trained by Neil Devaney and owned by Mrs. Deepa Devaney.
Pilot Officer took the R.M. Puttanna Memorial Cup (1,200m) with S. Saqlain aboard, finishing ahead of Selma (Sai Kiran) and Night Raider (Akshay K) in 1m, 11.40s; margins were Lnk, Nk and 2-1/2, returns ₹44 (w), 14, 12 and 10 (p), and the winning connections include owners listed in the race details with trainer Saddam Iqbal. BRAVE HEART (S. Sachin) won the Eclipse Plate (1,400m) in 1m, 23.92s from Knightsbridge and Gifted Falcon, margins 2, Shd and 2-1/2, returns ₹33 (w), 23, 36 and 12 (p); owners Mr. Deepak K Srivastava & Mr. Prakash K Srivastava and trainer Neil Devaney were credited for the winner. The Panchgani Plate (Div. I) (1,200m) was taken by THE GREY GERANIUM (Rafique S.K) with Gold Fame second and Habibti third; Mr Karnataka was listed as Not run, the time was 1m, 11.71s, margins 1-1/2, 1-3/4 and 3/4, and returns ₹31 (w), 10, 20 and 10 (p).
Jackpot and treble pool results for the meeting were published as: Jackpot: ₹25,752; runner-up: 1,380; mini jackpot: 794 (c/o); treble (i): 1,395 (c/o); (ii): 956 (c/o). Published - September 18, 2026 08:07 pm IST.