Trainer Madhav Mangalorkar deserved all the praise that he received after leading in the glorious winner of The Maharaja's Cup, the stellar event in Saturday's race card at Bangalore. His ward Alekona surprised most racegoers by smashing a course record ,which was held by Ich Dien for almost two decades. Although Alekona was suited by the terms of this race, and was better off at the weights in comparison to the favourite Noble Prince, it was generally believed that he would find it difficult to "stay" the extended trip of The Maharaja's Cup. The presence of the likes of Bourbon King, Southern Empire and Noble Prince made the race very competitive and the bookmakers were generous in offering fancy odds against most of the runners. Noble Prince, Bourbon King and Alekona were looking well, while Southerm Empire looked a trifle gross in the parade ring.

The race was run at a scorching pace, with Retribution and Alterio tearing away to the front and leading by a fair margin ahead of Sweeping Success, Noble Prince, Mother's Pride, Bourbon King and Southern Empire. Suraj Narredu was content to settle Alekona in mid group and made no move till they started to negotiate the final bend. Retribution began to tire as Alterio went surging into the lead and was collared by Noble Prince near the 300 metres marker. Alekona was produced on the wide outside, and after a brief tussle with the frontrunners, this stout-hearted gelding drew away from Noble Prince. Alterio stayed on to be third, while Vanquish came from the rear to take the fourth spot. The other fancied runners were seen to be plodding at the end. Ruby Queen burst a blood vessel during the running of this race. It was a very satisfying moment for trainer Mangalorkar, as he had worked extremely hard with this winner. Alekona had suffered serious setbacks in training and was sold as a three year old. He was bought by his new owners and rested for a couple of seasons. This was Alekona's fourth win for Mangalorkar and today’s victory was superb. He shaved off almost one second from the existing record.

Jockey Suraj Narredu rode a very understanding race on Alekona. He rode him for eventual speed and was rewarded for his efforts. Suraj has matured into a fine horseman and is currently leading the jockeys tally in the current season. He is five points ahead of Prakash and should have no problem in extending that lead. A fact that went unnoticed about this young professional was a recent milestone in his short career. The victory on Lightnin Blues at the end of last month, was win number seven hundred for him. In an era of competitive racing, top class jockeys and limited opportunities, this feat is praiseworthy. Seven Hundred wins in a short span of six years is indeed laudable. Suraj completed a quick double in the afternoon when he guided The Contender to an effortless victory . This highly talented horse has been raced sparingly. The Contender followed Sunny's Symphony and Act Smart into the straight, before taking over the running and going away from the field. Act Smart held on to a thin
advantage over Afghan while Cimmaron came on the wide outside to finish fourth. The Contender is in fine form and should repeat in his next start.

Trainer Mangalorkar completed a quick double for the day, when he saddled another winner for the owners of Alekona. Snob Value shocked the followers of form while sprinting away with the last race of the day. He had been
unable to touch the board in the past ten months, but was in a different mood on Saturday. John pushed him to the front and relaxed his hold on him as they began to head homewards. Snob value gave no chance to his pursuers and beat My Friend Paul by a couple of lengths. Sangini flew on the inside to be a close third. The rest were outclassed.

Lisa Jones is the only lady rider at this centre. Although she had ridden twenty horses, she was winless this season. Trainer Padmanabhan gave her an opportunity to win today, and she took it gratefully. There was a lot of hype around Win Prettybaby, and even though this filly had no form to support her credentials, she was backed strongly. Lisa Jones allowed Win Prettybaby to go the front in this mile event, and led into the straight before she was challenged strongly by Casino Royal. The two horses fought every inch of ground before Lisa was able to give a couple of backhanders to the favourite and put her nose in front at the all important finish. Shisham rallied on the inside to finish a respectable third.

Another interesting finish was witnessed in The S N Harish Memorial Trophy. Named in the memory the most popular racing commentator in India, this race attracted eight runners. Kyles Of Bute and Desert Rule were strongly fancied by their respective connections. C Alford decided to take Kyles Of Bute to the front and set a strong pace for this race. He seemed to have succeeded in running the opponents of their feet as he kicked clear in the last 200 metres of this race. It was at this very stage that Warren Singh's Fly Free began to make a move from the rear of the pack. Christopher was seen urging his horse, and Fly Free produced an amazing turn of foot to go past the leaders. He retired as an easy winner ahead of a tiring Kyles Of Bute and Desrt Rule.

Srinath rode the Ganapathy trained Queen's Guest to a popular victory in a sprint race for horses in class III. Queens Guest was the shortest priced favourite in the day and her price was shortening with each passing moment. Queen's Guest was settled in third place as Join The Party showed the way to Cannavaro. The three of them pulled away from the rest as they turned homewards. Srinath tapped the favourite a couple of times before she lengthened her strides and went away from Cannavaro. Join The Party plodded on to hold Auchinlech for third place.

Lokanath's She's Spectacular finally won a maidens race when she led all the way to score effortlessly in smart set of eleven horses. This filly had let down her supporters during the winter season. Wayne Smith made full use of
his innermost draw and rode her confidently. Arnatta and Zaffarani finished second and third. Both these horses need to be supported in their future engagements. Arnatta was given an educative ride by C Alford and was not
unduly punished in this race. Zaffarani was seen gracing the rear end of the field before he started to gallop. His finishing burst was indicative of his capabilities.