The BTC Anniversary Cup (Grade II), the stellar event in Sunday's race card, attracted a high quality field of eleven runners. This well endowed event, being worth almost Rs 17 lakh to the winner, is an important race in the Summer calendar, and the top-class field that faced the starter on Sunday, was indicative of the status of this race. Some of these runners had crossed swords in the Super Mile at Hyderabad, a race in which Diego Rivera had got up on the last stride to beat Splendid Surprise. These two horses were the obvious market leaders, with some stray support flowing in the direction of Badge Of Gold and Wonder Smile. Padmanabhan-trained Rhapsidion Snow was friendless and she reached the starting gates as a total outsider. Racegoers are known to have short memories, and they perhaps forgot that this mare had also taken part in the said race at Hyderabad. Rhapsidion Snow had finished a respectable distance behind the first four, and was meeting Diego Rivera and Splendid Surprise on better terms today, than she did on the afternoon of the Invitation Cup. Diego Rivera had finished a close third to Noble Prince and Alekona in The Chief Justice Cup, and that performance enthused the punters to such an extent, that they backed him down to an unexpected 6/4 at race time.

Wayne Smith rode an extremely neat race on Rhapsidion Snow. He made use of her early speed and took her to the front, as the field was despatched for this seven furlong trip. Woman On Top, Elusive Study and Badge Of Gold were in close attendance, while Diego Rivera and Splendid Surprise were held up for eventual speed. Wayne Smith relaxed Rhapsidion Snow and slowed down the pace as the field approached the final bend. Woman On Top was tiring, as were Elusive Study and Badge of Gold. Mallesh was hard at work on Diego Rivera while Christopher had pulled out the stick on Splendid Surprise. The packed stands were anticipating an exciting finish. What they finally witnessed was a procession. Rhapsidion Snow was asked to quicken in the straight and she responded gamely to her master’s call. She bounded away to a sensational win ahead of a hard ridden Diego Rivera and Splendid Surprise. Rhapsidion Snow has regained her best form and should be followed hereafter. The rest of the runners were totally outclassed. Wonder Smile is one filly who has totally lost form, and should be deleted from your list of "follow" horses.

The Lt Col Gaunt Memorial Cup was the added attraction in the day’s card. Prakash-ridden Grand Madame was considered to be a certainty and the punters lost no time in backing her down to the exclusion of her rivals. Grand Madame (Razeen-Averoff) is bred to stay and this trip of 2,200 metres was considered to be well within her compass. She had won impressively in her earlier start, and was set to take on a moderate set of six opponents. There was no clear second favourite in this race as many of the runners were tackling this distance for the first time in their careers. It was evident that whoever "stayed" the best was going to win this race. Agassiz did her normal front-running and slowed down in the straight. Double Elite was second for most of the way before he was challenged and passed by the favourite near the 200 metres marker. The most impressive runner and eventual winner of this race turned out to be the rank outsider Thunders Roar. Jagadeesh kept him in last position for the first mile and a quarter of this race, and made his move in the final furlong. Thunders Roar made use of his light impost and some reserved energy, to get up in the last few strides and nail Grand Madame near the winning post. The final stages of this race were really exciting, as six out of the seven runners came abreast near the distance post and each one of them had a realistic chance of lifting this Cup.

While Ganapathy and Prakash failed with Grand Madame, they were associated with the runaway victory of Originality. This stylishly bred filly (Placerville-Hall of Honour) has made good progress in her career and is destined to turn into a top-class sprinter. She was an even money chance with the bookmakers and was set to be opposed by On A Roll and Sugar Blaze. Both these challengers were found trailing the field as Originality ran away from Asiaticus and Perfect Rhythm. The top-weighted five year-old Perfect Rhythm impressed in defeat, and should be able to pick up a race amongst horses of her own age group. On A Roll was found stiff after the race, while Sugar Blaze reportedly burst her blood vessels and finished a detached last of eight runners.

Jockey Christoher has been in good form. After half a dozen winners in Bangalore and Hyderabad last week, he was the only professional to score more than once on Sunday. He opened the day’s proceedings with a very popular victory astride the S Singh trained The Last Samurai. Owned by a syndicate, comprising many well-known members of the BTC, this horse was tipped as a good thing and obliged readily. Christopher tucked him in second place as Excellent Ability tried to run away with this mile event. The Last Samurai had to be given a couple of cracks in the final stages of this race as he went away for a comfortable victory ahead of a late-finishing Sunny Colours and Jersey Rock. Excellent Ability was another fancied runner to have burst her blood vessels during the day. Christopher completed his double with Refresh in the last race in the day’s card.  He allowed Anoosheek to lead till the bend before sending Refresh to the front. A belated challenge from South Paradise was not good enough to trouble the leader.

An impressive performance from the Puttanna-trained Greens signalled the emergence of another top-class sprinter at Bangalore. Abs Fabs, from the yard of Arjun Mangalorkar was the rage in the betting rings. She had run a good second in the first start of her career, and was hyped to be a good bet for the day. Abs Fabs was totally flatfooted when Greens overtook Superlativo and sailed for home. Jockey Krishnan was overjoyed with this performance of Greens and repeatedly looked back in the straight. In spite of being eased up in the last furlong of the race, the filly clocked a good timing and indicated that she will be "too good to miss " in her future engagements. Srinath brought Forever Mark from the middle to run a fair second while Abs Fabs finished third.

Trafalgar Square finally won a race for her connections. This filly had disappointed in her last few starts, when she had been unable to justify public favouritism. She was once again sent to the gates as a clear first favourite. There was fair support for Whisper Valley, but this filly flattered briefly, before packing up near the 400 metres marker. Trafalgar Square, who was always travelling comfortably, overtook the front-running Princess Emily and lengthened her strides to give trainer Amit Caddy and jockey Appu an overdue victory.