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The obvious favourite in this race was Gershwin. Apart from the fact that he had won four times in his short racing career, Gershwin was the only three year-old in this field. He had beaten second favourite Boston Ranger in the Main Season, and with the weights favouring Gershwin today, there was no reason why he would not do so again. He was solidly supported at even-money in the betting rings. Aurelian was totally ignored from a betting perspective as he was conceding a lot of weight to his rivals. He was easily backable at 10/1.
The early pace in this race was fairly modest and this worked beautifully for the eventual winner. Sylvester D'Souza brought Aurelian from his extreme draw and tucked him nicely behind Mr Majestic. The two of them led a tightly packed field till the horses took the rising ground and turned for home. It was evident at this stage itself that Gershwin was in a spot of bother and would find it difficult to win this race. The one noticed making a move from behind was Boston Ranger. To the delight of his connections, Aurelian overtook Mr Majestic and sailed for home. The acceleration shown by him was awesome, as he opened an unbeatable lead over his rivals. With a top class rider astride, Aurelian continued to power away in front and won handsomely from Boston Ranger and Gershwin.
Bipin and D'Souza thus completed a double, as they had scored another comfortable victory with first timer Sunshower in a sprint for horses in Class IV. The nicely bred three year-old filly had been plagued with many problems as a youngster, and her owners had toyed with the idea of retiring her to stud. However, once she showed signs of recovery, they decided to race her at Mysore. She wasn't unduly extended while collaring a break-away Chamcha In Chief and registering her maiden success. Sunshower will certainly win again for the asking. Exceptional came with a long stretch run and displaced Chamcha In Chief from the second berth.
TTrainer Pratap Kamath had five runners in the day's card. He scored with three of them while the other two ran second. The three winners from his stable were steered by three different jockeys. The day started with a shock victory for Roto Rooa from his yard. This mare had never raced beyond six furlongs in her career. She was entered in a mile race today. The rank outsider in a field of ten went to the front and stayed there. Ravi was able to keep her going till the very end. Public choice Nano Blue came purposefully at the end but was a bit too late. A short neck separated the two runners at the wire.
Stornoway gave him the second success for the afternoon. This nine year-old had come down to the lowest class and was definitely the best performed horse in this bunch. The presence of John in the saddle enthused many punters to support him with confidence. A late rush of money on Mid Summer Star saw the two runners sharing the favouritism. Mid Summer Star led till the bend and shot his bolt. He stopped in his tracks and found it difficult to reach the board. Stornoway moved nicely at the bend, shot away thereafter and under the able guidance of his jockey scored a popular victory. Al Qamar and Activisto filled the rest of the frame.
The most exciting victory for Kamath came in the form of Artistic Way. Having entrusted this horse to apprentice Santosh, the stable decided to take some weight off his back. This proved to be decisive, as the nine year old got up on the last stride and nailed the favourite Time For All near the winning post. Jockey Milan tried his best to keep the favourite going but was found wanting at the end. This finish was typical for the day as most of the races today were decided near the winning post.
A classic example of a close finish was the last race of the day. Darashah's Real Magic led till the last stride before getting pipped at the post by the Natraj trained Skyfleet. The two runners had clashed on the opening day of the season, in a race in which Real Magic had scored an easy victory. With the weights remaining more or less the same it was presumed that the result would also remain the same. However, it was Skyfleet who prevailed by a whisker today.
After successive defeats of many fancied runners from their yard, the Darashah stable had some compensation in the form of a win with Ashkan. The upper division of a Class III sprint was supposed to be an open affair. Kangaroo Punch and Lotus Pond were fancied ahead of Ashkan and the others. The three fancied runners were racing close to each other near the bend, and their jockeys were yet to make their moves. Gnaneshwar took Ashkan to the front and opened a useful lead ahead of Lotus Pond and Kangaroo Punch. With whips flying and the boys riding powerfully, the order did not change and remained the same till the very end.
