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Vishal Yadav's Dare Don has been one of the most consistent performers at Mysore, as the six year-old has managed to grace the board on all four appearances this season. He improved on those performances by defying the heavy impost of 66.5 kilos, and registering one of the easiest victories of the afternoon. He put paid to the pretensions of on-money favourite Lotus Pond. The Monappa-trained filly had made all the running before she faltered in the straight. Lotus Pond drifted out under pressure and was caught napping by Dare Don. Under the strong riding of apprentice Shiva Kumar, the brave horse made up a lot of ground in the straight. He won by a widening margin and showed that he was much superior to this group of horses. The winner's stablemate Native Strategy appeared late on the scene to save place money for his connections.
The day began with a couple of races for horses in the lowest class. Feroz Khan trained Track Wonder won the day's opener. He ran prominently to score in a narrow finish from Raging River and Bold Success. The six year-old, who enjoyed a negative rating prior to the start of this race, gave Melvyn his first winner of this season. The favourite Romantic Design ran a pathetic race and finished in the ruck. The next one was expected to be a match race between Zooming and Much More. Both these runners were known to possess a lot of speed and were equally suited over this scurry. The race unfurled on expected lines. Much More and Zooming raced ahead of the others and were almost together till the final furlong. The former got stronger at the finish to register an easy victory. Major Impression made a late bid to take the third place ahead of Sizzling Star.
The most impressive victor of the day was definitely Evanston. He carried a back-breaking weight over a mile and spared ten lengths to Hakuna Matata and the others. Three year-old Archer was bidding to complete a hat-trick of victories in his short career. Darashah expected his ward to stay the trip. A late surge of betting on Evanston saw Archer being displaced from the top of the betting boards. This Md Sajid trained horse had run a forward race over nine furlongs in his previous start, and the connections expected him to improve today. Evanston justified their confidence with an exceptional performance. In the hands of Ahsan Qureshi, the big-made horse accelerated in the straight and posted a runaway victory. Hakuna Matata, Expensive Affair and Vertex filled the rest of the frame. Archer must revert back to sprinting, as he disliked the longer trip and faltered under pressure.
Last outing winner Master Strategist scored an encore in the last race of the day. Stephane rode this favourite for Bipin Salvi. This was certainly a brave effort, as the horse was bidding to defy a 22-point penalty that he had received for his earlier success. To add to his discomfort, the horse was unlucky to get the widest draw in this race. However, Stephane overcame all these impediments by giving Master Strategist an impeccable ride. He took a good jump, stayed out of trouble on the wide outside, led within the first two furlongs and then pushed his charge down the straight to a narrow victory. Master Strategist lasted out to spare a neck to Sun Device, while Witch Doctor rallied from the back to dislodge Sterling Speed from the third spot.
