Vayuputra (Forest Fair-Officers Choice), who has moved from Bangalore recently, scored a decisive victory in the higher division of the J. K. Van Ingen Memorial Gold Cup, the feature of the second day’s races at Mysore. The nine-race card, which was to have been run on Wednesday, was held on Friday, after a heavy downpour forced a postponement. Definite Believe tried runaway tactics, establishing a lead in excess of eight lengths by the time the field approached the final bend, but once on the home straight he started to slow down rapidly while Vayuputra made enormous progress to emerge clear with ease. Hampton Court finished second ahead of the favourite World Is Toomuch.

Darashah-trained Social Climber (Puerto Madero-Tile Bought) clinched the lower division of the race, beating the long-time leader Green Vision to the second spot. After tracking Green Vision till the last furlong, Social Climber accelerated well to P.S. Chouhan’s urgings and skipped away to win comfortably. Glitterato moved on the extreme outside to take the third place while the favourite Noble Sacrifice finished a tame fifth behind Hurry Anna.

Trainer Micheal Eshwar had a profitable day after two of his three mounts emerged victorious. Secret Pilgrim (Alnashr Alwasheek-Star Spangled) lifted the Beloved Prince Plate, a race for horses rated 80 and above. The top-weighted Ohiyesa garnered most of the support in the betting ring, while Secret Pilgrim was the second in demand. Entering the final straight, Bucethalis and Ohiyesa started to fight out the issue but just couldn’t match strides when Secret Pilgrim unleashed a run. Timeless Treasure was withdrawn before the race.

Backed to the exclusion of the other runners, Eshwar’s Dream Of Gold (Diffident-Self Appointed) won The Mysore Plate, the opening race of the day but not before getting a scare from Miss International. High Treason held forte till the last 200 metres with Dream Of Gold in chase throughout. Once Dream Of Gold shot ahead, Miss International came up with a strong run and gave the favourite a run for her money.

Two long shots in the jackpot pool brought down the aspirations of many jackpot hunters and the pool paid rich dividends. M. Bobby-trained Damgood (Ajaad-Lock Wood) upset the calculations of many to win the lower division of the Karighatta Plate, the first leg of the jackpot pool. Damgood was not in the reckoning at the betting ring, as form hunters failed to notice that a saddle slip was the reason for his last out of 11 runners in his previous essay, even though the eight-year-old had a fairly decent career graph. Freedom Fighter was the first to tackle the front-running Teleprompter on the home stretch. Damgood was forced to be pulled out to make his bid after failing to get a clear run in between horses but once shown the daylights she galloped resolutely, to push back Freedom Fighter inside the last 50 metres.

The higher division was won by Sharavanan-trained Bee For You (Bee’s Prospector-Ashwa Kirti), ridden by B. Mahesh. After finishing third on the opening day, Bee For You set out on a start-to-finish mission and held off the strong challenge of King Adler by a slender margin. King Adler tried to push through the inner rails and not finding enough room was pulled out whereby he veered out of the straight course and by the time the favourite could get into rhythmic action, Bee For You had touched the winning line. Victory Signal was withdrawn before the start of the day’s races.

South African jockey Keanen Gregory opened his account on Indian Turf when he rode Mallikarjuna-trained Bocconcino (Bee’s Prospector-Asprilla) to victory in The Red Satin Plate. Bocconcino got to the front early, held the rails throughout and after a fierce battle with Irish Intellect on the final straight got the better by a ‘head’.

Trainer Mallikarjuna pulled off a double with Faustian (Bee’s Prospector-Dancing Steps) in The Melukote Plate, the concluding race of the day. Fast Colours missed many lengths at the start and was brushed up quickly to track the front-running Mystic Enchantress till the final bend. On the straight, Fast Colours fizzled out while Mystic Enchantress kept going till the top-weighted Faustian breezed past to win. Showhorse played up in the parade ring thus injuring the jockey and was permitted to be withdrawn. Spark Of Galaxy hurt herself in the stabling area and was withdrawn on veterinary grounds.

Rakesh’s River Rule (Royal Kingdom-House On The Hill) surprised all when she beat stablemate Khwaish convincingly in The Trombay Plate. Khwaish was sent into the race at a short price of 100 to 65 ‘on’. The favourite brought the field into view on the straight and lost pace rapidly. River Rule, with B. Mahesh up, took charge in a trice and stayed a length in front of the late-finishing All For Cash at the wire. Khwaish finished a further distance behind, third.