An outstanding display of judgement and powerful riding by Mark Gallagher enabled the Ganapathy-trained String Along (Alnasr Alwasheek – Persepolis) to win The Karnataka Cup (Grade III) on Sunday at Bangalore. The four-year-old filly produced her best to ward-off a strong and determined challenge from Padmanahan's Becket. The winner showed vast improvement over her recent form to get the better of the market fancy. This mile event for horses aged four years old and over attracted only seven runners. Despite this small number of acceptors, the race generated a lot of excitement. The top-weighted Becket had strong credentials. He was the only horse to have beaten the all-conquering Jacqueline in The Turf Invitation Cup 2010 at Mumbai. His recent form had been fair. After running third in the Super Mile in March, the five-year-old had returned to Bangalore for the Summer Season. The track reporters were satisfied with his preparation and felt that he had the first chance in the day's feature. Both Spearhead and String Along had already had a run during the opening weekend, and only a "nose" had separated the two of them on that day. Their respective connections were quietly confident, as they contended that the weight advantage would tilt the balance in their favour. The bookmakers were equally confused. They offered a generous 16/10 against Becket, while Spearhead and String Along were backable at 4/1.

The speedy Cielo Rey spurted to the front and showed the way to Spearhead, Belligerant and Astounding Gallop. String Along was settled back in fifth while Tomsk and Becket graced the rear. The horses continued to race in the above order till they took the rising ground near the three-furlong marker. With the front-runners getting tired, and those at the back beginning to make their moves, the field started to bunch up near the top of the straight. Noel Callow and Spearhead were the first to make their move, and the pair of them assumed command of the situation to charge towards the winning post. They were soon joined by String Along in the middle and Becket on the wide outside. The three of them were almost abreast as they entered the final furlong. The fluent acceleration displayed by String Along enabled her to lead at this stage. Under some relentless pushing from Mark Gallagher, the filly kicked away to keep a hard-ridden Becket at bay. Srinath tried his best astride the favourite, but he just wasn't good enough to collar the ultimate winner. Trainer Ganapathy deserves praise for tuning the filly to perfection, as this was undoubtedly the best performance of her career. Spearhead ended a close third while Tomsk rallied from the rear to fill the rest of the frame. These runners are bound to clash again in the next couple of months, and it will be interesting to see how they improve from their present marks.

The Own Opinion Trophy, a scurry for Maiden three-year-olds, was split into two divisions. Neil Darshah's Radical Attraction (International – Rainbow Vision) won the day's opener. Running in the lower division of this race, the filly proved to be too good for her ordinary opponents. Jockey P Trevor had a tough time settling her behind Sparkling Star and Royal Spirit in the initial stages, but once he allowed her to "go", the race was over. She lengthened her strides to win by a widening margin from Sparkling Star and Sweet Angel. The ones at the back appear to be very backward, and it may take a long time for any of them to enter the winner's enclosure.

Irfan Ghatala's Chul Bul Pandy (Ajaad – Taxido) showed remarkable acceleration in the last 50 metres to score a sensational victory over Flying Snow in the upper division of this race. The two runners came into this race with big reputations. Arjun Mangalorkar's camp thought very highly of Flying Snow and had little hesitation in backing her with confidence. They were not worried about the fact that John was carrying an overweight on this filly. On the other hand, jockey BL Paswan was denied the use of a whip on Chul Bul Pandy. His trainer felt that the first timer was good enough to win without being whipped. The race was run at a fast pace with Bryant Park showing the way to Anacostia and Flying Snow, while Chul Bul Pandy was a bit lethargic at the gates. Paswan chose to duck inwards and this allowed Chul Bul Pandy to race behind Flying Snow as the runners made their way towards the final bend. John rushed Flying Snow into the lead and the filly darted forward. She opened up a nice looking gap at the distance post and was a couple of lengths clear of Chul Bul Pandy at that stage. The colt began to gain ground on the filly thereafter and managed to nail her on the winning post. Despite running all over the place, Hyderabad-based Anacostia made up a lot of ground to finish a creditable third. The first three finishers in this race are all very good horses, and one is likely to hear more about them in the latter part of the season.

The Sir M Visvesvaraya Memorial Cup Went to Dominic's Love Conquers All (Brave Act – Corsican Gal), who raced well within himself to hold the feeble challenge from Tender Romance. The winner led from the beginning and made light of his heavy impost to quicken further in the straight. He tackled the seven-furlong trip with absolute ease. The two public choices, Scarlette and Tender Romance, disappointed their numerous supporters. While Scarlette raced in patches and finished many lengths behind the winner, Tender Romance tried his best but was unable to catch the leader. After a superb start to her racing career in Pune, Scarlette seems to have lost her zest for racing. The lower division of this race was won by the Satish Narredu trained on-money favourite Deep Blue Sky (Royal Gladiator – Temple Tune). The top-weighted horse had finished a comfortable third behind a couple of highly regarded three-year-olds on the opening day of this season. He was now taking on horses in his own age group. Appu chose to race his mount behind a runaway Cherelle, and brought him into contention only in the final furlong. Deep Blue Sky responded to the whip and got up in time to score a narrow victory. Moves Goodenough made up a lot of ground from the rear to run a very close third. This filly should be able to win her next start.

Champion trainer Dhariwal was the only professional to score more than once during the afternoon. He seems to be getting into his rhythm and his horses are reported to be working extremely well. He opened the day's account with the short priced Ace Blood (Tejano – Ace Venture). The three-year-old was heading the scales in a class IV race over 1,400 metres. Noel Callow took this nice-looking filly into an early lead, and managed to stay there till the very end. Stadium Of Light came with a strong challenge in the final furlong, but she wasn't good enough to topple the favourite. Blue Star was whipped to finish an unimpressive third. The winner has further scope for improvement.

Dhariwal's Bon Giorno (Forest Gazelle – Bonhomie) came with raking strides to score a facile victory in the concluding race of the day. Padmanabhan's Indian Royalty opened as a short priced favourite, but his expanding odds confused the punters. The sparingly raced horse was fancied only on the basis of his suggestive track trials. Indian Royalty raced prominently in the backstretch before assuming command of the proceedings. He led comfortably from Bon Giorno and the others as they entered the straight. Despite Sandesh's best efforts, the favourite stopped in his tracks. He shortened his strides alarmingly and surrendered tamely. Bon Giorno came with a flourish to storm home to an impressive victory. Sun Gold arrived late on the scene to displace Indian Royalty from the second spot.

The only other race in the day's card went to the Md Khan trained Dramatic Dancer (Eljohar – Ice Castle). The five-year-old mare opened as a favourite but an alarming drift in her odds kept many racegoers away from her. There were a few who felt that she may be in season, as she was seen swishing her tail in the paddock. She raced prominently till the bend, before hitting the front. The huge lead that she established in the final furlong helped her cause. Despite her shortening strides, Dramatic Dancer managed to withstand a late challenge from Sweet Timer. Fancied Star Presence rallied late to save place money for her supporters. Heavily whipped Rubellite found this sprint a bit too short for his liking, and this horse appears to have the ability to score over a galloping course before the end of this season.