Brazilian jockey Sylvester De Souza delighted his fans by riding a 700/1 treble on Friday afternoon at Bangalore. The lightweight professional showed exemplary skills and perfect balance while guiding three top-weighted horses to a fine hat-trick. Edmondo, Alpha Baby and Inspiring Trust were his three winners. De Souza's ability to judge the pace in a race was highlighted by the fact that on a couple of occasions he had the confidence to go the front and show the way to his opponents. It is rare to see wide winning margins in handicap races for older horses in the higher Classes at this centre.

The handicapping at Bangalore is fairly tight and close finishes are the order of the day. The victory of Edmondo in The Chatrapathi Cup, the feature event in Friday’s six-race card, was quite surprising. The horse won as he liked and made the others look extremely mediocre. The fancied pair of Lock and Load and Desert Rule flopped under pressure and finished in the ruck. De Souza took full advantage of his inside draw and eased Edmondo into a comfortable lead ahead of Desert Rule, Lock and Load and Affirmed Crown as the runners made their way from the seven-furlong start, took the rising ground and began taking the final bend.

Suraj Narredu astride Lock and Load and Imran Chisty on Desert Rule were equally comfortable as they straightened for home. Edmondo was expected to falter under the fast pace and slow down in the straight, while the fancied runners were known to have the ability to quicken at that stage. What actually happened was totally different. Edmondo began to get stronger and powered away from the rest. Lock and Load and Desert Rule caved in tamely and stopped in their tracks, thus permitting Affirmed Crown to occupy the second berth.

The 20/1 winner from Michael Eshwer's yard ran the best race of his career and stumped the punters. His next win on Alpha Baby was once again contrary to expectations. Alpha Baby had won a race in the lowest class earlier in the season. The handicapper seemed to have the measure of this filly as he had given her a stiff penalty. Alpha Baby's next finishing effort was off the board, and her chances were accordingly ignored today. A horse called Captain's Lover from Prithviraj's stable received strong support in the ring and was backed down to on-money favouritism.

The confidence of his connections could be gauged from the fact that they were not worried about the mediocre abilities of jockey Afsar Khan. The boy rode to the best of his known skills, but was unable to go past De Souza ridden Alpha Baby. In spite of conceding more than eight kilos to the favourite, Alpha Baby made all the running and kicked away for a smart victory. Captain's Lover came the shortest way home, and was lucky to get his openings on the rails. However, he found a tough opponent in the ultimate winner. Sunny Spell was unable to defy his winning penalty and had to settle for the third spot.

After two start-to-finish winners, De Souza saved his best for Byramji's Inspiring Trust. She had been unfortunate in her previous start wherein a spate of interferences had seen her finishing off the frame. Inspiring Trust had been putting in some smart track work after that run and was expected to run a big race today. She was given a "near perfect" ride by the boy. He chose to keep her off the pace and cantered along in fifth place as Carabinieri and Royal Amber showed the way to Enduring Star and Super Speed.

With the front runners shooting their bolt at the bend, it was left to Suraj Narredu and Enduring Star to seize the advantage. They came with a smooth run along the fence and went into the lead. De Souza brought Inspiring Trust on the wide outside and went in chase. With both the saddle artist's in full flow, the finish was bound to be exciting. Inspiring Trust gave five kilos and a half length beating to Enduring Star.

Royal Amber was lucky to hold onto his third place by a whisker ahead of a fast finishing Dante's Peak. Darius Byramji's aptly named youngster Unleashed showed remarkable acceleration when he came from a difficult position to storm ahead of a pack of fancied runners. Trainer Ganapathy's effort to win his first baby race of the season was once again unsuccessful.

Prakash ridden Elite Land was touted as a "certainty" of the day. The well bred horse was the only one to have had a forward run in recent weeks. Elite Land had run a nice race while finishing a close third behind a runaway Ballibay. He was backed down to on-money favouritism today. Prakash was able to take a good jump on the favourite and lead the field into the straight. For no apparent reason, Elite Land began to send distress signals in the final furlong and retired from the fray. Just as Abnoba and Matias tried to seize the advantage, Unleashed arrived on the scene. Suraj had put him in top gear and the horse was literally flying at the end. The widening margin indicated his superiority over the other runners. The nice looking colt showed that he would be more comfortable over longer trips.

Matias and Sky Glider filled the rest of the frame. Arjun Mangalorkar's Classic hopeful Optimus Prime was tested over a staying trip of ten furlongs for the first time in his career. He was set to carry the top weight in a race for horses in class III. The sparingly raced horse was bound to start as a hot favourite in this event. There was no doubt about his superior class in this set. The only worry pertained to his ability to "stay".

John had apparently been told to keep the favourite off the pace and ride him for eventual speed. The young jockey's job became difficult, as there was hardly any early pace in this race. Optimus Prime ran with his mouth wide open for the first couple of furlongs, before settling down in last place. The race took a serious turn near the top of the bend. First Of A Legend, Shades Of White and Saddle Queen were racing abreast while Portobello and Optimus Prime were trying to move up on the wide outside.

All of them seemed to be struggling as they entered the last furlong. On the basis of his superior class, Optimus Prime lengthened his strides and managed to beat Portobello near the winning post. The winner is likely to be targeted at the Bangalore Derby on Republic Day. The last race of the day presented a golden opportunity for trainer Nityanand to open his account for the season. Feelit Enjoyit had run a very good third in her last start and shown that she was ready to strike. She was entered in a sprinting event for horses in the lowest class on Friday.

Ryan Marshall rode her with all his abilities, and justified the confidence of her connections. Chasing Gara Fluid and Good Gift till the bend, Ryan brought the filly with a fluent run and spurted to the front. It was smooth sailing thereafter, as she wasn't unduly pressed to keep a hard ridden Good Gift at bay. Fancied Ladzone ran a pathetic race and finished off the board.