After the cancellation of Thursday's card due to an agitation by the Bangalore-based Syces Union, racing action resumed at The Mysore Race Club on Friday. After the intervention of some highly placed Police Officers, the workers agreed to load the horses and the authorities decided to go ahead with the announced programme. An ordinary card of eight events was conducted during the afternoon. The Star Of Mysore Gold Cup, a seven-furlong handicap for horses four years old and over in Class II, was slated as the day's feature. Nityanand's Dance N Celebrate (Emerald Cat-Lyrical Queen) was an outstanding contender in this race. Her second behind Sun Absolute in her previous start was extremely suggestive. Not only had Sun Absolute defied the winning penalty by winning in Class I, even the third placed Gazaki had come out and won during the opening weekend of the current Mysore season. Moreover, the twelve-horse field was packed with Mysore-based horses. The bookmakers were aware of the situation, and had little hesitation in installing Dance N Celebrate as the half-money favourite in the day's feature. Golden Quest was quoted at 6/1 while one could write one's own card on the others.

A mild skirmish at the gates saw Star Presence and Muskaan being withdrawn before coming under the starter's orders. Dance N Celebrate showed early speed and led the 10 runners as they tackled the first half of their journey. Flash Flares and Always For You were ahead of the others as they took the final bend and swung into the straight. Ladjadj Stephane released his grip on the leader and asked her to quicken. The filly lengthened her strides and skipped away from her pursuers. On a tight leash, Dance N Celebrate passed the winning post many lengths ahead of a late-finishing Indian Bolt. An identical distance behind was the tired pair of Social Climber and top-weighted Flash Flares. In the hands of Mark Gallagher, Ganapathy-trained Golden Quest struggled for most of the way and ended in the ruck. The winner is in fine form, and she has the ability to make a mark in the highest category.

Jockeys Ryan Marshall and B Sreekanth shared the honours by scoring "doubles" today. While Ryan used front-running tactics astride his pair of winners, Sreekanth had to use his guile while coming from behind. Tackling joint favourites Own Empire and Bavaria over a Class IV scurry, Ryan chose to rush Neil Darashah's Sunraider (Senure-Wings Of Fire) to the front. This last outing winner held a firm advantage over Bavaria, Saphira and Own Empire as the runners raced into the final furlong. With Own Empire and Saphira running out of steam, it was Bavaria who went in chase. While Ryan made free use of his stick, apprentice Vaibhav had to rely on his hands and heels. Sunraider lasted out by a neck to hold Bavaria at the finish. In the hands of Sreekanth, Windsor Park made up a lot of ground to finish a creditable third. After a tardy beginning, she found the trip a bit too sharp for her liking. Windsor Park looks like a readymade winner whenever she is raced over a slightly longer trip.

Ryan's victory astride Dhariwal's Casanova (Burden Of Proof-Cesandri) was an expected one. This well-bred three-year-old had impressed while winning on debut in January this year. Having immense confidence in his abilities, the trainer had chosen to run him next in the Winter Million. Starting as a fancied contender, Casanova had flopped miserably to end a poor last in that race. The connections decided to give him a long rest during the summer months and brought him out today. Running against Class III company, the good-looking horse charged out of the gates and made his opponents look pedestrian. In what looked like a morning hack-canter, Casanova ended way ahead of Cationic and Youre Chilubuli. While the quality of today's field was poor, the timing that Casanova clocked for this 1400-metre exercise was good. He is likely to be targeted at the Mysore Classics.

Sreekanth brought Lokanath's Beautiful Dancer (Case Law-Divine Colours) with a smooth run in the final furlong and sailed past a tired I Fancy You in the final stages of a Class V race. It was the first time that this grey filly was tackling anything more than a sprint. However, the stable was pretty confident about her chances and she started as an even-money favourite to land the prize. The beaten brigade ended in a heap with Persian Princess getting up on the last stride to take the third spot ahead of a hard-ridden Prince Norbert.

The V Vijay Kumar Memorial Cup saw Sreekanth guiding Set Me Free (Argyle Lake-Royal Hex) to an impressive victory. With course favourite Rumour Proof dropping her jockey and getting withdrawn at the gates, the race became an "open affair". Some late support for stablemates Saratoga and Speedy Amigo saw the two of them figuring at the top of the betting charts. However, neither of them figured on the result board. Set Me Free showed early speed and led from Nishi Girl, Rich Rogue and Saratoga. He stepped up the momentum in the straight and skipped clear of his rivals. Sreekanth had the pleasure of easing his mount much before the two of them crossed the finishing line. In a battle for the minor placings, Vigoroso came from the tail-end of the pack to beat Rich Rogue into third place.

The Ganapathy camp scored a point with Windsor Knight (Inhabitant-Saphire Princess) in the lower division of a scurry for Class IV runners. This odds-on favourite was another horse to score a pillar-to-post victory on Friday afternoon. Bahman, Aerial Acrobat and Wishkey remained in touch till the bend, but that was all they could do. Once Mark Gallagher started to use his stick, the race was over. Windsor Knight responded gamely to his rider's call and won by a widening margin from the late-finishing Cool Whistle. The runner-up made up a lot of ground in the straight and showed that she is capable of winning a similar event before the end of this season.

The only other race in the day's card went to Monappa's Mr Magic (Sizzling Melody-Grey Magic). He was the only Mysore-based horse to score in the company of some Bangalore challengers. The Sri VB Ramachandran Memorial Cup saw money flowing in the direction of Powerfuldreams, Kripa and Walter. Mr Magic was available at 10/1 with the bookmakers. Favourite Powerfuldreams lost most of his chances by taking a poor jump from the gates. His wide draw added to his problems, and despite some hard riding from Sreekanth, the horse could do no better than finish fourth. Kar O Bar and Mr Magic were prominent from the very beginning and the two of them were involved in a tight finish. Just Great rallied late along the rails and joined the issue. The three of them were besides each other as they flashed past the winning post. The camera print confirmed that Mr Magic had got up on the last stride to finish ahead of Just Great and Kar O Bar.