After winning his first race at the age of four in November last year, Byramji trained Rip Van Winkle made rapid strides in his career to reach the highest class. With a total of four victories under his belt during the last few months, this big made horse was targeted at The Chief Minister's Cup at Mysore on Thursday. Being a nine furlong handicap for horses rated 80 and above, the race attracted an average set of eight acceptors. Barring Rip Van Winkle, Dance N Celebrate and Cavalry Charge, the others had poor credentials. Apart from their present form, they were suspect over the present trip. Dance N Celebrate and Rip Van Winkle had won a race each at the beginning of this season. The former was tackling nine furlongs for the first time in her career, and it was a matter of opinion whether she would be able to handle this energy sapping distance. Cavalry Charge had lost his winter form and had been under-performing during the summer months. On the other hand, Rip Van Winkle had everything going for him. His recent form was good, the trip was ideally suited to his style of running, and most importantly, he was receiving weight from each of his opponents. Both Dance N Celebrate and Rip Van Winkle received equal support from the punting fraternity and the pair of them started as the joint favourites in the day's feature.

Cavalry Charge set a decent pace ahead of Rip Van Winkle, Dance N Celebrate and Raptor Force, as the runners tackled the first half of their journey. The rising ground at the top of the bend took its toll on Raptor Force and he dropped out of contention. Cavalry Charge led by a length from Rip Van Winkle, as the field entered the straight. Dance N Celebrate was trying her best to close the gap, but it was evident that she had failed to stay. After a brief duel near the furlong pole, Rip Van Winkle emerged clear of Cavalry Charge and went on to score an impressive victory. PS Chouhan had ridden a near perfect race on him, as he had allowed the horse to run at his own pace. Without hustling him in the back-stretch, Chouhan had managed to keep Rip Van Winkle within striking distance of the leader. At the end of it all, the winner displayed immense reserves of stamina and showed that he has improved with age. A subsequent announcement confirmed that he had set a new course record for the nine furlong trip at Mysore. The five year old is now reportedly headed for Kolkata, where a number of long distance races during the Kolkata Winter Season await his arrival.

Apart from winning the day's feature, Chouhan had a profitable afternoon. Out of the five runners that he was declared to ride today, he won with three of them and ended a close second on the other two. His finishing efforts astride Aston Park enabled trainer Manohar to win a race after a prolonged period of time. The connections had waited a long time to have a "touch" on this horse. Aston Park received strong support to start as a firm favourite in his race. He was a little sluggish at the gates, but with the passage of time, the five year old made steady improvement through a packed field to join the leaders. The long lead established by Inspirator at the top of the straight was beginning to diminish, as Waltz Away and Aston Park made their charge towards the winning post. The stronger handling of Chouhan enabled Aston Park to win in a three-way finish from Inspirator and Waltz Away. The apprentice rider of third placed Waltz Away raised an unsuccessful objection against the winner.

The Hotel RRR Gold Cup gave Chouhan an opportunity to ride his third winner. Sharat Kumar's Ice Mint was backed at all prices to land this trophy. He had literally been knocking on the door during the summer months, as he had figured on the board on successive occasions. Ice Mint's main threat emanated from the top weighted Gazaki, but the ten kilos between the two of them was considered to be a huge disadvantage for the latter. Ice Mint overtook early leader Bucethalis near the two furlong marker, and sailed away for an easy victory over Crown Vision, Mom In Law and Gazaki. The three placed horses ended within touching distance of each other.

This was Sharat Kumar's second triumph of the day as he had picked up an earlier race with On A Roll. He was another horse that had been steadily brought down in handicap and had now reached a winning mark. Since there was no evidence of any track work for this runner, racegoers were intrigued at the amount of money being wagered on him. On A Roll bolted out from a wide draw and Christopher had to use all his skills to hold him behind Sweet Timer, as the runners made their way towards the final bend. Joint favourite Enduring Speed got into a traffic jam and it was clear that his chances had been hampered by this mess. On A Roll moved smoothly in the straight and assumed command of the proceedings. A couple of taps from Christopher were enough to complete the job. On A Roll won easily from a tired Sweet Timer and a late finishing Enduring Speed. The latter is in good form and looks capable of winning a similar race later in the season.

Christopher completed a quick double by winning the very next race in the day's card. This enabled trainer Sharavanan to lead-in his first winner of the season. After leading comfortably till the home turn, Sunshower was asked to quicken. She responded to Christopher's urgings, but was unable to maintain a straight course. Luckily, Sunshower did not make contact with any of the horses that were racing close to her. Favourite Chhota Bheem went lame in the straight and consequently finished off the frame. Raja Rao brought Sparkling Image with a smooth run on the wide outside and joined the fray. Sunshower managed to hold Sparkling Image's challenge upto the winning post. Raja Rao tried to reverse the result in the Stewards Room, but his objection lacked conviction and the same was thrown out in quick time.

A rare handicap event restricted to three year old horses attracted a few Bangalore based candidates. Dhariwal's Grey Matter, Nityanand's Samajdaar and the Manohar trained Aparanta were pitted against Monappa's Jeevika's Queen. By virtue of having won her maiden race, the last named enjoyed favouritism. The smart-money was riding on Samajdaar, who was backed with confidence to land a gamble. PS Chouhan rushed Aparanta into an early lead and and led comfortably from Grey Matter, Jeevika's Queen and Sound Of Power. Samajdaar got knocked around in the early stages and was forced to make his way towards the outer portion of the track. The scene changed dramatically at the bend. Aparanta felt the pressure and veered alarmingly. Ladjadj Stephane was quick to pounce on this lucky opportunity. He pushed Grey Matter towards the inner rails and made his way towards the winning post. Grey Matter managed to get the better of Aparanta at the wire. Jeevika's Queen and Samajdaar appeared late on the scene to end on the haunches of the first two finishers.

Trainer Pratap Kamath's Seriously Perfect had taken down a lot of money in her previous outing. Jockey Neeraj Rawal had been unable to do justice to the three year old filly on that day. The trainer chose to change a few things on Thursday. He increased her distance to a mile and chose to lighten her burden by entrusting Seriously Perfect to apprentice Vaideeshwaran. Faraz Arshad's first-timer Red Hot was a firm favourite in this race. The confidence of her connections could be gauged from the fact that they she was being made to tackle a mile in her first career start. The overweight being carried by Stephane did not bother them, and these sentiments were visible on the betting charts. However, it did not pan out the way they expected it to happen. Red Hot ran pathetically to finish off the frame. On the other hand, Seriously Perfect came with a smooth run at the bend to go past the early leaders. She managed to ward off a belated challenge from an equally talented Always On Top. Both these Mysore based youngsters have scope for further improvement.