A dominating performance from an aptly named Field Marshal (Placerville-Shamaal) stunned the followers of form in The Fernhill's Palace Mysore 2000 Guineas 2011 (Grade III) on Friday. The free striding gelding cruised home to one of the easiest victories witnessed in this event. The Padmanabhan trainee left his opponents gasping for breath and allowed his jockey S John to start celebrating much before the two of them crossed the winning post. The ten runners in this race included a couple of final entrants, both of whom had paid Rupees Six Lakhs each to participate in this event. The highly talented Severstahl was one of them. He had run brilliantly in the Colts Championship as well as in the Kingfisher Derby during the summer months. A "lost whip" had presumably cost him the Derby, and this was going to be his first start after that eventful day. On paper, he had the first chance to win today and the bookmakers had little hesitation in installing him at the top of the betting boards. The other one was Cooji Katrak's Amaretto. By winning a Summer Million at Bangalore, the chestnut had become a classic contender and the connections had brought him from Pune to have a tilt at this coveted trophy. Pratap Kamath's Bold Police was a local hero. After a very long time, there was a Mysore based horse amongst the leading contenders. Apart from being the highest rated runner in this field, he was known to be comfortable over a mile. His close second behind Spark Of Gold a few weeks ago enhanced his chances. Dhariwal trained Midtown Magic had never travelled beyond seven furlongs, but his camp was hugely optimistic about their charge. In comparison, Field Marshal had won a solitary start in Handicap Company at Mysore. The bookmakers expressed their opinion about this runner by offering 15/1 against him as the runners made their way towards the starting gates.

Field Marshal took a good jump from an inner draw and settled down to his usual front-running role ahead of Free Styler, I Specialist, Bold Police and Amaretto. Casanova headed the chasing pack as the runners tackled the first half of their journey. Most of the runners had settled down at this stage and the order remained the same till they reached the final bend. While Field Marshal hugged the rails and took the shortest way home, the others swung wide and most of the riders were seen jockeying for positions. The leader responded to John's urgings and opened up a nice looking lead into the straight. Bold Police and Suraj Narredu made a move through the middle and went in chase. Zervan brought Midtown Magic with a run on the wide outside, but he was too far behind to make any impact on the two ahead of him. The others, including Severstahl, found the pace too hot to handle and had already folded up under pressure. Field Marshal lead comfortably into the final furlong, and despite Suraj's urgings, Bold Police was unable to narrow the gap. The winner clocked an impressive timing of a fraction over 1:36.31. Bold Police, Midtown Magic and I Specialist followed him at regular intervals to fill the rest of the frame. Trainer Padmanabhan must be complimented for transforming this winner into a galloping machine. It was not very long ago that Field Marshal had struggled to win his maiden race. He used to lead till the final furlong before getting caught near the winning post. There were no such problems today. Field Marshal was an outstanding performer in today's feature.

The Alekona Trophy, a mile event for horses rated 60 and above, was the added attraction in the day's card. Last outing winner Airplay was a hot favourite in this race. The colt had shown a welcome return to his last year form by winning over an identical trip at the beginning of September. His fans chose to ignore the penalty that he had received for the said victory and backed him down to odds-on favouritism. Suraj was a picture of supreme confidence on this horse. He held him on a tight leash behind Dansingh and Muskaan in the early stages, and gave him his head only in the straight. Airplay leapt forward and ran away from Strategic Change, Tromos and Aztec Gold. The last named showed a marked decline in his form by running a poor race. Now that Dhariwal has managed to sort out Airplay's problems, one can expect the colt to move up further in his career. This was Dhariwal's second winner of the day, as he had already won an earlier event with Foswell. Even though this speedy runner is best suited over a sprint, he had little problem in tackling a marginally longer trip. Jumping well from the seven furlong marker, Sreekanth took him to the front and the horse was never headed. He won by a widening margin from Heat Haze and The Darling Boy.

Sreekanth had an equally easy time astride Bipin Salvi's Dutch Hero. The sparingly raced six year old had run a decent fourth in his only start this season. With a positive switch in the saddle, Dutch Hero was slammed in the betting rings. The money was obviously well placed as the free striding horse made every post a winning one. Dutch Hero shifted out under pressure in the final furlong, but his lead was so big that it hardly made any difference to the outcome of this race. Darling Dynamite was second till the last stride. The mare was beaten into third place by a late rushing Win Prettybaby. The winner has the ability to score on promotion.

A couple of races reserved for horses in the lowest class started the day's programme. The upper division had a strong favourite in Amit Caddy's Southern Pearl. The even-money choice was uncomfortable from the very beginning. Jockey Chandrasekhar had very little control on this horse. The moment the camera zoomed onto the runners, it became evident that his legs were not in his stirrups and he was a mere passenger for rest of the way. In a race won by the Sharat Kumar trained Snow Peaks, Southern Pearl ran a detached last. The jockey was questioned on his way to the unsaddling enclosure. It is learnt that he said "the saddle had slipped". The chief stipe asked him to dismount and examined the saddle in the presence of the trainer, the jockey and a team of officials. The saddle was tight and also in perfect position. The Stewards have ordered an enquiry into this incident, the outcome of which is eagerly awaited by the racing fraternity.

The two divisions of The Justice P Medapa Memorial Cup were the last two races of the afternoon. Incidentally, both of them were won by public choices. Nityanand's Rising Sun had shown speed in an earlier start, wherein, he had led before getting beaten near the winning post. Appu chose different tactics today. He decided to wait a long time before making his move. Rising Sun overtook High Treason in the final furlong and scampered away from a hard ridden Saphira. The latter made up much ground in the final stages but was still a length shy at the finish. Signifies came from a long way back to occupy the third slot.

Sharat Kumar's Take My Word proved to be too strong for his opponents in the lower division of this event. This victory completed a fine weekend for the trainer as this was his fourth over the last two days. Sharat Kumar was obviously confident of his chances, as he had declared a fairly ordinary rider to guide Take My Word's fortunes. The connections backed Take My Word with Mallikarjun in the saddle. The boy did not have to do much, as Take My Word carried him past the winning post. Chakravyuha Bhedak and Teleprompter came from the back to save place money for their respective connections. The one that really impressed in this race was Teleprompter. The five year old is getting ready for a huge touch in the near future.