Dhariwal trained Arabian Prince displayed a welcome return to prime form while winning The Governor's Cup at the Mysore races on Friday. The handsome looking chestnut gave weight and a beating to his five opponents in the day's feature. After a fairly successful journey during the winter months, Arabian Prince had returned to Bangalore. A couple of starts during the latter half of the Summer Season were enough to sharpen him for The President Of India Gold Cup at Malakpet in September. He was a gallant second to Ordained One in that race. Even though he had been hampered by the winner on that day, Ryan Marshall was unable to reverse the result in the Stewards Room. He was given a good rest by his master before preparing him for today's race. The terms of this mile and a quarter events were fair to most of the acceptors. Based on his past record as well as his recent form, Arabian Prince started as an odds-on choice to lift the trophy. String Along was an obvious second favourite ahead of Spark Of Gold and the others.

The early pace wasn't exceptionally fast, as Rip Van Winkle cantered ahead of Polish Patriot, Arabian Prince, String Along and Spark Of Gold. Each one of the jockey's were seen restraining their mounts in the initial stages of the race. While the momentum picked up near the half way marker, the order remained the same. Finding himself out of depth in this class, Rip Van Winkle got tired near the bend and retired gracefully from this uneven contest. This permitted Arabian Prince to take charge of the proceedings. Jockey Stephane realized the lurking danger, as he was aware that Gallagher and String Along were just by his side. The two runners moved ahead of the rest and engaged each other in a stirring duel. They raced in close proximity and galloped strongly towards the final post. The support of the inner rails helped Arabian Prince's cause. He responded to Stephane's urgings and managed to retain his slender advantage till the very end. Spark Of Gold rallied from the back to finish a fair third. Now that Arabian Prince has re-discovered his winning form, it will be fair to say that this stout galloper will make a strong bid to pick up "staying" events during the Winter Season.

The Smt Maliniraje Prasad Memorial Gold Trophy, a sprint for horses in class II, was the added attraction in the day's card. Restricted to horses aged four years old and over, this race attracted many participants from Bangalore. While Crown Vision, Star Presence and Logan's Run had won a race each in the last few months and incurred penalties, Sharat Kumar's Flying Tricolour had climbed down in the scale. The connections were quick to cash-in on this advantage. After receiving strong support in the betting ring, the four year put up a perfect performance. In the hands of Christopher, he darted out of his extreme draw and settled nicely behind the speedy Miss Ruby. The jockey gave him a couple of cracks in the straight and asked him to "go". Flying Tricolour increased the tempo and strode away from a late finishing Star Presence. A tired Miss Ruby managed to retain her third spot ahead of Billo Rani.

Sharat Kumar was the only professional who managed to score a double on Friday. The stable landed a fine coup with Living Legend. The three years old had been given a few runs and brought down to the lowest category. The trainer chose to declare a very ordinary rider to guide his fortunes. In the 150 odd races conducted this season, R Ravi had ridden only four times, and moreover, was yet to win a race. This did not deter the knowledgeable punters from plunging on him. Living Legend was backed down from 4's to Evens at race time. The final outcome confirmed that the money was well placed. Ravi was a mere passenger astride Living Legend. The horse led from the beginning and did not allow any of his opponents to come within sniffing distance till he crossed the wire. Jeyem finished ahead of Bahman to take the second spot. The winner is bound to improve on today's run, and Sharat can be expected to do well with him in the next few months.

A class III sprint was divided into two divisions, and with the competition being intense, both these races produced thrilling results. As luck would have it, they were both won by public choices. Sirajuddin's Win Again topped the betting charts ahead of Capote and Decorated in the upper division. A Imran Khan took the favourite into an early lead ahead of Lake Emerald and Lads Ability. Decorated and Capote were forced to travel wide at this stage. Win Again saved ground by hugging the rails and opened-up a nice looking gap as the runners entered the final furlong. This advantage enabled him to kick away from the fast finishing pair of Capote and Decorated. Capote is the one for your notebook. He will be too good to miss over a slightly longer trip.

With the withdrawal of Migrolino on veterinary grounds, Lokanath's Magnomical looked like a good bet in the other division of this race. She had won a couple of races in summer and was making her first appearance on the Mysore track. It was strange to see a speedy filly like her lacking early speed today. While Gris Rapide and Windsor Knight brought the field into view, Magnomical was struggling at the back. A fortunate opening through the pack allowed Sreekanth to make his move. He asked Magnomical for an effort and she gave him a fitting response. She lengthened her strides and joined the issue. Magnomical got up in the nick of time to beat Windsor Knight and Gris Rapide near the winning post.

The day began with a fine effort from Pratap Kamath's Boston Ranger. The seven year old had failed to figure on board in four starts this season. The trainer chose to lighten his burden by entrusting him to apprentice Vaideeshwaran today. The youngster used slightly different tactics by setting his own pace. Boston Ranger enjoyed racing in front and was galloping well within himself as they tackled a major portion of their mile journey. A few taps of the whalebone saw him lengthening his strides in the straight. Boston Ranger won by a widening margin from Just Great and Super Sha. The last named was out for an outing today. He seems to be running into decent form, and will be worth backing the day right money comes onto him.

An unexpected victory for Rakesh's Lake of Fortune ended the day's proceedings. Carrying a feather-weight on her back, she led within hundred metres of the start and never looked back. Shahraan, Vega and Beau Sancy tried their best but were unable to match strides with her. Apprentice Pradeep used his whip intelligently and only reminded the filly of the task on hand. Beau Sancy rallied late and finished second ahead of Vega and the favourite Jiyolife. The last named looked poor in the paddock. The small made specimen was unable to carry the heavy impost, and performed pathetically to finish a bad fourth.