The well endowed Nawab M Arshad Ali Khan Memorial Cup, named after an extremely capable racing administrator of the BTC, was the stellar event in Saturday's race card at Bangalore. Nine well performed three year olds accepted to face the starter, with the Arjun Mangalorkar trained Tomsk cornering most of the attention. This nice looking chestnut colt had remained unbeaten in his three career starts, and was set to concede weight to all his rivals. John had partnered him in all his wins, and the connections were comfortable in entrusting their horse once again to the youngster who had recently graduated from the apprentice ranks. Most racegoers considered this partnership to be invincible, and decided to go nap on Tomsk during the afternoon. His closest opponents were supposed to be Safari and Lycia Falcon. Safari was a winner of only one race, and the terms of today's race favoured her, as she was set to recieve six and a half kilos from Tomsk. Lycia Falcon had run a close second to Mothers Pride in a class II race earlier in the season, and her connections were hopeful of a repeat performance in the day's feature. Neil Darashah's pair of Celestial Son and Mighty Heart cut the early pace with Safari and Flair Queen in close attendance. Tomsk, who was sluggish at the start, was seen to be ambling along at the rear end of the field. The order remained more or less the same as they straightened for home. Two things became very clear at this stage. The first was that Suraj Narredu had done a great job on Safari, and given her the best chance to win this race. The second was that John had messed up things on Tomsk, and his chances of producing a winning run from the rear, were very remote. The scene unfolded on the same lines. Safari was taken to the front near the 300 metres marker and Suraj rode a neat finish to pulverize the opposition. Suraj has matured into a fine rider and has been delivering in workmanlike fashion. Mighty Heart produced a strong finishing effort to take the second spot ahead of a hard ridden Lycia Falcon. Tomsk was galloping on the wide outside, and he got up to beat Flair Queen by a nose before occupying the fourth berth. The latter, who is still a maiden, ran a nice race and will be too good to miss in her next start. The run of Tomsk was a bit confusing. His career had been shaping nicely, and the knowledgable expected him to emerge as a Classic contender. Today’s run must be taken as an aberration, and he should be given another chance before writing him off as a good handicapper. Pesi Shroff trained Cotswold Arms was an easy winner of a mile and a quarter race for horses in the highest class at this centre. Mallesh was a picture of confidence as he settled his horse at the tail end of a small field, and did not move a muscle till they entered the straight. Whilst Friendly Fire, Arturo, Angelique and Predominant were busy tackling each other, Cotswold Arms came on the wide outside, and swept past his five rivals to go away for a popular victory. This win completed a quick double for both Pesi and Mallesh. Pesi had won an earlier race for maiden three year olds with Chimerique. This nice looking filly had run twice at Mumbai, and had lost "on the post" on both these occasions. There was no such problem today, as Ryan Marshall rode a confident race on her. He kept her in a handy second position behind Glorious Princess, and urged Chimerique in the final furlong to skip away from the rest. This was the fourth succesive time that Glorious Princess has had to play the role of a bridesmaid this season. Mallesh started the day with an armchair ride to victory on a filly trained by Arjun. One was the raging hot favourite at 4/10, and she justified the price quoted on her by giving no anxious moments to her supporters. Mallesh had the luxury of looking back in the final stages of the race, while Spicy Star made a move from the middle to run into second place. The early leaders Chilli Chocolate and Gris Rapide ran out of gas after taking the final bend. Ryan Marshall completed a rare double on Callista, when he got a dream opening in the final furlong of a sprint race, and pushed this Attaolahi trained filly to a smart victory. The early leaders Panchakshari, Read My Mind and Zafar began to tire in the final stages of the race. Noble Guest was a late finishing second, while the run of a third placed Rebellious caught the eye. This gelding was a bit lethargic at the start, and trailed the field as they turned for home. Rebellious finished powerfully and was a bit unfortunate to have lost this race. Another feature of the day was a popular double from the stables of champion trainer S Ganapathy. He first led-in the well bred Lady Banks who won close home in a sprint race for horses in class IV. The filly ran green in the last two furlongs of this race, and Prakash was seen doing his best to keep her on an even keel. Rank outsider Worth A Million led till well into the final furlong before surrendering the lead to Lady Banks. Fire Of Joy ,who finished a late third, was given a very feeble ride by Gnaneshwar. This filly should be supported with confidence in her future engagements. The second win for the stable came in the form of Touch Of Magic. Srinath kept this on-money favourite in a handy second position behind Prince Norbert, and she seemed to be travelling well within herself. Srinath pulled out the stick near the distance post, and had to ride her with all his strength to overtake the frontrunner, before winning in a close finish from Prince Norbert, Royal Filly and You Beauty. There seemed to have been some jostling in the last furlong of the race, but after a detailed "Stewards Enqiry", the result remained unaltered.